This is a very cheesy and easy to make baked eggplant dish with an Italian flair. An excellent alternative to a pasta dish.
Very good with a few revisions. I would recommend sweating the eggplant first for 20 minutes and then seasoning with salt and pepper as well as garlic powder. I also put half the pasta sauce on top of the eggplant and then added the 3-cheese mixture before I layered on the spinach. Then I added the rest of the sauce and the remaining cheese on top. I think it works better this way because the flavors are spread more evenly. Without seasoning the eggplant generously, you end up with bland and boring at the bottom and all the flavor and pizzazz on top.
Read MoreThe flavor of the recipe was fine, although I always spice up my dishes with some extra spices (which I added to the eggplant and the onion-tomato-spinach mixture). But for some reason my eggplant was not cooked after one hour even though I salted the eggplant and cooked it for 10 minutes as specified by the recipe. To be on the safe side I would almost completely cook the eggplant before assembling the whole thing and baking it. I should have known this though, because I have made eggplant so many times! Be sure to use plenty of olive oil on the eggplant. Its esssentially a sponge and won't cook well unless you give it enough oil.
Read MoreVery good with a few revisions. I would recommend sweating the eggplant first for 20 minutes and then seasoning with salt and pepper as well as garlic powder. I also put half the pasta sauce on top of the eggplant and then added the 3-cheese mixture before I layered on the spinach. Then I added the rest of the sauce and the remaining cheese on top. I think it works better this way because the flavors are spread more evenly. Without seasoning the eggplant generously, you end up with bland and boring at the bottom and all the flavor and pizzazz on top.
The measurements regarding the eggplant, onion and tomato are a bit open to interpretation. To make this dish, I used an eggplant that was about 8 inches tall and about 12 inches around. I left the skin on my eggplant slices for extra fiber, and also let them sweat for about 20 min before using. For anyone who's unfamiliar with sweating, you salt the slices and let them sit out for about 20-30 mins. The salt will draw out some of the bitterness inherent in eggplant. Not sure if the pre-baking of the slices in this recipe is also sweating, but I did both to be safe. You can rinse the slices after to remove almost all the salt. I had more than enough eggplant to fill the bottom of a 9x13 dish; I even had to overlap a few slices. I didn't have the spinach - somehow I overlooked that when writing the ingredients for my shopping list. I will definitely not forget for next time though. I love spinach in ricotta! I used a whole can of diced tomatoes with garlic and onions, drained. I just prefer the flavor. Did you know that canned tomatoes have more lycopene in them than fresh? Cooking brings out the lycopene in tomatoes. Anyway... I used a small red onion, chopped, which equaled probably about 1/4 cup worth, give or take. I found that the amount of cheese was just right, though I couldn't seem to spread it very well, so it was sort of crumbled on top and patted down. I did use a tad extra tomato sauce and cheese for the topping than listed in the ingredients. My f
This was delicious; and based on several other reviews, it seems to turn out great even with multiple ingredient substitutions. I made several adjustments due to lack of ingredients: 1) sprinkled eggplant with onion powder instead of garlic powder, 2) used feta cheese instead of ricotta, 4) sprinkled more mozzarella on the top as I ran out of parmasean, 5) used a whole 15 oz can of Zesty Italian spaghetti sauce instead of a plain pasta sauce & omitted the Italian seasonings. Actually, the amount of sauce required didn't seem like enough, and I was glad I decided to use the whole can. Of course, I decided to serve this dish over rotini pasta, so I needed the extra sauce or it would have been too dry. Next time, the only change I will make is to add another eggplant and possibly more spinach. These flavors were such a great combination, but I barely had enough eggplant to cover the bottom of the dish. My whole family is already asking for this one again, so it's definitely going into the recipe box.
There is nothing I would really change about this recipe. A lot of other reviewers left the spinach out, but I think it really added to the dish. I did need to use more than one eggplant (I used one and a half) to fill up the bottom of the 9 by 13 in. pan.
This was awesome! My husband wanted more protein so I added several boneless chicken breast tender pieces (tenders cook much faster than full breasts) on top of the cheese layer. The sauce and cheese topping went on top of them. Everything was perfectly cooked after 30 min. We both got what we wanted and the flavors were soo good! Will make again for sure!
I find that if you layer everything like lasagna, it comes out better. also letting the eggplant soak in water with some salt for a few minutes helps take out the bitterness, but it was absolutely yummy I'll make this one of my favorites . thanks
We have had a lot of eggplant parmesan this summer (due to lots of EP in the garden!) and this one was BY FAR THE BEST recipe and the easiest because you don't have to bread the eggplant (you don't miss it at all). This will the standard in our household.
After reading previous reviews, I sliced the eggplant and let it sit for a few minutes before proceeding. Then I brushed it with a combination of olive oil and italian dressing before baking. I layered the ingredients using each twice. The dish is tasty and the presentation was nice. Thanks for a great recipe.
This came out really good! I didn't use the spinach, and I piled the ingredients separately on each eggplant slice to make little eggplant pizzas. I also added more mozzarella on at the end, probably more like 1/2 cup instead of 1/4 cup. Yum!
Ok, going into this. I can say I never really found a purpose for eggplant. This recipe has made me fall in love with the veggie. Great starter/basic recipe that can be adjusted to what you have in fridge or preferences. I followed the recipe & made the following changes/additions: put garlic salt on the slices to sweat them for 15 minutes before baking in oven (didn't wash off salt); while sauteing veggies, I added some fresh mushrooms (really made flavor pop); I didn't have ricotta so I substituted fat-free cottage cheese for it & added some fresh parsley to cheese mixture. I decided to simplify things & do one layer of everything = egg plant, spinach/onion/mushroom mix (did sprinkle some garlic powder on it once on top of eggplant), spaghetti sauce, cheese mixture (doubled mozzarella since we had extra & like things cheesy) & then shook italian seasoning on top of cheese. Baked for 35 minutes & it was perfect! 9 year old said it reminded her of lasagna, but she liked it better.
This was really good, but way to much cheese is used in this so to actually keep this a healthy dish i only used a half a cup of the motts/parm cheese combined thats it.I also went ahead and cooked the eggplant alittle longer then recomended.Watch out if your adding garlic salt(instead of the cloves) and parm cheese since it can tend to be really salty in taste. Over all it was a really good dish with lots of flavor!! will make again! thanks
This recipe was great. I have to change my diet for health reasons and need to find recipes that are gluten free,,,this is going to be one of my favorite dishes from now on. I didn't have the spinach, which was fine, but it was so easy to make and turned out great.I brought it to my sisters for mothers day and it all went. I personally had it with a salad on the side and had to have seconds LOL. To me, it tasted just like eggplant rolatini which I love,,minus the calories from frying and minus the breadcrumbs that I can't have. Thanks so much for this recipe, it's a keeper!!
The flavor of the recipe was fine, although I always spice up my dishes with some extra spices (which I added to the eggplant and the onion-tomato-spinach mixture). But for some reason my eggplant was not cooked after one hour even though I salted the eggplant and cooked it for 10 minutes as specified by the recipe. To be on the safe side I would almost completely cook the eggplant before assembling the whole thing and baking it. I should have known this though, because I have made eggplant so many times! Be sure to use plenty of olive oil on the eggplant. Its esssentially a sponge and won't cook well unless you give it enough oil.
My husband loves eggplant, and I've been trying to find an eggplant parmesan recipe that works for both of us for years. This is the first one to get both of ours enthusiastic thumbs up. I followed the recipe almost exactly. My only substitution was for the pasta sauce because I don't buy those. I used a can of diced tomatoes instead, with most of the juice drained away. It turned out slightly runny, but that was my fault and didn't detract from the recipe at all. For us, the spinach really pulls it all together and gives it a fresh flavor.
ohh Yum. I am thinking of bringing this dish to a party, just to hear them all enjoying it! I added crumbled sausage too. Great !
This is a wonderful eggplant parm dish without the breading and frying, but basically the same flavor as the traditional recipe. It is still a little tedious to make due to all the veggie prep, but worth it. I also think the ingredient proportions are a little bit off. One eggplant would never have been enough to cover the bottom of the pan. I used 2 medium sized eggplants which were peeled, sliced, and baked for 15 minutes to get them really soft, the way I like them. I didn't take the time to sweat the eggplant, but the dish turned out great without it. I also drained the sauteed veggie mixture before adding it over the eggplant. I think it would have been soupy otherwise.
Loved this! Even my carnivorous husband wanted seconds. I think peeling the eggplant and sweating it helped the flavor and texture. I increased the cheese- 1/2 a cup of ricotta, mozerella, and parm each wouldn't cover the spinach and tomato layer to my liking. I think next time I'll do an extra eggplant layer above the cheese layer. Thank you for sharing this recipe!
This was phenomenal!!! I made this for dinner as I'm back on low carb (for good) and I added a little bit of sausage to the tomato/spinach mix (for some protein and fat)...I also put some crushed up pork rinds on the top (5 minutes left on the timer) for an added crunch. Having it for leftovers/lunch now! Also - didn't have ricotta so I used cottage cheese and I used about 1 and 1/4 cup of sf tomato sauce instead of 3/4 cup.... GREAT recipe!
I used the same ingredients, but what I did was cut the eggplant into about 1/8th" thick slices (longways). Sauteed the eggplant in olive oil until almost done. Saute the onions and spinach in olive oil. Let all cool. Combined the cheese mixture in a bowl. In a greased glass square pan, I took each cooled slice of EP and spread a layer of the cheese mixture on the slice, then the onion/spinach and rolled them. Repeat until all slices are rolled. I made the sauce and coated the bottom of the dish with the sauce, then laid the rolled slices seam down. (you might have to use a tooth pick to keep them closed. Spread the remaining sauce over the rolls and any extra cheese you have. Bake in the over at 350 until dish is bubbling and cheese is melted inside the rolls. I call these "Eggplant Rollateenies".
This is the eggplant recipe that is sooo good! I used 1 package of frozen (thawed & strained) spinach, minced garlic in a jar, and a can of diced tomatoes (drained). I also used cottage cheese instead of ricotta. Regardless, it turned out awesome!
This dish was excellent! I used a large eggplant and layered the eggplant slices with the cheese mixture, spinach mixture and a wonderful homemade marinara sauce. Served over spaghetti. I think next time I will also add mushrooms, and extra sauce and extra cheese are always good too. I took previous recommendations to sweat the eggplant with salt for 20 minutes before baking. I also soaked fresh minced garlic in olive oil with cracked pepper for a couple hours and used that as the rub for the eggplant rather than sprinkling garlic powder. Definitely a new favorite dinner in my house!!
This is a great dish as an alternative to "fried" eggplant. The things I did differently are 1) I sauteed the onion and garlic and add the Italian seasoning to them, 2) used 1 can diced tomatoes without chilies with the liquid drained, 3) used 1 pound Mozzarella cheese and 4) used a small jar of spaghetti sauce. My husband actually ate 2 servings and we ate the rest for dinner tonight. This will become a regular dish in our house. I will defintely make this again & again.
I have made this recipe 3 times this week, twice for a group home and once with my spouse, everyone LOVED it! It tastes like a vegetarian lasagna! I added black olives when I was cooking up the spinach and I also sprinkled a bit of feta cheese on the top. Served with spagetti is DELICIOUS!
We are not fond of eggplant, but this recipe has changed my mind. I did sweat the eggplant 20-30 minutes by salting each side of each slice. I blotted off the excess liquid that beaded up on each slice. I used our favorite spaghetti sauce, cottage cheese, and 6-cheese Italian blend. As other reviewers suggested, I used more sauce than called for and more cheese as well, according to our tastes. Delicious!!!!!
Delicious!! Followed recipe exactly as written. Reminds me of a veggie lasagna. I can't wait to make again. Thanks!
This was our first ever eggplant dish! It turned out amazing and we loved it!
OMG this is sooooo good!!! I made a handful of changes, like seasoning each "layer" well, made my own marinara sauce using half of a box of diced Pomi tomatoes. The other half I used in the spinach mixture, in place of fresh. I wanted the spinach a bit richer... opted for half and half rather than butter. To save a few more cals I sub'd cottage cheese for ricotta. It was sooo YUMMY!!! There isn't much cheese left for the top, but it was enuff w/that chesse layer. Best veggie dish I've tried from this site yet. Adding this to the regular rotation. Eggplant might become a regular menu item. ^.^ If you're an olive lover topping w/a few would be a nice addition.
This was a huge hit in our house! I didn't have any fresh tomatoes but otherwise I followed the recipe pretty much as directed. Based on the recommendations of previous reviewers, I sweated the eggplant before baking it, added some salt to the eggplant before adding the layers, and I sprinkled some red pepper flakes onto the marinara. We will definitely be having this again.
This is the first time I've done anything with eggplant and this recipe was a great place to start! It was very easy and we loved the results! I did partially peel and sweat the eggplant before I started and I layered the cheese, spinach, and sauce as suggested by other reviewers. I actually ended up using almost 1 1/2 cups of sauce and it didn't turn out runny. Loved it! This will be added to our rotation.
Excellent. I made it as written with the exception of adding ground turkey before I put the pasta sauce on. I added the meat to make a full meal out of it. It would've been a full meal without the meat. Kids loved it and thought it was lasagna. It was my first try at eggplant. I am going to make it as a side dish without the meat. It was great.
Excellent! I didn't add spinach or ricotta since I didn't have on hand. A cheesy, flavorful delight!
This recipes is very good. I did make some change before I baked the eggplant slices I dipped them in beaten egg and then seasoned Italian bread crumbs. I also sauteed mushrooms with the onion and garlic with fresh basil then added the spinach and tomato. This had a lot of liquid so before I started layering I spooned off the extra liquid. I was afraid it would be too runny. It was dry while cooking but was still delicious.
This was wonderful! A great alternative to the usual eggplant parm and its so easy to make!
Fabulous recipe. I added some chicken breast fillets to complete the meal. A big hit. It would also be a great dish for a special dinner.
it wasnt easy to find a decent recipe where the eggplant wasnt fried, and this one did the trick. it was really good.
Very nice. Only difference was char-grilling the eggplant rather than baking it. Thanks to the submitter
Excellent and tasty dish! Great way to dress up eggplant and make use of our garden fresh tomatoes. Knowing full well that eggplant gets soft quickly when you cook it, I skipped stepped 1 and did not do the 10 pre-bake. It is not necessary unless you like your eggplant to be nothing but mush. I simply put the eggplant slices into my pan (coated with non-stick spray) and sprinkled them with the garlic powder and continued with the remaining steps.
We enjoyed this recipe and will be making it again. My 9 month old loved it!
Just ok. My husband liked it, but my kids and I didn't care for it. I'm pretty sure it was the consistency of the eggplant that turned us off. Everything else was good because it tasted just like a regular lasagna mixture.
My husband, daughter (who only just discovered that she likes eggplant) and I loved it. I did add more pasta sauce and cheese than called for, but we add more cheese to everything! I did not sweat the eggplant, didn't feel it was necessary. This pairs well with a glass of Pinot Grigio!!
I just made this recipe tonite for dinner and was happy how it turned out. I too left out the spinach and didn't think that it made the dish any less enjoyable. I used a 16 oz. can of tomato sauce instead of using spaghetti sauce. Next time I think I might use a bit less since it was just the slightest bit too watery. My partner suggested that it might be tasty if instead of baking the eggplant for 10 minutes in the oven to bread the pieces and fry them in a frying pan, so I might try that in the future as well. When I chopped up the onion and tomato, it amounted to 1/2 cup and 1 cup respectively. I think that doubling that would be a better idea. I used 1 1/2 tsp of minced garlic instead of 3 garlic cloves, since that's what I had on hand. The amount of the cheeses and seasonings I think can be adjusted for personal preference. Since I'm a cheese fanatic I used a bit more than what was called for.
I've been looking for eggplant recipes and am glad i tried this one. Ididn't add tomato and went easy on sauce. I also put in a 9x9 in. dish and it was perfect also at end of baking i turned on broiler to brown top i will be making again.
I didn't really care for it...actually, not true. The only part I liked was the eggplant because I had breaded and fried it before putting it in the pan...I would suggest using a smaller pan, maybe 8x8 or 9x9 and layering all the ingredients so that you can get the yummy eggplant in more places than just the bottom!
Tasted delicious. Left out ricotta. I put the slices of eggplant in salted water for 30 min., towel dried them then baked. Very good -- used only 1 tsp of Italian seasoning and it was plenty. Definitely will make again.
This tasted great! It was very flavorful and delicious; we ate it with french bread, which seemed to hit the spot. I think I'll use a smaller pan next time because there wasn't enough cheese to make a full layer in the big pan (but I had enough ingredients to make some more).
This was my first time preparing eggplant on my own. My 2 kids an Ioved it. I did more on the sauce and that was a Mistake that did not impact how good it came out. My 12 year old ate it cold for lunch the next day!
Smelled wonderful cooking and tasted even better if that was possible. Made as is and was delicious. Made with linguine with pesto and everyone loved it.
Pretty good. I made it as written, except for a few changes. I used cottage cheese instead of ricotta, and canned, diced tomatoes. I also added some chopped mushrooms. I used more cheese, just because I love cheese. My husband ate his serving, but didn't want to eat it again. I'll probably eat the leftovers for lunch, but don't know if I'll make it again. It IS a good way to get lots of veggies in a meal.
Excellent and simple. You can skip the spinach and use jarred sauce to make it faster. We has this with some chicken and loved it. Thanks!
This was very good!!!!! I added a little salt and pepper and a little more garlic. Thanks for the great recipe!!!
4 stars as written; 5 stars if you peel the eggplant first... Either way, deeelicious!!
This turned out soooo good for me! Bursting with flavour it has been added to my favs and i hope to be making it again soon.
My husband and I loved this dish. The only changes I made, were adding some salt to the eggplant slices along with the garlic powder, and using 8/11 pan to assemble the dish (the eggplant slices were not enough to cover the bottom of 9/13 pan ). Thanks for the recipe.
WOW...this is my family's new favorite recipe! I doubled the recipe and it was completely eaten up. Next time Ill triple it LOL. (We are a large family!) I used a bit more sauce than was called for but I didn't change anything else about it. I believe anyone could eat eggplant this way, 5 of my kids said they didn't like eggplant till I made this, now they cant get enough of it. Thanks so much for sharing this recipe!
Made this with the eggplant we got from the garden. Did not have fresh spinach on had so I used a package of frozen that I defrosted and drained. Was soooooo good.Will make this again and bring to the next potluck
Absolutely delicious!!! Even my 16 month old ate it. This was very tasty and I will email this recipe to all my friends and family. I did use Ragu spaghetti sauce as my pasta sauce. Other than being a little bit soupy/watery at the bottom it was very tasty. I assume that is from the tomatoes and the spinach being cooked. I highly recommend this! Great recipe!
This recipe was awesome! I wouldn't change a thing. I served it with some pasta and a salad and I couldn't wait to get 2nds.
Superb recipe and great vegetarian dish. I followed the recipe exactly and it turned out wonderfully.
This was just okay in my opinion. I'll make it again, but next time I'll cook the onions by themselves longer to get them tender and add more tomato sauce on top.
My husband and I like this eggplant dish, but it was not appealing to the kidos, due to the eggplant and spinach leaves. Very flavorful.
Very tasty! I did salt & sweat the eggplant for about 30 mins. , but then skipped stepped one. Loved the cheesy flavor. Did sprinkle garlic powder and S&P on the eggplant slices prior to adding the tomato layer. Will make again. Served with pasta side. 5 year olds even gobbled up!
This was so yummy. I made this for dinner with some fresh bread, salad and wine. This got two thumbs up from the hubby.
Delicious! But I did use too much sauce so it came out a little runny and I didn't have any ricotta cheese. I will definitely make this again.
This was exceptional! I am a vegetarian, but my boyfriend LOVES meat. He even said that this was one of his favorite meals! It was so yummy and delicious! I will definitely make it again! Thanks!
Just served this dish at our family Easter Buffet and everyone loved it. Went very well with the ham, etc. I doubled the ricotta, mozzarella and Parmesan mixture and used a roasted Portobello mushroom pasta sauce rather than plain tomato sauce and eliminated the Italian seasonings. Rate it 4 1/2 stars!
Even my 2 and 4 year old ate this!! I made some of the common substitutions, frozen spinach for fresh and 1/2 can of diced tomato for the fresh tomato. I also allowed the eggplant to sweat before cooking. Otherwise, I followed the recipe and it was yummy! Adding mushrooms would taste great, too.
This was delicious and very easy to make. I just used the pre-shredded 3 Itailian cheese.
This was really good. Looked good and tasted nice. I had to load on the salt when served though. It was bland without it. My kids hated it....and that usually means it's a good recipe! :)
This was great. A definate keeper. Only thing i changed was that i made a homemade marinara sauce.
This is an excellent recipe. Even though I made a couple of substitutions because of ingredients on hand, it came out delicious. I will definitely make this again.
I almost got knocked over when this came out of the oven. Hubby loved it and ate more than half the pan (and he doesn't usually like eggplant). Will def make again. Thanks!
I did as others did and salted the eggplant for 20 min, then brushed with olive oil and baked as instructed for 10 minutes, then proceeded with the rest of the recipe. The eggplant was so tough -you could not cut it with a fork but needed a knife. I'm not sure what I did wrong with this. No one in the family would eat it, unfortunately. I thought it was otherwise fine - but I think I'll be eating this myself for a week!
Easy, good but makes a mess....simple review :-) I will make again.
My husband termed this acceptable, which means not great in his book. Admittedly I used eggplant from last summer's CSA that had been peeled and frozen. It had little flavor. I would like to try it again with fresh eggplant baked first in the oven, as directed. I did like the addition of fresh spinach in the layers.
This is a great recipe. The only reason I didn't give it five stars is because I didn't follow the recipe exactly. I used all the ingredients just different proportions of each. It is delicious and has become a regular as I use up all of the eggplants in my garden. Thanks!
made this for dinner tonight with baked pork chops. i;m trying to stay away from bread crumbs and fried .this was perfect i cut the cheese a little but would not hesitate to serve it to company
This was a great spin on the usual breaded eggplant dish I make and great use of a whole bag of spinach, too. A few notes: I substituted cottage cheese for ricotta cheese; the recipe was really only enough for about 3-4 people (not 6) if it's the main dish; I egged and breaded the eggplant before putting it in the casserole dish.
YUM. Added chopped mushrooms and subbed cottage cheese for ricotta. Doubled cheese mixture. Used mushroom and olive tomato sauce and nixed additional seasoning.
This was so yummy! My husband and I loved it! I didn't have much parmesan so I used a little more mozzerella. In total, I used less cheese than the recipe called for though. I didn't have any fresh tomatoes so I used half of a can of diced tomatoes with the juices drained. I cooked the onions, garlic, and spinach for about 7 minutes although it says just a few minutes. We will definitely be making this recipe again. Super easy and super delicious!
This is very good. I followed the recipe and enjoyed the flavor - had a nice, fresh taste. Really enjoyed the spinach and the eggplant cooked perfectly. Went great with a salad and some garlic bread. I am always looking for good, meatless dishes and this one will go into our dinner rotation.
I followed the recipe pretty closely except ... added some sliced mushrooms (that I needed to use up), didn't really measure the red sauce, only had 6oz of spinach and added fresh basil. I served it over penne. It was very good, but needed more flavor. Also, I used 2 eggplants, so maybe I didn't increase the other ingredients enough. Next time I will add more red sauce, more spinach, more seasonings and maybe even some red pepper flakes for a kick. Easy and yummy and I bet the leftovers will be great!
