Vegan eggplant parmesan in the air fryer

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Vegan eggplant parmesan is a dinner party-worthy dish that comes together quickly in the air fryer. Eggplant slices are coated in panko, seasonings, and non-dairy parmesan. After getting crisp in the air fryer, marinara sauce & vegan mozzarella are added until warm & melty.

Plus, you can make vegan eggplant parmesan ahead of time. Then just reheat it to maximize time with your guests. It’s also great for weekly meal prep.

There are two problems with ordering eggplant in restaurants.

One. If you get it in a stir-fry, it’s often fried and swimming in oil. Eggplant sucks up oil like a sponge. That makes for a lunch that just sinks in your stomach like a rock.

Two. If you want to order it at an Italian restaurant, it’s often dipped in egg, coated in breadcrumbs, and then covered with dairy-based cheese. Obviously, this is not an option for vegan diners like myself.

It’s for those reasons that I love cooking it at home in my air fryer.

It’s great for making an easy air fryer eggplant dip (a.k.a. baba ganoush) that’s ready in a lot less time than cooking in the oven or on the grill.

And it’s super convenient & a lot less messy to make breaded and “fried” vegan eggplant parm right in the air fryer.

Just a couple spritzes of oil are involved. So it won’t get water-logged with oil. Oil-logged? But it’s still beautifully crispy on the outside.

You can have it breaded on its own. Or add a spoonful of your favorite marinara and a pinch of non-dairy mozzarella to melt on top.

Cutting through the crispy slices with your fork into the beautifully creamy center & saucy top is pure pleasure. It almost puts me to the mind of vegan mozzarella sticks.

And yes, you can eat the eggplant skin too!

How to make this recipe

Get a medium-sized purple globe eggplant. Either an American or Italian eggplant is fine.

Cut off & discard the top with stem and base. Then cut the remaining eggplant into ½ inch slices.

Now it’s time to make a breading work station

Eggplant is a pretty dry vegetable inside. (Actually, it’s a berry, botanically-speaking!) So it doesn’t require cornstarch or flour for extra dryness like vegan fried green tomatoes do. That means you’ll only need two plates on your work station.

On one plate, put vegan mayonnaise. It’s going to be your “egg” in this breading station to hold seasoned breadcrumbs to the slices.

I like Vegenaise, but it doesn’t really matter what kind of vegan mayo you use here. You won’t taste it in the dish. It’s just acting as a binder.

On the second plate put panko breadcrumbs, dried oregano, dried basil, granulated onion, salt, pepper, and shredded vegan parmesan. (For a gluten-free option, use gluten-free panko!)

I use Violife parmesan. Then I finely grate it with a microplane zester. If you don’t have non-dairy parmesan, it’s no problem to omit it. There’s plenty of flavor without it.

Dip the slices into the mayo, and coat every side. Then push any excess mayo off of the slices. It should be the sheerest of coatings. It just needs enough on it to make it sticky. You don’t want dollops of mayo.

(I recommend coating all of the slices in mayo first before dipping in breadcrumbs, because the mayo part requires both hands. It’s not as easy to do one hand for wet ingredients & one hand for dry ingredients like you’d usually do at a breading station.)

Next dip all of the slices into the breadcrumb mixture. Make sure to coat every side.

Eggplants vary in size. So you may need to add extra breadcrumbs & seasonings to your plate if the one you’re breading is on the larger side.

Now move the slices to your air fryer basket

You want one even layer of eggplant slices in the basket. Depending on the size of your basket & eggplant rounds, you’ll probably be able to fit about 4 to 6 slices. So you’ll definitely have to cook the slices in batches.

Spray the eggplant slices with oil. Then set the air fryer to 400 degrees for 12 minutes. Stop halfway through (or whenever they are toasty brown on top) to flip the slices. Spray that side with oil and continue cooking.

At the 10-minute mark (or whenever they are nutty brown on top), add spoonfuls of your favorite marinara sauce on top of all the slices and a pinch of non-dairy mozzarella. (My favorite marinara of the moment is Trader Joe’s Italian marinara.) Then let the slices continue cooking for the remaining two minutes.

(If you’d prefer to have breaded eggplant on its own without sauce & non-dairy cheese, you can stop at the 10-minute mark, and remove the slices if they seem done enough for you.)

When the non-dairy mozzarella is melty & the eggplant slices are brown around the edges, the vegan eggplant parm is done.

Continue air frying the remaining eggplant slices. Keep in mind that the air fryer is now hot. So the remaining slices will cook a little faster. Keep an eye on them, so they don’t burn.

What to serve with it

Serve it with your favorite pasta with marinara & sautéed mushrooms, sautéed spinach, or an easy spinach salad.

It’s also amazing in an eggplant parmesan sandwich!

How to reheat it

Vegan eggplant parmesan works terrifically well for leftovers.

To reheat, put the refrigerated slices into the air fryer. Then top with additional marinara sauce & non-dairy cheese on each slice, so that it will look fresh on top. Plus, you get that much more saucy, gooey deliciousness.

Air fry at 390 degrees for 5 minutes. For obvious reasons, you won’t want to flip it.

Here are more air fryer entrees you’ll enjoy:

• Vegan lasagna for one
• Vegan arancini (Italian rice balls)
• Vegan taquitos with jackfruit
• Baked taquitos with sweet potatoes
• Crustless mini vegan quiche