Lighter Vegan Eggplant Parmesan (No breadcrumbs!)

What to expect?

There are not only several names (Eggplant Parmigiana or Parmigiana di Melanzane), but there are also several versions of this dish, as you can imagine. You most probably heard about the one with breaded eggplant slices, which is more of an American take rather than an authentic feature. Also, in Italy, there is still an ongoing debate about its origin. Although the one thing they agree on is that you need:

• fried or roasted eggplant (aka aubergine),
• tomato ragu, and
• a cheesy topping of mozzarella and parmesan.

So is it easy to make a vegan eggplant parmesan? Yes and no.

1. The Pomodoro sauce is already vegan, so check.
2. The roasted or fried eggplant slices are also vegan, so check again.
3. The only thing missing is how to make a cheezy, creamy, melted mozzarella top.

I have to tell you that it is ain’t easy to make the last item on the list perfectly mimic its dairy friend. Mozzarella has quite a neutral taste compared to other cheeses, and it gets quite gooey when it melts. Parmesan cheese is an aged cheese with quite a unique, tangy taste. So what do we do? 

We invent a creamy, rich, cheezy sauce that will turn our vegan eggplant parmesan into a truly satisfying, comforting, and delicious dish to eat. We could have used cashews, as it seems like almost everybody does. Or we could have used store-bought vegan parmesan cheese that is usually soy or coconut oil-based. But we didn’t. We opted for a more whole foods plant-based approach and used CANNELLINI BEANS to make a melted vegan mozzarella cheese sauce. And it turned out awesome.

Ingredients

So what do you need to make this light vegan eggplant parm? I mean apart from eggplants. Any type would do, but we prefer to use the large purple ones, called globe eggplants.

Pomodoro sauce

• Sieved tomato puree → You can probably find several types of tomato sauces in the stores. We recommend choosing sieved tomato puree, which is thicker and unseasoned. It is by far the best ingredient to make a rich Pomodoro sauce.
• Fresh basil leaves → You can use dried ground basil as well. But if you can, try it with fresh leaves, since the aroma and the smell of fresh leaves are just amazing. You can add a bit of oregano as well.
• Olive oil
• Onion
• Garlic → You can always use garlic powder if you run out of raw garlic cloves.

Vegan mozzarella cheese sauce

• Cannellini or white beans → Since they have quite a neutral taste, it is easy to overpower the beany flavors with proper seasoning. Once they are pureed, they make a perfectly thick, rich, creamy sauce. No surprise there that they are also excellent thickeners for soups.
• Onion
• Garlic → You can absolutely use garlic powder.
• Dairy-free milk → We recommend using unsweetened milk, but since store-bought ones tend to be a tad on the sweeter side, we prefer using homemade cashew milk.
• Nutritional yeast → This you need if you want a parmesan cheese-like aged cheese flavor.
• Apple cider vinegar
• Tapioca starch → The best alternative is cornstarch or other tapioca flour substitutes.

🛒 You can find detailed measurements for all ingredients in the printable version of the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

Instructions

Roasting eggplant

1. Wash and slice eggplant lengthwise very thin (less than ¼ inches or 0.5 cm).
2. Sprinkle them with salt and let them sit on a clean kitchen towel or paper towel for at least 20 minutes to eliminate excess moisture and bitterness. There is no need to peel them; without it, the eggplant slices might disappear in your vegan eggplant parm after baking. 🙂
3. We recommend roasting them on a baking tray with a grill rack. Why? You need less oil because the slices will not stick to the tray. Second, removing excess moisture is easier as any liquid the eggplant releases drips down the rack and will not stay with the slices as if you roast them on parchment paper or a baking sheet.
4. Preheat the oven to 390 Fahrenheit (ca. 199 °C) and roast them thinly oiled for 10 minutes. When ready, leave them to cool on the rack. They should look like the ones in the below picture.  

A quick note: Let the salted eggplant slices rest overnight. Don’t worry if they get brown, as they will get brown after frying or baking. For more info about why you must salt them and how to prepare eggplant for cooking.

Making Pomodoro sauce

Have you seen our vegan marinara sauce recipe? While marinara is a chunky tomato sauce, Pomodoro is its smooth friend. It is super easy to make this sauce, not to mention it is ready in less than 10 minutes. 

1. Take a saucepan or a frying pan and heat it over medium heat. Add oil and chopped onion, and saute them until they turn glossy.
2. Add peeled and chopped garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes.
3. Add tomato sauce and the seasoning (fresh or dried basil, salt, and black pepper).
4. Cook the sauce for 5 more minutes. You’re done!

A quick tip: If you have any picky eaters in your family or among your friends, you can use an immersion blender to make the fresh basil and the chopped veggies thoroughly and invisibly incorporated. 🙂 Alternatively, you can use garlic powder, onion powder, and dried basil.

Making vegan melted cheese from beans

Here comes the fun. This mixture will not give you sliceable mozzarella (you need a recipe with agar agar in it), but it will give you a rich, creamy, melted cheese texture. I would even say way richer and more delicious than melted mozzarella. But let us know what you think. 

So, how to make cheezy, gooey vegan melted cheese sauce out of cannellini beans?

1. Peel and chop the onion and cook it lightly in olive oil until it turns glossy.
2. Add peeled and chopped garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes.
3. Add canned drained cannellini beans. Stir to combine.
4. Add dairy-free milk. Whisk until they are combined, and bring the sauce to a boil.
5. Add apple cider vinegar, nutritional yeast, salt, and black pepper.
6. Blend the sauce with an immersion blender, or use a high-power blender like Vitamix for an extra smooth finish. Add the mixture back to a saucepan and add tapioca starch (1 Tbsp at a time) to really thicken the sauce into a consistency of melted cheese. When you are ready, layer up your vegan eggplant parmesan. 

Layering and baking

Now you have the roasted eggplant slices, the Pomodoro sauce, and the vegan cheese sauce. You are ready to assemble this perfectly light but rich and filling vegan eggplant parmigiana. 

1. Take a casserole dish or any oven-safe baking dish. The size of the one in the photo is 9 × 7 × 3 inches (23 × 18 × 8 cm). Spread a thin layer of Pomodoro sauce first to avoid sticking to the bottom.
2. The next layer is roasted eggplant slices.
3. Then comes the Pomodoro sauce again (a more generous amount this time).
4. Last but not least, here comes the vegan white sauce. Repeat this with the remaining eggplant slices, Pomodoro sauce, and white sauce. We recommend doing three sets of layers. 
5. When ready, bake it in a preheated oven of 390 Fahrenheit (ca. 199 °C) for 15 minutes.

A quick tip: Bean-based sauce can dry up, so that is why the baking time is short. However, since you roasted the eggplants and cooked the Pomodoro and the melted cheese sauce, nothing needs to be baked for long. 

Cooking tips

• Not thick enough? → Add more starch (1 Tbsp at a time) directly to the sauce and stir vigorously with a whisk to avoid lumps. The bean purée so to speak helps with the thickening a lot. 
• Too thick? → If the beans make the sauce too thick, add more milk (1 Tbsp at a time). 
• Can you use any other flour or starch? → Yes, you can make it with any type of flour or starch, but the thickening power of each of them is different. The measurements I gave in the recipe card may not be the same if you use wheat flour, almond flour, or other starches. Read how to substitute tapioca flour here.

Serving ideas

The most obvious choice would be to serve with pasta like spaghetti or linguini. If you want to be creative don’t say no to a light side salad or a bit of Italian risotto or spanakonrizo which we stuffed in butternut squash.

For added protein (I mean besides the hidden beans) add some classic vegan meatballs, vegan eggplant meatballs (if you have even more eggplants to use up), or mushroom meatballs.

Let us know in the comments what is your favorite combination apart from serving it with a generous amount of vegan parmesan cheese.

Storing tips

All casserole-type dishes are great for batch cooking. You can easily store it in the fridge for 3-4 days without any problem.

Store any leftovers per serving (in an airtight container) in a freezer and thaw whenever you need them. 

More vegan eggplant recipes

Eggplant is such a versatile ingredient to have around. We listed more than 30 delicious vegan eggplant recipes, from appetizers through lunch to dessert. Or check out the ones below.

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