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Red sauce topped with stacks of thick white paste sprinkled with freshly chopped green herbs.
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Lighter Vegan Eggplant Parmesan (No breadcrumbs!)

This vegan eggplant parmesan is a lighter take on the authentic Italian recipe. Roasted eggplants are swimming in a hearty Pomodoro sauce and in a rich melted cheese sauce made of cannellini beans. No breading since the classic Italian recipe doesn't call for any panko breadcrumbs. I am positive that if you try it, you'll make it again and again.
Course Main Course
Cuisine Dairy-free, Egg-free, Gluten-free, Italian, Vegan, Vegetarian
Keyword dairy-free eggplant parmesan, eggplant parmigiana, vegan eggplant parmesan
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Baking time 15 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
Servings 4 servings
Calories 542kcal

Ingredients

Roasting eggplants

Pomodoro sauce

Vegan melted cheese sauce

Instructions

Initial preparations

  • Wash and slice eggplant lengthwise, less than ¼ inch thin (0.5 cm). Salt them and let them sit for at least 20 minutes. Don't worry if they turn brown. The slices will be brown after roasting and baking.

Roasting eggplant slices

  • We recommend roasting them coated thinly with olive oil on a baking tray with a grill rack. Preheat the oven to 390 Fahrenheit (ca. 199 °C) and roast them for 10 minutes. When ready, leave it to cool on the rack. 

Making Pomodoro sauce

  • Peel and chop the onion and cook it lightly in olive oil until it turns glossy. Add peeled and chopped garlic, and cook for 1-2 minutes. 
  • Add tomato sauce and seasoning (basil, salt, and pepper) and cook for 5 minutes.

Making vegan melted cheese sauce

  • Peel and chop the onion and cook it lightly in olive oil until it turns glossy.
  • Add peeled and chopped garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes.
  • Add canned cannellini beans and bring to a boil.
  • Add dairy-free milk and whisk until combined, and bring to a boil. Finally, add apple cider vinegar, nutritional yeast, salt, and pepper.
  • The next step would be to blend it into a smooth, creamy sauce. Use an immersion blender or for an extra smooth sauce use a high-power blender like Vitamix.
  • Now, it is time to thicken it to a consistency of melted cheese. Add the mixture back to a saucepan and add tapioca starch (1 Tbsp at a time). When you are ready, layer up your eggplant parmesan. 

Layering and baking eggplant parmesan

  • To ensure that the eggplant slices do not stick to the bottom, we spread on the bottom of our 9 x 7 x 3 inch (23 x 18 x 8 cm) oven-safe dish a splash of Pomodoro sauce.
  • The first layer is roasted eggplant slices (not overlapping). Then comes a generous amount of Pomodoro sauce. Then the cheezy, beany white sauce.
  • Now, repeat with the remaining eggplant slices, Pomodoro sauce, and white sauce. We recommend doing 3 layers of eggplant. 
  • Preheat the oven to 390 Fahrenheit (ca. 199 °C) and bake it for 15 minutes.
  • A quick tip: Bean-based sauces can dry up, so that is why the baking time is short. However, you roasted the eggplants and you cooked both sauces, so there is really nothing that is needed to be baked for long.

Video

Notes

Troubleshooting tips to make a vegan melted cheese sauce

This sauce will not give you sliceable mozzarella, 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. 
  • 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 helps with the thickening a lot. 
  • Too thick? → If the beans make the sauce too thick, just 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 their thickening power 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.  

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 542kcal | Carbohydrates: 78g | Protein: 21g | Fat: 20g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 13g | Sodium: 93mg | Potassium: 2482mg | Fiber: 23g | Sugar: 25g | Vitamin A: 1336IU | Vitamin C: 37mg | Calcium: 239mg | Iron: 9mg