Eggplant Casserole
This eggplant casserole is full of the best that summer has to offer – eggplant, fresh herbs, mushrooms, tomatoes, and bell peppers. It’s topped with cheese and baked until bubbling hot. Serve it as a side dish or main dish – it’s perfect either way.
If you’ve been following along the last few months you already know I’ve been digging into the archives of this site to find some gems to bring forward and share again and today it’s this eggplant casserole. It’s a veggie-loaded baked dish I first shared back in 2009 and it’s worthy of another moment in the spotlight.
It’s comforting without being heavy, it’s vegetarian but filling, and there’s cheese which is always a sure-fire way to get me to happily eat a bunch of veggies. It’s also a great excuse to raid the local farmer’s market in the summer.
It doubles as both a side dish and a main dish – you can serve it just as it is or add some rice or pasta on the side. Or, serve it as a side dish for chicken, pork or steak. I’ve even served it on toasted hot dog buns – it makes a great sandwich filling.
Like ratatouille, it’s a celebration of summer veggies with eggplant as the star, and now is the perfect time to give it a try. I think you’re going to like it.
Ingredients You’ll Need
Not gonna lie, it feels good to shop for this recipe. Look how healthy we are with a cart full of vegetables! Pro tip: I just tuck my ice cream and pizza rolls underneath them and no one knows except for me and the cashier.
- Butter and olive oil
- Diced onion
- Chopped garlic
- Diced yellow bell pepper
- Portobello mushrooms
- Chopped tomatoes
- Fresh parsley, thyme, and basil
- Vegetable oil
- Cubed eggplant
- Salt
- Flour
- Grated Parmesan cheese
- Shredded fresh mozzarella cheese
How to Make Eggplant Casserole
Yes, this recipe has a few steps but it’s all worth it in the end. It starts on the stove and finishes in the oven and will be met with “oohs” and “ahhs” and “mmmms” when you serve it.
You will need your biggest pan for this recipe. If you don’t have one use a large pot (like for boiling pasta).
Heat the butter and olive oil over medium heat and once the butter has melted add the onion and cook them until the start to soften. Add the bell pepper and garlic and cook them with the onions for a few minutes.
Add the mushroom and cook them until they start to release their moisture and then add the tomatoes and herbs. Stir and simmer for a few minutes before transferring all of it to a bowl.
In the same pan, add the eggplant, salt and oil. It will seem like a lot of eggplant, but don’t worry – it will cook down quite a bit. Cook it until it softens and browns in spots.
Sprinkle the flour over the top of the cooked eggplant and stir it all together. The flour will help thicken the juices so your casserole isn’t watery. Add the tomato mixture to the eggplant, bring the pan to a simmer and cook it all of for a few minutes.
You will need to transfer everything in the pan to a casserole dish. I like to create layers with the cheese by scooping half of the veggies, top with cheese and then add the rest of the eggplant and cheese on top. You can do two or three layers this way or just pile all of the cheese on top and skip the layering.
Bake the eggplant casserole uncovered for 30 minutes at 375°F. Let it stand for a few minutes before serving.
A Few More Recipe Tips
- A tablespoon of salt in the recipe seems like a lot but keep in mind that you have a whole lot of veggies that need seasoning. Also, the salt helps the eggplant release moisture as you cook it in the pan. You can reduce the amount if you prefer, but I don’t recommend omitting it.
- For the cheese, you can use sliced mozzarella (as mentioned in the recipe card), shredded mozzarella or cubed mozzarella (which is what I used in the photos). I prefer the fresh mozzarella for this recipe, but you can sub regular low-moisture mozzarella if you like.
- The leftovers will keep well in the refrigerator. As far as freezing the casserole, I haven’t tried it and I’m not sure how it would hold up. Sometimes veggies get a weird texture after they’ve been frozen. If you try it let me know how it worked for you.
Flavor abounds and all the veggie good-feels manifest with this eggplant casserole. The echos of the “oohs” , “ahhs” and “mmmmms” will stay with you for days. I mean, I’m just saying it’s good – really good. I hope you love it.
Happy casserole-ing,
More Summer Recipes
- Grilled Steak with Eggplant Puree (Sultan’s Delight)
- Eggplant with Buttery Rosemary Pasta
- Homemade Potato Salad
- Shrimp Fettuccine with Tomatoes and Feta
- Grilled Chicken Cobb Salad
Eggplant Casserole
This casserole is full of the best that summer has to offer – eggplant, fresh herbs, mushrooms, tomatoes, and bell peppers. It’s topped with cheese and baked until bubbling hot.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 60 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large onion, diced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 yellow pepper, diced
- 2 portabello mushroom caps, sliced into bite-sized pieces
- 3 large tomatoes, diced
- 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon fresh basil, finely chopped
- 1/2 tablespoon fresh thyme
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 2 medium eggplants, cut into bite-sized pieces
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
- 4 ounces fresh mozzarella, sliced
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Coat a 2 1/2-quart casserole dish with cooking spray.
- In a large skillet heat the butter and olive oil over medium-low heat. Add in the onions and cook for 3 minutes or so (don’t let them brown). Add in the peppers and garlic and continue to cook for an additional 3 minutes. Add in the mushrooms and cook them until they start to release their moisture (about 3 to 4 minutes). Finally, add in the tomatoes and herbs and allow to simmer for a couple of minutes. Remove the mixture to a large bowl and set aside.
- In the same skillet, heat the vegetable oil and then add the eggplant and salt. Allow the eggplant to cook until it’s browned, stirring frequently. Once lightly browned add in the flour and stir. Add the tomato mixture and stir everything together and bring it to a simmer.
- Spoon in 1/3 of the vegetable mixture into the prepared baking dish. Top it with some Parmesan cheese and a few slices of mozzarella. Spoon more of the veggies on top of the cheese followed by more cheese. Spoon in the last of the mixture and top it all of with a layer of cheese on top.
- Bake the casserole for 30 minutes. Allow the casserole to stand a few minutes before serving.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/6 of recipe
- Calories: 294
- Sugar: 10.9g
- Sodium: 1459.3mg
- Fat: 19.9g
- Saturated Fat: 8.4g
- Unsaturated Fat: 10.2g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 22.2g
- Fiber: 8.1g
- Protein: 11g
- Cholesterol: 34.6mg
Post and photos updated from the archives. First published in August 2009.
This looks amazing! I would like to make up a double batch (bumper crop of eggplant) and freeze it. Have you tried freezing it? Thank you.
Hi Tammy, I haven’t tried freezing this, but please let me know if you try it!
It freezes very well if you have a sealer machine. You know you take the finished casserole, you put it in a machine approved plastic(it comes with the machine), then slide the opened end into the sealer. The machine will pull moisture out and seal. You don’t want to pull all the moisture out. The sealing preserves the vegetables integrity. Then freeze. I love this recipe because eggplant is my favorite vegetable. Believe it or not, there are not a lot of recipes that call for eggplant. Then when you want it’s ready and waiting. I do a double batch so I can have another meal. I suggest letting the casserole thaw and bake in the oven. Turn oven on to 400 degrees for 20 minutes. Once oven is heated turn oven down to 350 degrees. Bake 20-30 minutes depending on you oven. Remember the casserole is already cooked. You don’t want to over cook. I enjoyed making this recipe!
Thanks for the tips, Wendy! So glad you liked this recipe 🙂
Great recipe, easy to make, and got plenty of compliments. I added pepper flakes since everyone in my family likes the extra kick. After seconds all around, everything disappeared.
So glad you liked it!
My blind 96 year young sister made this and I ❤️ 🍆 but since i live By my self I never make it
I love the fact that no grilling is required (which is usually the case with eggplant), thus saving time.
I used a banana pepper instead of a yellow pepper bc that’s what I had on hand. It’s baking now, so I can’t honestly comment on taste. But the smells are amazing! My only question is the cook time. 30 min? or 60 min? Both were posted.
It needs to bake for 30 minutes – it’s listed in the last step 🙂 I hope you enjoy it!
Not sure how freezing would work for this recipe since eggplant is in chunks but for what its worth, I grate up eggplant to add to my chili since I do not like beans. I freeze a lot of it and never noticed any difference in flavor or texture.
This casserole is delicious! I didn’t have any mushrooms and it was still amazing! My vegetarian daughter and vegan daughters loved it as well. I just put vegan cheese on her part of the casserole. I will definitely be making this again with mushrooms. And doubling it for leftovers! Thank you for sharing!
Definitely try it with mushrooms – so glad you liked it. Thanks for the tip about vegan cheese, too!
I made this for mom and I on a snowy day here in NY. Smells amazing and tastes amazing. Thank you for the receipe
You’re welcome! So, glad you enjoyed it 🙂
This dish smelled delicious as it was baking. I’ve just taken it out of the oven and couldn’t wait so I took a bite. It’s delectable! Thanks for this recipe.
I absolutely loved this recipe. Eggplant is a favorite of mine so I’m always looking for new recipes.
This was a hit with me and hubby’ served as a mane course. I just delighted I have left overs for another meal‼️
OMG amazing dish! I just cooked it and scarfed a serving and sit here in a happy stupor. I have to admit to a could changes. I used no oil in the first part and replaced the fresh tomatoes with a can of diced tomatoes. I also only used 1 tbsp of oil for the second part. So melty and cheesy and yummy. This is going in the permanent cookbook!
Yay! So glad you liked it!
Amazing recipe. I added spinach, jalapeño and pasta sauce
Just a question about the ingredients. Is it really a tablespoon of salt? Because of kidney disease this seems like an awful large portion, but don’t know if it’s needed for the eggplant to cook properly.
You can reduce the salt if you prefer. The reason for the amount is that with all the different vegetables there’s very little seasoning so it can be bland. The salt also helps pull out the moisture from the eggplant. That said, feel free to reduce the amount based on your dietary needs.
This was amazing…. so glad I found your recipe. I didn’t have everything on hand so I had to substitute:
dried spices versus fresh ( 1 tsp of each)..no Parmesan so I subbed with grated Cheddar cheese..and I used mozzerella cheese slices… cremini mushrooms instead of the Portabellas …oh and I snuck in a pound of hot Italian sausage… Looking forward to leftovers for dinner tomorrow! THANK YOU.
I love the changes you made – sounds great!
Can this be made ahead of time and reheated?
You can make it and then refrigerate it before you bake it. You may need to bake it a little longer if it goes in the oven cold.