Quick and Easy Eggplant Parmesan Sandwich is the perfect comfort food recipe for any meal. It takes only 30 minutes to make this sandwich. Don’t you just love all that cheesy goodness?
This eggplant Parmesan sandwich is now my favorite sandwich in the world.
Its the best comfort food recipe to make and its the most delicious recipe ever!
So, in celebration of August being the month for Sandwiches, I figured I would bring you my favorite sandwich recipe ever!
Look at all that ooey-goey melted Mozzarella cheese!!
There is something so comforting about melted mozzarella isn’t it? Even my Mozzarella Cheese Sandwich is a drool worthy because of all the melted cheese.
The best part of this sandwich is that I used Aquafaba to bread the eggplant. In the past, I have used almond milk and flax seed meal which were ok.
However, Aquafaba is completely revolutionized everything I do. It works so well when acting as a binding agent in burgers and other patties.
Now, you can go for your store bought pizza or marinara sauce for the Parmesan. However, I highly recommend my homemade pizza sauce because it is made with all fresh ingredients. Plus, it has an extra amount of garlic which made it that much more delicious.
You can also add red or green bell peppers, onions and mushrooms to this recipe. I kept it as simple as possible, but, I do love some red peppers in the sandwich
Baking the eggplants is a good option for this recipe. However, I found that shallow frying them is much better. I used very little oil to shallow fry about 7 eggplant rounds.
Two of these rounds didn’t make it to the sandwich!
Ciabatta worked so well for this sandwich. Nothing kills the sandwich experience like a stale bread. So, if you can’t find fresh ciabatta, use a fresh hoagie sandwich bun.
For best results, you can do an open bake first. Once the cheese has melted, you can cover the top. I oiled the top part just a little bit before covering it.
Eggplant parm is my favorite thing to eat at Olive Garden. It’s also one of the few vegetarian friendly recipes at that restaurant, lol.
What is your favorite sandwich?
Eggplant Parmesan Sandwich
Ingredients
For the Eggplant
- ½ Eggplant medium (cut in circular shapes)
- 2 tsp salt
For Breading the eggplant
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 2 tsp Oregano (dried)
- 1 tsp Parsley (dried)
- 1 tsp Rosemary Fresh, if possible
- 2 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp salt (optional)
- ½ cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 2 cup panko bread crumbs
- ¼ cup Parmesan shredded
- 1 cup aquafaba
For the Sandwich
- 1 Ciabatta Loaf About a foot long
- 1 cup pasta sauce or marinara
- 4 slices Mozzarella Cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and lightly oil a baking sheet
- In a mixing bowl, sieve the flour. Then add the salt, pepper, oregano, Rosemary and Parsley
- Mix well using a spoon
- In a separate bowl, add the olive oil, onions, peppers, oregano, basil and salt. Mix well and set aside
- In a separate bowl, mix the panko and Parmesan. Set aside.
Breading the Eggplant
- Dip one eggplant slice into the aquafaba
- Coat the eggplant very well and then drop it into the all purpose flour mixture
- Coat well on both sides and transfer to the Panko + Parmesan bowl
- Coat well and place it on the baking tray
- Do the same for the other eggplant rounds
- On the stove top, heat the oil in a medium pan and shallow fry the eggplants on both sides
- Transfer the fried eggplant to a paper towel and dab to remove the extra oil
- While they are cooling, split open the ciabatta bread
- On one side of the bread, generously spread the Pizza sauce
- Top with the fried eggplants, then the mozzarella cheese.
- Dab a couple teaspoons of pizza sauce on top of the mozzarella
- Place the sandwich open-faced into the oven and bake for 10 minutes or until the mozzarella has melted.
- Cover the top of the sandwich and, optionally, lightly baste it with oil
- Place it in the oven for about 5 more minutes and then remove
- Cut into half and serve immediately
Britney says
This would be something to switch up our dinner rut! Thanks for the idea!
Healing Tomato says
Thank you, Britney
Cali @ Cali's Cuisine says
I love eggplant parm, but never thought of putting it in a sandwich. Brilliant!
Healing Tomato says
Thank you, Cali
Joanne says
This looks absolutely delicious Rini! Love eggplant! Pinned and shared!
Healing Tomato says
Thank you, Joanne
Katie Pierce says
This recipe looks SO GOOD! Love the vegan alternatives! Pinning this 🙂
Healing Tomato says
Thank you so much, Katie. Appreciate the pin also.
Rebecca @ Living Better Together says
This sandwich looks so absolutely amazing!! I love that it uses eggplant. It feels so fresh for summer.
Healing Tomato says
Thank you, Rebecca.
Debra says
This looks absolutely amazing! Yum!
Healing Tomato says
Thank you, Debra
LydiaF says
I make mine with onions and peppers too. And lots of melty cheese!
Healing Tomato says
Thank you, Lydia. Yes, there is no such thing as too much cheese.
Meagan says
Wow, that looks amazing! I love all the cheesy goodness. Yum! I’ve really started to love egg plant lately.
Healing Tomato says
Thank you, Meagan
Heidi @ Happiness is Homemade says
Yum! I’ve never tried eggplant parmesan, but it looks delicious, especially in sandwich form!
Healing Tomato says
Thank you, Heidi
Justine says
Looks delish!
Healing Tomato says
Thank you, Justine
Michelle @ Sunshine and Hurricanes says
I love reading people’s “healthier” versions of traditional favorites! The wheat germ was a great idea!
Healing Tomato says
Thank you, Michelle
Becky says
And now I am hungry!! I can see why this is your new favorite sandwich 🙂 Gotta make it very soon!!
Healing Tomato says
Thank you, Becky. I am going to send you these sandwiches for lunch.
Sandra - The Foodie Affair says
This is right up my ally! I’m always looking for new ways to prepare eggplant. Can’t wait to try this sandwich!
Healing Tomato says
Thank you, Sandra.
Kathy Hester says
Your eggplant parm looks amazing!
Healing Tomato says
Thank you, Kathy
Alisa @ Go Dairy Free says
I can’t believe I’ve never seen Eggplant Parm as a sandwich – brilliant idea! Love the open faced version.
Healing Tomato says
Thank you, Alisa
Martha @ A Family Feast says
I haven’t had a good eggplant parm sandwich in ages…and your recipe has me craving one!! I love the different (healthier) ingredients in your breading..sounds delicious!
Healing Tomato says
Thank you, Martha.
Florian @ContentednessCooking says
This looks fantastic, thanks for sharing!
Healing Tomato says
Thank you, Florian
Sneha says
my favorite dish…………. 🙂 \m/
Healing Tomato says
Thank you, Sneha
susan @ the wimpy vegetarian says
This looks wonderful! What a perfect lunch or dinner this would be for me!
Healing Tomato says
Thank you, Susan
[email protected] says
I can see why this is your new favorite sandwich, it looks amazing and that oozing cheese? Yes please 🙂
Healing Tomato says
Thank you, Janette.