The BEST Cheesy Eggplant Casserole Recipe (Prepped In 10 Minutes)

This classic eggplant casserole recipe combines tender roasted eggplant with rich, melty cheese and a flavorful sauce to make a dish that's to die for. Plus, it's so, so easy to make! In fact, 10 minutes worth of prep work is all you'll need to invest to put it together. Then, the oven does all of the heavy lifting after that.

The Best Eggplant Casserole

If you love eggplant parm, you're going to love this baked eggplant casserole. That's because it has perfectly cooked tender eggplant that's smothered in a rich tomato sauce and then topped with a combination of mozzarella cheese and parmesan cheese. How good does that sound?

The best part about this eggplant casserole recipe though is that it's a breeze to make. In fact, all you have to do to roast the eggplant in the oven, assemble everything in a baking dish, and then give everything one final bake. Seriously, it's that easy!

Also, since the majority of the cooking time it takes to make this baked eggplant casserole is passive cooking time, you'll have more than enough time to whip up this air fryer garlic bread, this cornbread, or these candied carrots to go with it.

Ingredients

Again, you'll only need a handful of simple ingredients to make this eggplant casserole. And, honestly, since they're all kitchen/pantry staples, there's a good chance you already have most - if not all - of them at home already.

Anyway, here's what you'll need for this eggplant casserole recipe:

• 1.5 lb eggplant, trimmed
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• ½ cup pizza sauce
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella
• 2 tablespoon freshly grated parmesan cheese

Pretty simple stuff, right?

By the way, if you have these ingredients, then you already have almost everything you need to make this easy dump and bake meatball casserole or cheesy meatball casserole as well. So, if you end up with some extras, you can make one of those recipes to go along with this one. Paired together, they'll make for an ultimate Italian feast! 

Ingredient Substitutions and Suggestions

Now, I always like to make this eggplant casserole with the ingredients listed above, but you can tweak the recipe to make it your own!

For starters, you don't have to use pizza sauce for the casserole. Any marinara sauce - or even just tomato sauce - will work great. Also, if you want to elevate the flavor a bit more, you can always add a little Italian seasoning and garlic powder to the sauce as well.

As for the cheese, I love using a combination of shredded mozzarella cheese to make this eggplant casserole, but I've also used provolone in the past, and it worked out really great.

Lastly, if you want to make this casserole a bit more like traditional breaded eggplant parmesan, you can mix some bread crumbs - or Panko bread crumbs - with a little melted butter and cover the entire top of the casserole with 'em.

How To Make Eggplant Casserole

Now it's time to get down to business and make this eggplant casserole recipe. The entire recipe will take you an hour to make, but almost all of that time is passive cooking.

It's seriously a breeze - and totally fool-proof - so even if you've never cooked eggplant before, this recipe will turn out perfect.

Anyway, let's not waste another second and jump right into things!

Step 1: Prepare The Ingredients

First and foremost, you'll want to prep your ingredients.

So, you can start that process by trimming off the ends of the fresh eggplant and then slicing it into ¼-inch thick circular disks. Then, after you've done that, you can shred up some fresh mozzarella cheese and grate your parmesan cheese. Of course, you can also use pre-shredded and pre-grated cheese as well.

Lastly, you can measure your pizza sauce out, preheat your oven to 500°F, line two baking sheets - or one large baking sheet - with parchment paper, add your eggplant slices to 'em, and then coat the eggplant with salt and pepper.

Step 2: Cook The Eggplant

So, now that the prep work is out of the way, you can cook your eggplant in the oven for around 15 minutes. Then, after 15 minutes is up, you can remove the baking sheets from the oven, flip the eggplant slices over, and roast them for another 10 minutes.

Step 3: Assemble the casserole

Now that you have the cooked eggplant good to go, it's time to assemble the casserole. But first, you'll want to reduce the heat of the oven to 400°F.

After that, start by greasing a 9x13-inch baking dish with cooking spray - or a little olive oil - and place half of the cooked eggplant slices on top of the prepared baking dish. Then, spread half of the pizza sauce - or marinara sauce - on the roasted eggplant, followed by a sprinkle of half of the mozzarella cheese on top.

Next, you can add a second layer of the remaining eggplant slices, sauce, and the rest of the shredded cheese on top. Finish it off with a sprinkle of grated parmesan cheese, along with some more salt and pepper if you want.

Step 4: Bake The Eggplant casserole

Ok, now that the eggplant casserole is prepared, you can put the baking dish in the oven and bake it at 400°F for about 15-20 minutes - or until the cheese is bubbly and golden brown.

Then, when your baked eggplant casserole is done cooking, you'll want to let it cool for a few minutes. You can serve it warm with some additional parmesan cheese and anything else you want! Enjoy!

How To Store Eggplant Casserole

This recipe for eggplant casserole will make about 4 large servings, so you should have plenty of this cheesy eggplant casserole to feed the entire fam. Then, if you end up with any leftovers, the good news is that this eggplant casserole stores really well!

So, to store 'em, you can either put a lid on the casserole dish you cooked them in - or you can transfer the cooked eggplant to an airtight container - and store 'em in the fridge. Stored either of these ways, it'll last in the refrigerator for 3-5 days.

By the way, if you want to store your eggplant casserole for even longer, you can store it in an airtight container - or freezer-safe bag - and it'll last in the freezer for up to 10-12 months.

How To Reheat Eggplant Casserole

Once you're ready to enjoy this delicious eggplant casserole again, you'll definitely want to reheat it. 

The best way to reheat your leftover eggplant parm casserole is to put it back in a prepared baking dish greased with cooking spray and heat at 350°F for about 10 minutes - or until the cheese melts and the eggplant is warmed through.

Alternatively, if you're only planning on reheating a single serving the microwave will work great for that. Just heat it in 30-second increments until hot.

Wrapping It Up

Well, that's how to make eggplant casserole!

I know I'm biased, but I think this is one of the best eggplant recipes you'll ever make. And that's especially true if you love eggplant parmesan. I just think it's tough to beat some perfectly cooked tender eggplant that's been topped with some yummy tomato sauce, and rich, melty cheese.

Gah, it's so good. And it's just so, so easy to make too simple too.

Anyway, I hope you like this eggplant casserole recipe as much as my family and I do.

If you give it a try, leave a comment below and let us know how it went!

More Casserole Recipes

If you're looking for even more casserole recipes that are just as delicious as this eggplant casserole recipe, we've got you covered.

Here are some reader favorites:

• Vegetable casserole
• Artichoke casserole
• Italian casserole
• Cheesy potato casserole
• Chile relleno casserole
• Corn casserole with cream cheese
• Mexican street corn casserole
  

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