50-Minute Vegan Eggplant Parmesan Bake with Cashews

East vegan eggplant parmesan bake. This sheet-pan bake will become your new go-to! Cashew crusted and no frying involved. The slices of thick crispy eggplant are baked until golden, topped with marinara and vegan mozzarella.

Course Entree, Main Course, Main Dish

Cuisine gluten-free, Italian, soy-free, sugar-free, vegan

Diet Gluten Free, Vegan, Vegetarian

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 35

Total Time 55

Servings people

Calories 655kcal

Author Hannah Sunderani

Ingredients

1 large eggplant (approx. 2 lbs), or 2 small eggplants
1 cup raw cashews
1/3 cup nutritional yeast
½ tsp sea salt (more for sprinkling)
¼ tsp garlic powder
¼ tsp oregano
1 1/4 cups panko bread crumbs (or gluten-free bread crumbs)
1/4 cup all-purpose flour (or gluten-free all purpose flour)
1 tsp corn starch
1 cup unsweetened almond milk
6 tbsp olive oil , divided
1 cup vegan mozzarella shredded
3 cups Homemade Marinara Sauce (or your favourite store bought)
1/4 cup fresh basil chopped

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 450F/230C. On the upper and lower thirds of the oven, place two standard (18-by-13-inch) sheet pans in the oven to warm while you prepare the eggplant so that it’s hot enough when you’re ready to cook.
Cut eggplant into rounds, 1/2-inch thick. Lay onto cutting board and sprinkle lightly with salt on both sides. Set aside.
In a food processor (or blender) pulse the cashews, nutritional yeast, salt, garlic powder and oregano until they resemble breadcrumbs, about 15 seconds. Add panko and pulse a few times to mix together. Pour the mixture onto a plate and set aside.
Make the eggplant breading assembly line: Start on the left side with the cutting board of all the salted slices of eggplant. Next in line, fill a shallow bowl with the flour, cornstarch and almond milk. Beat vigorously to mix together. Next in line, fill a shallow bowl with the Panko mixture plate. Finally, place a cutting board at the end for the breaded eggplant pieces.
To bread the eggplant: Dip each slice in the milk mixture to coat and then dredge it in the Panko mix, coating both sides completely. Rest the slice on the plate or cutting board. Repeat for all slices.
Moving quickly and carefully, take one sheet pan out of the oven and drizzle with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, tilt the pan to cover entirely. Place the eggplant on the sheet pan in a single layer with 1/4 inch gap in between.
Repeat this step with the remaining eggplant on the second sheet.
Bake the eggplant until the undersides of each are crisp and lightly brown, about 7 minutes. Remove from the oven and drizzle each sheet of eggplant with another 1 tablespoon of oil before flipping the eggplant with a fork. Place back in the oven and continue baking until they are golden brown, another 5 minutes. Remove and set aside.
Lower the temperature of the oven to 400F/200C. Take the sheet pan out of the oven and drizzle the marinara sauce over the slices (optional to nestle all the eggplant pieces snuggly into one tray for this). Lift each slice to nestle some marinara sauce underneath. Sprinkle the vegan mozzarella across the top.
Bake again until the outside of the slices are browned and insides are soft, 20 to 25 minutes. Sprinkle with chopped basil and serve.

Notes

If you prefer the eggplant to be super crispy, you can skip adding the marinara sauce in Step 8 and instead heat the sauce on the stove and plate the sauce at the very end with the eggplant just before serving.

2. Extra breading mix: left over can be mixed with a drizzle of olive oil and baked at 400 degrees F/ 191 degrees C for 10 minutes (stirring halfway through), to create a delicious topping for salads or pasta.

Nutrition