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Who doesn’t love an ooey-gooey Italian dish? From classics likelasagnatopizza, you can’t go wrong with a cheesy dinner. But if you’re watching your carb intake, you might shy away from pasta dishes. Enter: Eggplant Parmesan.
Traditional eggplant Parmesanis lower in carbs than several otherpopular pasta dishes, but it can also be time-consuming to make. And if you’re looking for a quick weeknight meal, chances are you’re not going to want to jump into an eggplant Parmesan recipe—unless it’s theEggplant Parmesanrecipe Joy Bauer, registered dietitian and expert on theTodayshow, shared this week onInstagram.
“This baked rendition is fuss-free, low in carbs, and totally hits the spot (sans breadcrumbs!),” says Bauer in her post. Best of all, it has just four main ingredients—eggplant, marinara sauce, mozzarella and Parmesan, plus pantry staples like extra-virgin olive oil, salt and pepper.
Related:These Are the 7 Healthiest Marinara Sauces You Need to Be Buying
To make Joy’s dish, slice an eggplant lengthwise and score the flesh on each half, creating a crosshatch design. We love the crosshatching idea because it allows the sauce to seep into those crevices and really ramps the flavor up in this recipe.
Drizzle the eggplant with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast in the oven, flesh-side up, until the eggplant is fork-tender and juicy. Remove from the oven and top with marinara sauce, mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. You can also sprinkle on some crushed red pepper for a little kick of heat if you want.
Related:Joy Bauer’s Fiber-Packed Edible Cookie Dough Is So Simple, It’ll Knock You Off Your Feet
Pop the eggplant back into the oven until the cheese is melted and bubbly, about 5 minutes. Word of caution: the eggplant will be mouth-burning hot after it comes straight out of the oven, so allow it to sit for about 5 minutes before digging in.
If you want to add another layer of flavor, feel free to sprinkle some breadcrumbs over the cheese. We recommend using whole-wheat panko breadcrumbs for the best crunch. If you want the breadcrumbs to toast up, use the broiler when you pop the dish back into the oven the second time—just be sure to keep an eye on it so it doesn’t burn.
Not only is this dish easy to make, but it’s also loaded with nutrients.Eggplantis packed with vitamins like B6, C and K. And contrary to what you may have heard on social media, as a member of the nightshade family,eggplant is safe to eatand does not cause inflammation. In fact, eggplant is actually an anti-inflammatory food, thanks to phytochemicals like lycopene and beta carotene.
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