It's my mission at hot for food to show you that eating plant-based doesn't mean living on raw vegetables and bland salads. I love coming up with new ideas for comfort foods that are 100% vegan.
I'm constantly surprising people by using plant-based ingredients in ways you wouldn't think! Meals like this vegan eggplant parmesan leave you feeling less guilty and more energized than the traditional recipes made with meat and cheese. Don't believe me? Just try these scrumptious eggplant parmesan subs and I'll say "told ya!".
To save time, substitute homemade marinara sauce for a pasta sauce of your choice. You can also omit the bread and eat these as eggplant stacks! Just serve the marinara sauce, cheese, and fresh basil leaves layered between eggplant patties. You could also eat the eggplant parm on top of spaghetti... cause pasta is life! Or just sink your teeth into the vegan eggplant parmesan subs like the recipe outlines.
Carb the eff up and say buh-bye to animal products.And if you want something not deep-fried check out my eggplant lasagna roll-ups for something similar in flavors!
vegan eggplant parmesan subs
Ingredients
eggplant parmesan patties
- 1 large eggplant
- 1 to 2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 C multigrain bread crumbs
- ½ C vegan parmesan
- ½ teaspoon dried basil
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ½ C unsweetened nondairy milk
- ½ C all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 to 1 ½ C vegetable oil, for deep frying
marinara sauce
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- ¼ teaspoon chili flakes (optional)
- 1 x 398 ml can crushed tomatoes (about 1 ½ cups)
- 2 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 tablespoon coconut sugar (can sub brown sugar or agave nectar)
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ¼ C finely chopped fresh basil
cheese sauce
- sautéed eggplant (see directions)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ¾ C unsweetened nondairy milk
- 1 teaspoon arrowroot or tapioca flour
- 4 teaspoon lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ⅛ teaspoon sea salt
- ⅛ teaspoon ground black pepper
sandwiches
- 4 kaiser buns
- 4 tablespoon vegan butter
- 1 C basil leaves
Instructions
- Peel the whole eggplant and trim the stem and a small part of the base off.
- Slice the entire eggplant into approximately ½-inch thick rounds. You should get 8 larger rounds to use for the patties, and have about ⅓ of the eggplant remaining (about 6 slices) that you’ll use to make the cheese sauce.
- Lay the rounds onto wire racks or in a colander in the sink, and sprinkle 1 to 2 teaspoons of sea salt over both sides of all the eggplant slices. Let the eggplant sit for 30 minutes to release moisture.
- Rinse the eggplant slices under water, rubbing excess salt off. Pat them dry and gently squeeze excess moisture out with a clean towel or paper towels.
- Take the extra pieces of eggplant that aren’t going to be breaded and sauté them in a frying pan in 1 teaspoon of olive oil over medium heat for 4 to 5 minutes until very soft, lightly browned, and completely cooked through. Remove these pieces from the pan and set aside for making the cheese sauce.
- If you’re making the marinara sauce, keep this pan on medium heat and add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and sauté garlic and chili flakes for 1 to 2 minutes until soft and fragrant. Add in the remaining marinara sauce ingredients, stir to combine, and bring the sauce to a simmer. Turn heat to low, cover with a lid, and continue to simmer for 15 minutes. If you’re using ready made tomato sauce just heat it up in small sauce pan and keep it warm on low heat until assembling the sandwiches.
- While the sauce is cooking, you can make the cheese sauce by adding the sautéed eggplant to a high-powered blender with the rest of the cheese sauce ingredients. Blend on high until smooth. Pour the sauce into a small saucepan and heat it over medium-low for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring frequently, allowing it to thicken slightly just before assembling the sandwiches.
- In a large heavy bottom pan, add 1 to 1 ½ cups of vegetable oil, so there’s about a ½-inch of oil covering the bottom. Heat it to 350°F.
- If you’re making sandwiches, you also pre-heat your oven to broil to toast the rolls. I say this because you could also skip the bread and sandwiches and serve this over spaghetti!
- While the oil is heating, prepare the dredge and breading for the eggplant patties. In a shallow dish, combine bread crumbs, vegan parmesan, basil, oregano, sea salt, and ground black pepper. Put nondairy milk and flour in 2 separate bowls.
- Coat a piece of eggplant in flour, dredge it in milk, then put it in the bread crumb mixture and use your hands to get it well coated on all sides and edges.
- Fry eggplant patties in 2 batches (4 slices each, depending on the size of your pan, but don’t overcrowd the slices) for 3 to 4 minutes, flipping halfway through. Set aside on paper towels to soak up any excess oil.
- Cut the rolls in half and butter each side with a ½ tablespoon of vegan butter. Toast open faced in the oven under the broiler for 2 minutes until golden brown.
- To assemble the sandwiches, spread some cheese sauce on the bottom half, add a few basil leaves, place 2 eggplant patties on top, then add marinara sauce and more cheese sauce to the top. Serve immediately.
Aimee / Wallflower Girl
Looks amaaaaaaaaaaaaazing!
Lauren Toyota
thank you! Let us know if you try it out too 🙂
Pat
OMG!! Made this for dinner and they were amazing. The hubby went back for a second sandwich!
Maria Solfrizzo
AMAZING! My boyfriend and I just made these and we were blown away! We can't wait to try more of your recipes 🙂
Laura Taylor
this was absolutely DELICIOUS! the cheese sauce was magic!!
Jeff
The Go Veggie! Parmesan contains milk (at least in the U.S.). Just FYI, I have seen you guys use it it several recipies. Other than that, I love your blog!
Lauren Toyota
ours is VEGAN. That's strange!
Kat
I only made one burger so I used the sauces on top of a spinach and tofu cannelloni. It was so good! Loving this bechamel recipe! Thank you 🙂
Venessia
DELICIOUS!! Made this for dinner tonight and it was a hit!! We recently transitioned to vegan and your recipes have been helping us fund some new favorites!! Ty!
Abby
Made this for dinner tonight for my parents! They LOVED it, my dad said it's the best cooked eggplant he's ever had and we all gobbled up every last bite. So nice to have recipes to add to my repertoire, especially ones that my non-vegan parents are just as obsessed with! You've never let me down Lauren! 🙂
Ashley O.
This turned out super good! DONT skip the first part where you let them sit in salt!!!! To use less oil: I fried them in a shallow pan of olive oil (instead of deep frying) and then I placed them on a baking sheet in the oven at 400F for 12 minutes and they turned out perfect. I would definitely serve right after they come out, they get soggy really fast. Thanks for the recipe Lauren!!