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You’re here because you like eggplant or maybe you thought the picture looked yummy. At any rate, I’m glad you’re here and I hope you enjoy this recipe! I love eggplant and don’t get to enjoy it often enough, because my kids do not care for it. So, when we have it for dinner, this mama has to make two different dinners. Now, usually, I’m the mama that says you need to at least try it and I did with this one. My 7 year old, believe it or not, actually kind of liked it. My 9 and 17 year old didn’t touch it. Lol I’m giving them a pass on this one just because I know the texture is, I’ll just say, different. If you’ve never tried eggplant, I hope I didn’t just seal the deal for you, because like I tell my kids, you need to at least try it! Lol And for those who love it, let’s dig into this baked eggplant parmesan recipe!
Instructions :
First thing, decide on your sauce ingredients. If I’m using a ground meat, my go to is ground chicken. Any ground meat would be fine, though. I was telling my hubby that what I really want to do is to get the meat grinding attachment for my Kitchen aid mixer so we can grind our own meat that we buy locally. As my hubby would say, it’s on the list. Lol
Does anyone else use onion in just about every dish? An onion brings such flavor to so many dishes, so yes, I pretty much use an onion for every dinner and sauté it with our meat. Yum!
Let those two mingle for a few minutes. Sometimes, I sauté my onion first, but when I’m in a hurry, I just toss it in with my meat.
After my ground chicken was browned, I tossed in a couple of handfuls of shredded cabbage. This brings a little more fiber to the table. We all need a little more fiber in our diets, and you won’t even know its in this recipe. But I love cabbage, so YUM!
This is what I used. I like to sauté this with polish sausage and cream cheese for a quick low-carb lunch, so I always have it on hand, and I wanted to bulk up this recipe, and this coleslaw held the golden ticket.
Sauté on medium until the cabbage and onions are translucent.
Did you know that sugar is in almost everything? Yep. Even your pasta sauces. Especially in your pasta sauces actually. We try to follow a low/healthy carb lifestyle the majority of the time, so I always get the no sugar added pasta sauce! You could also make your own pasta sauce. It’s super easy!
After I dumped in the pasta sauce, I added my other go-to ingredients, which are onion and garlic powder. I also added salt.
Let me introduce you to the star of our show! The eggplant!
Look at that beauty! We grew eggplant last year for the first time ever, but it was the skinny kind. I believe that it is called Japanese eggplant. This one we just picked up at the grocery store.
To Peel or Not to Peel?
Do you peel your eggplant? I do not, but you can! That might help with the texture issues that anyone in your family might have. So, I might actually peel it next time and try again with the boys. Lol Just slice the eggplant as thin or as thick as you like.
Let’s Build our Bake!
Start by adding about 1.5 cups of the meat sauce to a baking dish. Cover the bottom of the baking dish with the meat sauce.
Then start adding slices of your eggplant to cover your meat sauce.
Bring on the cheese!!
More Low-Carb Recipes :
Sprinkle on two cups of shredded mozzarella cheese, and about 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese.
No secret ingredients or brands here, y’all. I’m using Walmart products, and you use what you prefer.
Let’s do that dance one more time. If you’ve ever made lasagna, same process here.
Add the rest of your meat sauce and spread it evenly over your first layers.
Add your remaining eggplant. If you have some eggplant leftover, just toss it in a baggy and have it for breakfast in a sauté like this one!
Add the remaining cheese. Yum!
You gotta add a little black pepper to everything!
Place your baking dish in a pre-heated 350 degree oven and bake uncovered for 30 minutes.
Oh, my heavens! Will you look at that!! Lordy mercy, that looks delicious!
Come on now! You know that looks good! Lol
I love how the cheese is perfectly browned, but not burnt. If you let your dish sit for a few minutes, while it cools a bit, your eggplant will continue to cook. Then dig in to that deliciousness and enjoy!
And guess what y’all?! This is a low carb dinner! Yes, y’all!! Keto and Trim Healthy Mama friendly.
Save this recipe for later? Pin it to your Pinterest boards!
I hope you enjoyed reading about this recipe and that you will give it a try for your family! Make sure to join our email family so you can keep up with all the diys and recipes that we have each week!
Ingredients for this Baked Eggplant Parmesan Recipe :
- One medium eggplant
- One onion
- One pound of ground meat of choice
- One jar of pasta sauce
- 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese
- 4 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese
- 2 cups of shredded cabbage
- Salt and pepper
- Onion powder
- Garlic powder
Instructions for this Baked Eggplant Parmesan Recipe :
Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees. Brown your ground meat and add your diced onion. Once your meat is browned, add the shredded cabbage and sauté until the onions and cabbage are translucent. Then add your pasta sauce and seasonings and simmer. Next, slice your eggplant into 1/4 to 1/2 inch slices. Once your meat sauce is simmering nicely, turn the heat off and add half of it to a baking dish. Top that with eggplant slices. Then add half of your cheese. Repeat those three layers one more time. Bake uncovered for 30 minutes. Let sit for 5-10 minutes to cool slightly. Enjoy!
Looking for more ways to add cabbage to your diet? Check out this recipe for cabbage steaks!
Baked Egglant Parmesan
A yummy way to incorporate this delicious botanical fruit into your diet. This is a low-carb version of a favorite Italian dish!
Ingredients
- One medium eggplant
- One onion
- One pound of ground meat of choice
- One jar of pasta sauce
- 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese
- 4 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese
- 2 cups of shredded cabbage
- Salt and pepper
- Onion powder
- Garlic powder
Instructions
- Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees.
- Brown your ground meat and add your diced onion.
- Once your meat is browned, add the shredded cabbage and sauté until the onions and cabbage are translucent.
- Add your pasta sauce and seasonings and simmer.
- Next, slice your eggplant into 1/4 to 1/2 inch slices.
- Once your meat sauce is simmering nicely, turn the heat off and add half of it to a baking dish.
- Top that with eggplant slices.
- Then add half of your cheese.
- Repeat those three layers one more time.
- Bake uncovered for 30 minutes.
- Let sit for 5-10 minutes to cool slightly.
- Enjoy!
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