Eggplant Parmesan Sticks
One of our favorite stands at our local farmer’s market is Peacock Family Farms. Kenya has been madly in love with the woman who helps run it since he was 8 months old — so much so, his name for her is “girlfriend” (he’s such a little flirt). Beside the gorgeous raisins, walnuts, almonds and peaches they sell, they also grow THE most incredibly delicious eggplant, which I love almost as much as Kenya loves “girlfriend”. With it, I make Baby Ghanoosh and Ratatouille for the family, but I bought a ton of it last week and wanted to make something special and different that I knew the kids would really enjoy.
These eggplant sticks turned out shockingly delicious. I say “shockingly” because even a couple of people I know who aren’t normally fans of eggplant ate almost all of my test batch. Crispy on the outside and creamy and tender inside, I bet even kids that say they don’t like veggies will devour them — they’re like eggplant French Fries!
I guess the biggest reason I love going to the farmer’s market as a family is that there’s always something (or someone) to fall in love with.
Eggplant Parmesan Sticks (Serves 4-6)
1 Medium Eggplant, peeled
1/3 Cup Flour
1/2 Tsp Salt
1/2 Cup Bread Crumbs
1/4 Cup Parmesan Cheese, grated OR 1/4 Cup Nutritional Yeast**
2 Large Eggs, whisked
Canola or Olive Oil Cooking Spray
Accompaniments: 1 Cup Weelicious Tomato Sauce (or your favorite jarred Marinara)
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Cut the eggplant into 1 inch wide by 2 inch long sticks* (1 medium eggplant makes about 40 sticks).
3. Making an “assembly line” of three bowls, place the flour and salt in the first bowl, the beaten egg in the second and bread crumbs and parmesan in the third.
4. Dip the eggplant sticks in the flour mixture, followed by the egg and then in the bread crumbs.
5. Place on a cooking rack over a baking sheet and lightly spray with cooking oil spray.
6. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until soft inside and golden outside.
7. Serve with red sauce on the side.
*I placed the cut eggplant sticks on a paper towel for 5 minutes to absorb any moisture before dipping them.
**Dairy Free option
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Yum, yum and yum!!!
This looks like a good one to try with my girls! Thanks
I’ve never attempted, but will now!
Can you freeze these?
No these won’t freeze well unfortunately, but they are amazing!
Do you peel the eggplant first or leave the skin on?
Great eyes! Yes, peeled
This is great. I need to try it with all teh eggplant that we have grwoing in our garden. Maybe the kids will eat it if I make it like this. I bet you can use zucchini also.
Wow! Looks delicious! Both my daughter and I love eggplant! Can’t wait to try them. Will they taste good with italian breadcrumbs as well???
Yes, just omit the seasonings since the italian breadcrumbs will have them already
Awesome! I never had eggplant before so I wouldn’t even know what to do with it. I will try this recipe out for my family and me to try. I’ve seen eggplant parm like chicken parm so I’ve always been curious to try it.
These look GREAT!!! My son is allergic to eggs- do you know of a good subsitute?
I used water instead of eggs because my son is also allergic to eggs – worked just fine!!
I’ve been using plain, unsweetened soy milk instead of egg, and it’s great!
A few things I did differently that seemed worth sharing:
1. I don’t like grated parmesan, so I buy shredded. It was a little messier than it probably would have been, but the flavor was great.
2. I had trouble getting the egg to adhere to the flour-coated eggplant sticks, so I added some water to the egg and re-whisked it. That worked like a charm.
3. I tried several different versions in the same batch. The first was grated parm with homemade breadcrumbs. Then I ran out of breadcrumbs and didn’t feel like making more, so I just used grated parm. I liked this better than with the breadcrumb. My 16 month-old seemed to really like the marinara (just original organic Prego), and I was curious about an egg-free version, so I did a mini-batch where I used marinara instead of egg, coated in grated parm. This was delicious.
Thanks for this recipe, by the way. I’m newly trying to like eggplant, and this was a pretty tasty way to get it into my diet.
Love the idea of using marinara instead of eggs!
I made these tonight, they were great! My son is 18 months and not very interested in trying new foods, but he really liked this. Thanks!
I made this recipe tonight and my 2 year old LOVED them and I did too. We made a semi-homemade marinara dipping sauce and my daughter ate 4 sticks within minutes.
My mom used to make eggplant sticks like these for my siblings and I all the time when we were little! They are so yummy, and I still love eggplant today
Do I need to salt/rinse the eggplant after it’s cut? Also, can I cut the eggplant into sticks the night before? If so, what is the best way to store the eggplant then? Thanks!!
You do not need to salt or rinse the eggplant after it is cut. One thing I did though was place them on a paper towel to absorb any moisture after I cut them. You can cut them the night before but they may turn brown the next day. If you don’t have a problem with them turning brown, just place the cut eggplant on a towel and roll it up like a pinwheel and place in the fridge.
I just tried these! Delicious! My almost two-year-old agrees! I used Italian breadcrumbs instead of plain, did a 50/50 mix of breadcrumbs and parm., and cooked it directly on the cookie sheet instead of on a rack. I just flipped it for the last five minutes so both sides got crispy. Thanks for the recipe.
Yummy! This was a first time for eggplant for my family. We really enjoyed it; my husband especially enjoyed your marinara. Thank you for the recipe!
I am very shocked that you all find this some sort of ingenious recipe. Wow, it’s eggplant parm made in strips! It is just like an app we’ve made for years.
Sorry, I mean eggplant sticks are great but we don’t find your ideas very new.
Lisa, it’s wonderful that you are such a prolific cook, but not all of us have as easy a time breaking out of the stereotypical kid-fare meals
I’m a decent cook, but this site has sure helped me get free of a dinnertime rut! I’d love to see some of what has worked for your family too!
Just came across your blog and this recipe. I’ve never made eggplant anything but I made this today and loved it using some variations. Would you be willing to let me post this recipe with my variations on my blog with a link back to your blog? I’m happy to be one of your newest readers!
We finally got around to making this tonight and it was delicious! One of my 9-month-old twins loved it (the other was more interested in spoon banging) and my seven-year-old ate half the plate!