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Eggplant Parmesan Sticks

August 10, 2010

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.

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Eggplant Parmesan Sticks  (Serves 4-6)

  • Prep Time:10 minutes,
  • Cook Time: 25 minutes,
  • Total Time: 35 minutes,

Ingredients

  • 1 medium eggplant, peeled
  • 1/3 cup flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon 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

Preparation

  1. 1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
  2. 2. Cut the eggplant into 1/2 inch wide by 2 inch long sticks* (1 medium eggplant makes about 40 sticks).
  3. 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. 4. Dip the eggplant sticks in the flour mixture, followed by the egg and then in the bread crumbs.
  5. 5. Place on a cooking rack over a baking sheet and lightly spray with cooking oil spray.
  6. 6. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until soft inside and golden outside.
  7. 7. Serve with red sauce on the side.
  8. *I placed the cut eggplant sticks on a paper towel for 5 minutes to absorb any moisture before dipping them.
  9. **Dairy Free option

Accompaniments: 1 Cup Weelicious Tomato Sauce

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Comments






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  1. elissa

    February 21, 2013 at 2:52 pm

    Reply

    Very psyched to try these with my son!! Why nutritional yeast as a substitute for Parmesan? I see that a lot, is it just a texture thing or taste to?

    • catherine

      February 21, 2013 at 4:34 pm

      Reply

      Nutritional yeast tastes JUST like parmesan! So it is the perfect vegetarian/vegan substitute!

  2. Johanna

    August 27, 2012 at 4:26 pm

    Reply

    Can you freeze this at all? Maybe before coating the eggplant or after? I have a lot of eggplant.

  3. Kim

    July 21, 2012 at 9:09 pm

    Reply

    Just made these for dinner. We grew eggplant in the garden this year and we had never had it before. These turned out amazing!! They were super easy to make. My 6yo doesn’t like tomato sauce so he ate his with ranch and they were delicious. We definitely will be eating these again!!

  4. rebecca_said

    July 16, 2012 at 9:00 pm

    Reply

    Yum!

  5. Chris B

    July 3, 2012 at 7:04 pm

    Reply

    Can you clarify the dimensions of the eggplant sticks? The recipe says 1 inch wide by 2 inches long, but in the picture they look more like 1/2 inch long by 2 inches (or least the length to width ratio looks a lot higher than 1 to 2) Thanks!!

    • catherine

      July 5, 2012 at 2:09 pm

      Reply

      Yes, 1/2 inch wide by 2 inches long. Thank you! :)

  6. Katie

    June 1, 2012 at 8:21 pm

    Reply

    I just made these for my very picky 2 year old and he’s eating them!! We are using ketchup instead of marinara but he’s munching away. This is especially exciting for me because I am completely clueless in the kitchen. I am very proud right now, haha! Thank you so much for this easy and simple recipe!

  7. Summer

    May 29, 2012 at 12:46 pm

    Reply

    Not sure what I did wrong but I found these very time consuming to make and they just didn’t taste good, unless I put A LOT of sauce on them. A dissapointment overall.

  8. Annette

    August 22, 2011 at 8:23 pm

    Reply

    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!

  9. Lisita

    January 21, 2011 at 12:34 am

    Reply

    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!

  10. Lisa

    January 5, 2011 at 9:50 pm

    Reply

    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.

    • Suzanne

      November 12, 2011 at 5:59 pm

      Reply

      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!

  11. Christy

    November 12, 2010 at 11:05 pm

    Reply

    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!

  12. Alison

    August 31, 2010 at 6:59 pm

    Reply

    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.

  13. Sonia

    August 30, 2010 at 10:11 pm

    Reply

    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!!

    • catherine

      August 31, 2010 at 1:16 pm

      Reply

      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.

  14. Jill W

    August 30, 2010 at 9:09 am

    Reply

    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 :)

  15. Ericka

    August 25, 2010 at 7:38 pm

    Reply

    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.

  16. Rachel

    August 24, 2010 at 9:44 pm

    Reply

    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!

  17. Janelle

    August 21, 2010 at 7:57 pm

    Reply

    Love the idea of using marinara instead of eggs!

  18. Brooke

    August 18, 2010 at 8:25 am

    Reply

    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.

  19. Janelle

    August 11, 2010 at 9:19 pm

    Reply

    These look GREAT!!! My son is allergic to eggs- do you know of a good subsitute?

    • Diane

      August 23, 2010 at 11:50 am

      Reply

      I used water instead of eggs because my son is also allergic to eggs – worked just fine!!

      • Amy

        August 25, 2010 at 8:32 pm

        Reply

        I’ve been using plain, unsweetened soy milk instead of egg, and it’s great!

  20. Blanca

    August 11, 2010 at 12:35 pm

    Reply

    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.

  21. Lucy

    August 10, 2010 at 6:00 pm

    Reply

    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???

    • catherine

      August 11, 2010 at 4:53 pm

      Reply

      Yes, just omit the seasonings since the italian breadcrumbs will have them already :)

  22. Amy

    August 10, 2010 at 5:16 pm

    Reply

    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.

  23. Karen

    August 10, 2010 at 8:47 am

    Reply

    Do you peel the eggplant first or leave the skin on?

    • catherine

      August 10, 2010 at 3:14 pm

      Reply

      Great eyes! Yes, peeled :)

  24. ChelsinAlberta

    August 10, 2010 at 8:24 am

    Reply

    I’ve never attempted, but will now!

    Can you freeze these?

    • catherine

      August 10, 2010 at 3:52 pm

      Reply

      No these won’t freeze well unfortunately, but they are amazing!

  25. Kiddie Tips

    August 10, 2010 at 8:20 am

    Reply

    This looks like a good one to try with my girls! Thanks

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