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.

Pin

Eggplant Parmesan Sticks

No ratings yet
Servings: 6
Author: Catherine McCord
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes

Ingredients  

  • 1 medium eggplant peeled
  • 1/3 cup flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/2 cup bread crumbs
  • 1/4 cup parmesan cheese grated OR 1/4 cup nutritional yeast (for dairy free option)
  • 2 large eggs whisked
  • cooking oil spray

Instructions 

  • Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
  • Cut the eggplant into 1/2 inch wide by 2 inch long sticks. 1 medium eggplant makes about 40 sticks. I placed the cut eggplant sticks on a paper towel for 5 minutes to absorb any moisture before going on to the next step.
  • 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.
  • Dip the eggplant sticks in the flour mixture, followed by the egg and then in the bread crumbs.
  • Place on a cooking rack over a baking sheet and lightly spray with cooking oil spray.
  • Bake for 25-30 minutes or until soft inside and golden outside.
  • Serve with red sauce on the side.
Did you make this recipe?Mention @Weelicious or tag #weelicious!

About the Author

Catherine is a mama of three. A Kentucky girl living in California. Here’s what I know: all kids can be great eaters and mealtime must be easy. I create simple, healthy recipes the whole family will love.

Comments

  1. YUM – love this healthy aspect to an otherwise cheesy fried mozzarella stick. Not only a great appetizer but a good snack.

  2. These were delicious. I liked them nice and thin for the best crunch. I added a little garlic salt to some as I like the flavour but these are excellent without it.I served them with a dip I made for onion rings. It is 1/2 c. mayo, 2 tsp. sriracha and 2 tsp. sweet thai chili sauce. It has a nice bite to compliment the crunch. Thanks for the recipe.

  3. YUM – love this healthy aspect to an otherwise cheesy fried mozzarella stick. Not only a great appetizer but a good snack.

  4. YUM – love this healthy aspect to an otherwise cheesy fried mozzarella stick. Not only a great appetizer but a good snack.

  5. […] Eggplant Parmesan Sticks (from Weelicious) […]

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

  7. 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?

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

  9. 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!!

  10. 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!!

  11. Our experience has been good at Banfield (Petsmart Hospital). We subcsribed to the Wellness Plan at $30/month. It includes teeth cleaning once a year (or maybe 2)as well as all shots and routine work. Worth it for us since our doggie was already developing serious tartar at 1.5 years old. Healthy teeth is very important as they can lead to other diseases read up more on it.Also, we use the enzyme toothpaste poultry flavor. Mulder loves it! You don’t have to dig into his mouth to brush. Just rub the enzyme. Hope this helps. Your experience may be different from us but just thought I’d share.

  12. 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!

  13. 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.

  14. 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!

  15. 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!

  16. 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!

  17. 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.

  18. 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!

Comments are closed.