You won't find any noodles in this eggplant lasagna recipe, but trust me—you won't miss them. Tender roasted eggplant is a delicious substitute.
This eggplant lasagna recipe is perfect for this time of year. Summer produce is still abundant, but the temps are starting to cool off. After months of eating salad recipes and veggie burgers off the grill, I’m ready to add comfort foods to our regular rotation. Eggplant lasagna, coming right up!
If it’s not clear from the name, this eggplant lasagna recipe is a no-noodle situation. Instead of pasta, thin planks of roasted eggplant separate the layers of bubbly marinara sauce and melty cheese. It’s every bit as delicious as a classic lasagna (even Jack will vouch for it!), just a tad fresher. I love it in this transitional season, and I hope you will too.
How to Make Eggplant Lasagna
This eggplant lasagna recipe is a bit of a project, but it’s 100% worth it! You can find the complete recipe with measurements below. In the meantime, here’s a quick overview to get you started:
Ingredients
This eggplant lasagna recipe has four main components:
- Eggplant, of course! You’ll need 2 to 3 large Italian eggplants, 4 pounds total.
- Marinara sauce – Make homemade marinara sauce, or use store-bought. We like Rao’s!
- The cheese filling – It’s a creamy, flavorful blend of ricotta cheese, Parmesan, garlic, oregano, and lemon zest. I also mix in an egg to help the filling set between the layers of eggplant.
- The topping – The final layer of this lasagna is more Parmesan and grated mozzarella cheese. They get beautifully browned in the oven—yum!
To add fresh flavor + a kick of heat, garnish it all with basil and red pepper flakes before serving.
Find the complete recipe with measurements below.
Preparing the Eggplant
Ready to cook? You’ll start by preparing the eggplant.
First, slice the eggplant. Cut off the stems. Slice each eggplant vertically into 1/4-inch-thick planks.
Next, salt it to draw out excess moisture. Spread the eggplant planks in a single layer on clean kitchen towels. Season with salt, and let sit for 20 minutes.
Then, roast the eggplant. Pat it dry and transfer it to three baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Drizzle generously with olive oil, toss to coat, and arrange in a single layer. Roast for 20 to 25 minutes, or until tender and golden brown. For even cooking, flip the eggplant and rotate the pans halfway through the roasting time.
Make-Ahead Tip
For speedy assembly, roast the eggplant up to 2 days in advance. Store it in an airtight container in the fridge until you’re ready to make the lasagna.
While the eggplant roasts, make the cheese filling. Stir together the ricotta, egg, Parmesan, garlic, oregano, lemon zest, salt, and pepper in a large bowl.
Assembly
You’re ready to assemble the lasagna! Here’s how to do it:
- Spread 1/2 cup marinara sauce at the bottom of a 9×13-inch or similar baking dish.
- Cover with a layer of roasted eggplant slices.
- Top with half the cheese filling and dot with another 1/2 cup tomato sauce.
- Add another layer of eggplant.
- Top with the remaining ricotta and dot with the remaining sauce.
- Add a final layer of eggplant. Top it with the grated mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses.
Bake until the cheese is browned and bubbling, about 30 minutes at 425°F.
Let stand for 30 minutes before slicing and serving. Garnish with basil and red pepper flakes, and dig in!
Storage Instructions
This eggplant lasagna keeps well for up to 3 days in an airtight container in the refrigerator. To reheat the full lasagna, cover it with foil and warm in a 325°F oven until heated through. You can also zap individual slices in the microwave.
What to Serve with Eggplant Lasagna
This eggplant lasagna is a delicious vegetarian main dish. To make it a full meal, pair it with good bread like no-knead bread or focaccia and a side salad. It would go well with any of these recipes:
What do you like to serve with eggplant lasagna? Let me know in the comments!
More Favorite Eggplant Recipes
If you love this eggplant lasagna, try one of these easy eggplant recipes next:
- Eggplant Parmesan
- Eggplant Rollatini
- Oven Roasted Eggplant
- Eggplant Caponata
- Baba Ganoush
- Ratatouille
- Grilled Eggplant
- Or any of these 15 Easy Eggplant Recipes!
Eggplant Lasagna
Ingredients
- 2 to 3 large eggplants, 4 pounds, stemmed and sliced vertically into ¼-inch-thick planks
- Sea salt
- Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
- 1½ cups marinara sauce
- 2 cups grated mozzarella cheese
- ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- Red pepper flakes, for sprinkling
- Fresh basil leaves, for garnish
Filling
- 2 cups (16 ounces) whole milk ricotta cheese
- 1 large egg, beaten
- ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 garlic cloves, grated
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F and line three large baking sheets with parchment paper. Arrange the eggplant planks in a single layer on clean kitchen towels and sprinkle with salt. Set aside for 20 minutes to draw moisture out of the eggplant.
- Pat the eggplant dry and transfer to the prepared baking sheets. Drizzle generously with olive oil, toss to coat, and arrange in a single layer on the baking sheets. Roast for 20 to 25 minutes, or until tender and golden brown, flipping the eggplant and rotating the pans halfway through.
- Meanwhile, make the filling: In a large bowl, stir together the ricotta, egg, Parmesan, garlic, oregano, lemon zest, salt, and pepper.
- Brush a 9x13-inch or similar baking dish with olive oil and spread ½ cup of the marinara sauce on the bottom. Cover with a layer of the roasted eggplant slices, then top with half the ricotta mixture and dot with another ½ cup of the marinara. Repeat with another layer of eggplant, the remaining ricotta mixture, and the remaining ½ cup marinara. Top with a final layer of eggplant, then sprinkle the mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses on top.
- Bake for 30 minutes, or until the cheese on top is browned and bubbling. Let stand for 30 minutes. Sprinkle with red pepper flakes and garnish with fresh basil. Slice and serve.
Can this be made 2 days ahead of time and put
It in the refrigerator until baking? Will it affect the eggplants roasted texture?
Thanks!
LOVE this eggplant lasagna. I used cottage cheese and what I had on hand, will probably never make regular lasagna again.
Question: Can I freeze this? The baked 9×13 is A lot of food for the two of us, can I put half into the freezer for another time?
Thank you for a fabulous recipe.
Fabulous! Made as directed, tiny exception: due to product shrinkage a 16 oz container of ricotta is now only 15 oz! Love that the eggplant is roasted, not fried like so many eggplant parm recipes. It did take me 3 hours start to finish (sitting down to eat) but worth it. I will definitely make this again. Thanks for posting it!
Hi Anne, I’m so glad you loved the recipe!
Made this today with a minor alterations. I’m not big on oregano, so switched it out for basil in the ricotta mixture (I always put some oregano in the marinara I make, so at least there was some in there). I also left out the mozzarella completely and upped the amount of parmesan in the ricotta mixture to 1 cup. I love love love eggplant, so sliced them at 1/2″ and used 4 of them (adding to the roasting time as needed). I also lowered the final baking temp to 350 and baked it 1/2 hour covered and another 20 minutes uncovered. The final dish made me swoon. DELICIOIUS! Next time, though, I’ll add another 2 eggplants as the ricotta to eggplant ratio seemed too high.
Hi Michelle, so glad you loved the recipe!
This recipe was VERY salty – made it difficult to eat. Next time I will rinse the salt from the eggplant before roasting. I think it would be very good if not for that.
Hi Cindy, I’m sorry the lasagna came out salty! I wouldn’t recommend rinsing the salted eggplant in the future, but if you wipe it well when you blot it dry it will remove some of the salt. You could also use less salt. Hope this helps!
I had the same problem. Sea salt dissolves into eggplant, so you can’t wipe off all the salt. Using less salt is the way to go.
three eggplants we not enough for three layers…my third layer consisted of Mozzarella and Parmesean …also needed more red sauce for alll the layers….
Hi, thanks for your comment! Because eggplants vary so much in size and shape, I recommend weighing them when you buy them if you can. The thickness of your slices can also impact how many planks you end up with. I’m sorry to hear you had a disappointing result!
Followed recipe as written except used 2% Good Culture cottage cheese. And it is fantastic! Really taste the oregano and lemon zest which is very nice.
I think if my chefs knife was sharper I would have had an easier time cutting horizontally through the eggplant.
Instead of whole milk ricotta
Hi Kathy, I’m so glad you loved it with the cottage cheese!
The recipe did not mention the temperature at which to bake the lasagna. 425 degrees seems to be a little hot for a casserole.
Hi Jon, we bake it at 425°F.
I agree! I reread the recipe looking for baking temp and thought 425°was way too high but I did it anyway. It was way too HIGH and burnt the cheese … difficult to cut through. Suggest baking at 350° for 45 minutes. And serve red pepper flakes on side as those can be too hot for folks. Otherwise loved using eggplant (GF) and had great flavor with exception of burnt mozzarella on top.
I baked mine at 375 for 30 min, sprayed a bit of tin foil with non stick spray. Then I took off the foil and baked for 5-10 min longer. That will keep the top layer of cheese from burning!
love eggplant as a pasta swap in this lasagna, and certainly don’t need the pasta or miss it, so thank you!
Thank you for this delightful Eggplant Lasagna recipe! I love the idea of using eggplant instead of pasta for a fresh twist. The detailed instructions made it easy to follow, and the result was absolutely delicious!