This Eggplant Lasagna recipe is a game-changer, swapping traditional lasagna noodles for tender, eggplant slices. The result is a lighter, yet equally satisfying dish, packed with flavor. Made with homemade tomato sauce, it’s rich, tangy, and bursting with fresh ingredients. The layers of melted cheese and savory sauce meld perfectly with the eggplant, creating a comforting and delicious meal that’s sure to impress!
I love making lasagna without traditional noodles. I prefer using zucchini or eggplant slices for my lasagna recipes because they’re lighter, lower in carbs, and add extra flavor to the dish.
Every month, I make Spinach and Zucchini Lasagna or my Slow Cooker Zucchini Lasagna or my Zucchini Lasagna Skillet for my husband, but he refuses to eat eggplant lasagna because he dislikes eggplant. So, it’s been a while since I’ve made lasagna with eggplant. Even though I enjoy eggplant, I don’t particularly like cooking just for myself.
A few weeks ago, my husband was traveling for work, and my mom came to visit us in Canada for three weeks. We were buying groceries when she saw eggplants and said: “Can we buy them, and make eggplant lasagna?” I couldn’t believe my ears. OMG, I’ll finally be able to make eggplant lasagna again! So, we bought the eggplants, made this low-carb eggplant lasagna, and enjoyed it all week along with Green Arugula Salad and Garlic Bread.
The Star Ingredients Behind This Recipe
Eggplants – After many tests, I found that slicing eggplants 1/8″ thick (using my mandoline) creates the perfect slices for lasagna. It ensures even cooking and a great texture in every bite.
Part-Skim Ricotta – I love using part-skim ricotta for this lasagna because it gives a nice creamy texture without being too heavy. Feel free to use regular ricotta if you prefer a richer, creamier filling.
Parmesan Cheese – I always grate my own parmesan because it melts better than pre-grated cheese, which often has a coating that prevents smooth melting. Be sure to save some parmesan to sprinkle on top for a beautiful, golden finish.
Homemade Tomato Sauce – I made my tomato sauce with crushed San Marzano tomatoes, onion, garlic, dried oregano, and garlic powder. It’s easy to make and ready in 20 minutes. But if you’re short on time, feel free to use your favorite marinara sauce for convenience.
Shredded Mozzarella Cheese – I recommend shredding your own mozzarella because it melts much better than pre-shredded cheese, which typically has anti-caking agents that affect the melt quality.
Note: For a protein boost in your eggplant lasagna, try using my homemade Instant Pot meat sauce with ground beef instead of only tomato sauce.
- Preheat your oven to 375°F! Slice your eggplant up into 1/8th inch thick pieces. I highly recommend using a mandoline to create thin, even slices.
- Sprinkle both sides of each slice with coarse salt. Let them sit for about 10 minutes and then pat both sides dry with a paper towel.
- Place a grill pan (or a large skillet) on the stovetop and cook eggplant slices for 3 minutes. Flip and cook 3 minutes longer!
- In a mixing bowl, add cheeses and an egg and stir everything together.
- Spread some tomato sauce in the bottom of your casserole dish, add eggplant “noodles” and cover them with ricotta mixture. Repeat until ingredients are used up.
- Top the final layer of the lasagna with tomato sauce, mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses. If desired, season with black pepper on top.
- Cover your baking dish with aluminum foil and bake for 40 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for an additional 10 minutes.
- Let your gluten-free lasagna sit for at least 10-20 minutes before serving. Garnish with fresh parsley or fresh basil. Enjoy.
Recipe tips
- To prepare ahead, assemble the eggplant lasagna but don’t bake it. Wrap it tightly and store in the fridge for up to a day. Leave it on the counter for a couple of minutes before baking.
- Alternatively, you can roast the eggplant and prepare the filling 1 day in advance. Keep them refrigerated in separate airtight containers and then assemble the lasagna the next day.
- The reason we let the eggplant lasagna rest for 10 minutes is so the lasagna can set. This way, when you cut into it, the eggplant lasagna does not fall apart before getting on your plate!
Add some protein: For a protein boost in your eggplant lasagna, try using my homemade Instant Pot meat sauce with ground beef instead of only tomato sauce.
Avoid Watery Or Soggy Eggplant Lasagna
- First, sprinkle some coarse salt on top of the eggplant slices.
- Second, set it aside for about 10 minutes.
- Third, pat them with a paper towel to remove the excess moisture and the coarse salt.
- Finally, grill the slices for about 3 minutes per side. This is the most important step. It keeps the lasagna nice and firm.
Eggplant Lasagna with Layers of Ricotta & Homemade Tomato Sauce
Video
Ingredients
- 2 large eggplants sliced 1/8″ thick (I used my mandoline to create perfect eggplant slices.)
- coarse salt
- 15 ounces part-skim ricotta
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese save some to sprinkle on top
- 4 cups homemade tomato sauce or your favourite sauce
- 16 ounces part-skim mozzarella cheese shredded
- 2 tablespoons parsley chopped, for garnishing
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Arrange the eggplant slices in a single layer on a clean surface.
- Sprinkle the slices with coarse salt, and set aside for 10 minutes. Remove the excess moisture and salt with a paper towel. In a grill pan, place the eggplant slices, and grill for about 3 minutes per side. Please, don't skip the steps 2 and 3. They are crucial to avoid the lasagna becoming too soupy.
- In a medium bowl, mix the ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese, and an egg. Stir well. In a casserole dish, spread some tomato sauce on the bottom. Place 5 or 6 eggplant slices on top to cover the sauce. Then, spread some of the ricotta cheese mixture over the eggplant slices and top with the mozzarella cheese.
- Continue repeating the layers until you have used all of your ingredients. Top with the sauce, mozzarella, and Parmesan. Bake 40 minutes covered and then 10 minutes uncovered. Let stand about 10 minutes before serving. Garnish with parsley.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Did You Make This?
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Do you know if this will freeze well? I love eggplant but no one else in my family does.
Oh yes. It freezes very well.
Delicious loved this easy to make recipe
Happy you liked it! Thanks for commenting 😉
Do you peel the eggplant? I’m making this tomorrow
No I didn’t.
Made this last night. it was somewhat hard to get the water out of the eggplant, but cooking it on the grill pan got a lot of it out. Next had eggplant before. It tasted okay before I assembled everything, but afterwards, the eggplant tasted weird. Could have just been the eggplant I used. Everything else tasted great.
Did you “swet” the eggplants before you grilled them? Salt each side after cutting and lay on paper towels for 15-20 minutes. Then brush or quickly rinse the salt off before grilling (pat dry if you rinse). This takes the bitterness out of the eggplant.
yes I did.
Can I put this together and freeze it before baking?
Yes you can 😉
How does freezing change cooking time?
You need to thaw this recipe over night in the fridge before cooking.
Hi.. I was wondering what 1/9 serving size is?
This lasagna serves 9 pieces (one piece for one person).
Is there an option to put it in the oven or use a regular pan if you don’t have a grill pan?
You can broil the eggplant slices in the oven before assembling the lasagna.
With this method, is it useful, or flavorful to brush the eggplant slices with extra-virgin olive oil before broiling?
It’s not necessary because you will broil the eggplant slices to make them dry and avoid having liquid on your lasagna.
I made this for thanksgiving and it tasted delicious! The only problem was that it was difficult to cut the eggplant. The knife kept getting hung up on the “noodles” causing the whole thing to pull apart and not look very appetizing. I was using a very sharp knife and I’m wondering if there’s anything I can do to prevent this in the future. (I didn’t peel the eggplant btw)
It sounds like your eggplant was a little over ripe. Make sure they are fairly firm with a gentle finger press on the fat part.
Good recipe but be careful to wipe off as much salt as you can from the eggplant before grilling it. As the recipe said to salt the eggplant to get the water out, I did so and I patted the water off with a paper towel before grilling. The lasagna turned out SO SALTY that we could not manage to eat it, and we like salt around here.
Sorry to hear that. Yes, you have to be very careful about the salt, but this is a very important step to avoid your lasagna to become watery. If you use coarse salt it will be better because it is easier to remove it out from the eggplant before grilling it.
Love this recipe and have never made lasagna with pasta. Therefore, for your recipe to taste as good if not better than lasagna, I’m going to continue to perfect it! Thank you.
KT
Happy you liked it 😉
this is an absolutely beautiful recipe thank you so much I’ll definitely do that more often☺️
Awesome! Happy you liked it 😉
I made this for my veggie loving fam tonight and it was a huge hit! I followed the egg plant prep directions and the consistency was perfect. I also layered sliced zucchini, mushrooms, and spinach! Delicious!
Awesome I think your lasagna sounds delicious. I love that you added mushrooms and spinach too!
Despite following the eggplant prep directions, my lasagna was pretty soggy and did not hold any form once served out of the baking dish. Just a big pile of cheesy veggies. It tasted fine, just not very pretty in appearance once served.
Sorry to hear that. Do you have any idea what that happened? Every time I follow the eggplant prep directions the lasagna holds really well.
This happened to me too. I think 4 cups of the tomato sauce is way too much – I ended up dumping it all into a large pan and simmering it off for an hour after taking it out of the oven to try and save it. Very tasty, just not lasagne-like in the slightest. Next time I’ll reduce the tomato sauce by half before doing my layers. I also followed all the instructions for pulling the water out, put the slices under my broiler and everything.
I thought this was pretty good. I doubled the ricotta mixture. (like icing, there is never enough cheese!) My mandoline didn’t work so well, maybe my eggplant weren’t firm enough, so I hand cut them. It needed something else, maybe meat to perk it up.
Have you tried this recipe with Ground beef? It works great!
Since others have said that their lasagne didn’t hold well I decided to cut my eggplant 1cm thick as I read in another recipe and it held VERY WELL. After sweating the eggplant off (used 3 instead of 2) I pan fried it in butter then set it aside while I cooked 500g minced beef with some finely diced onion then mixed in your tomato sauce. Layered some of your tomato sauce (which now has the minced beef) then some eggplant, alternating then topped with the cheese. It turned out absolutely delicious as hubby and I are on the Keto menu. Thanks for your recipe as it the basis, but I’ll now continue to make it with my changes.
I made this. Followed the tips. Followed the recipe. Cooked it for 50 minutes…. was still not done. Cooked another 20 minutes. Tough and chewy, bitter and salty. Sorry. I did not enjoy this.
Sorry to hear that. I’m actually surprised how yours turned out because normally when you over cook eggplant, it tends to become soggy and mashy. And for the “salty part”, when you pat the eggplant slices with a paper towel, you will do that to remove the excess moisture and the coarse salt too.
This is definitely the best low-carb eggplant lasagna I’ve ever made! Amazing!
Awesome! So happy you liked this recipe. Thanks for the 5 stars 😉
So so so GOOD! Love this low-carb eggplant lasagna recipe. I made it every Sunday for my family. Everybody enjoys it.
SO happy you enjoyed this recipe! Thanks a lot for your great feedback 😉
I tried this recipe yesterday, I followed the instructions to avoid the eggplant from being soggy and I had some chicken already on the grill so I grilled the eggplant. Turn out perfect. Looking forward to other low carb recipes.
Awesome. I’m glad to hear that. Thanks for stopping by and try one of my recipes 😉
I made this for dinner and it was wonderful. I made two adjustments. I did not use oil on the grill pan and I prefer shaved parmesan cheese to grated parmesan cheese in the ricotta egg mixture. My husband loved it!!
Mm… Sounds delicious!
Really easy to make and you could not get it wrong. I fried a small chopped onion and minced meat in a bit of olive oil and added to the tomato sauce. My kids loved it and so did I! Super healthy for those on diet.
That’s absolutely awesome! Happy to hear that 😉
This was a perfect low carb dish. I made this and a big pan of regular lasagna as well and many folks kept coming back for more of the eggplant dish. Delightful!
It’s so good that we don’t even realize this dish is low-carb 😉