An Olive Garden Eggplant Parmesan copycat using the exact recipe that Olive Garden uses! Full of meaty eggplant, marinara sauce, and melted cheese, learn how to make this italian classic, eggplant parmigiana, at home.
While I love a good dinner out, I am all about remaking restaurant favorites at home. It's significantly more affordable and you can tailor everything to fit you and your family's tastes.
This Olive Garden eggplant parmigiana recipe is the exact recipe that Olive Garden uses (thank you, Reddit), and it's surprisingly simple to make! Serve this italian staple with some salad and garlic butter breadsticks for the full experience. Don't forget the freshly grated parmesan cheese!
More olive garden copycat recipes
Ingredients
- eggplant
- flour
- eggs
- milk
- bread crumbs
- olive oil
- marinara sauce
- fresh mozzarella cheese
How to make copycat Olive Garden Eggplant Parmesan
Wash eggplant and trim off ends. Slice into ¼ inch thick slices, approximately 12 slices should come out of a standard sized eggplant.
Measure flour and bread crumbs into separate bowls. Measure egg wash ingredients (egg and milk) into a bowl and whisk together.
Coat eggplant slice completely in flour.
Next, coat the flour covered slice in egg wash mixture.
Coat with breadcrumbs until completely covered and place on a plate to the side. Repeat steps until all of the eggplant slices have been coated.
Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Working in stages fry eggplant until both sides are golden brown, approximately 3-4 minutes per side. Repeat until all eggplant slices have been fried.
Place in a casserole dish or baking sheet. Cover with tomato sauce and fresh mozzarella. Bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes until the cheese is melted and the eggplant is tender.
Serve with a extra marinara sauce on the side and a bed of pasta noodles.
Optional cooking methods
Olive Garden actually broils their eggplant instead of frying, but I find that difficult to control. This recipe calls for the breaded eggplant to be pan fried, but you can certainly prepare it other ways if you would like.
Air fry for less oil but still a lot of crispness. If you have an air fryer, you can certainly air fry the eggplant instead of pan frying. Simply prepare as normal and then brush or spray with a bit of oil. Air fry at 390 for about 15 minutes, flipping halfway through.
You will have to work in batches with this method because most air fryers don't have the capacity to do all of the eggplant at once.
Bake for a more hands off method. After breading the eggplant, you can spray or brush with oil and place all of them in a single layer in baking dish. Bake at 375 for 20 minutes, until the eggplant are tender inside and crispy outside. Remove from the oven and top with sauce and mozzarella cheese. Bake for an additional 15 minutes until cheese is melted and bubbly.
Recipe Tips and Tricks
- Make sure to divide the oil when pan frying. The breadcrumbs and eggplant will soak it up with cooking, and you don't want to run out before you finish cooking all of it. Divide by how many batches you will doing and add a fraction each time.
- Peel the eggplant for a smoother bite. Olive Garden does not peel their eggplant before breading it, so I kept it on as well. I think next time I make it, I will remove the skin with a vegetable peeler. The skin is slightly tougher than zucchini skin, but still completely edible.
What to serve with eggplant parmesan?
At Olive Garden you would generally see eggplant parmesan served with a side of spaghetti and the classic olive garden salad. You could even pair it with crockpot olive garden chicken.
I always find it nice to serve with additional red sauce for dipping. If you want to keep the dish lower carb, you can serve the fried eggplant without pasta and just do steamed broccoli or a salad.
If you want to add a little extra protein, try serving with a side of italian sausage or chicken breast.
Olive Garden Eggplant Parmesan
Ingredients
- 1 large eggplant
- ¼ cup flour
- 1 egg
- ½ cup milk
- ½ cup bread crumbs
- ½ cup olive oil
- ½ cup marinara sauce
- 1 cup fresh mozzarella cheese
Instructions
- Wash eggplant and trim off ends. Slice into ¼ inch thick slices, approximately 12 slices should come out of a standard sized eggplant.
- Measure flour and bread crumbs into separate bowls. Measure egg wash ingredients (egg and milk) into a bowl and whisk together.
- Coat eggplant slice completely in flour.
- Next, coat the flour covered slice in egg wash mixture.
- Coat with breadcrumbs until completely covered and place on a plate to the side. Repeat steps until all of the eggplant slices have been coated.
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Working in stages fry eggplant until both sides are golden brown, approximately 3-4 minutes per side. Repeat until all eggplant slices have been fried.
- Place in a casserole dish or baking sheet. Cover with tomato sauce and fresh mozzarella. Bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes until the cheese is melted and the eggplant is tender.
- Serve with a extra marinara sauce on the side and a bed of pasta noodles.
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