Crispy edges give way to a tender center with this oven roasted eggplant recipe. This simple dish is perfect for small, heirloom variety eggplants.
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About this recipe
This is a family recipe, and the first time it was served to me I fell in love! With crispy edges and skin and a soft delicious center, even my kids devoured all of their eggplant. The shocking part of the story is that I typically am not a fan of this veggie, with the exception of this recipe!
I switch up the herbs that I use when making this, depending on what I have available. In the absence of herbs such as rosemary or thyme, an all-purpose type seasoning such as Mrs. Dash works very well.
Eggplant in the garden
Just about every year in our garden, we make room for eggplants specifically to make this delicious recipe. We typically grow heirloom vegetables and have had great success over the years with Antigua Eggplant. This year, we did not grow eggplants in our summer garden (we decided to save them for fall) so at a local farmer’s market I was quick to purchase these beautiful heirloom eggplants when I spotted them! We like to use small varieties like this when roasting. We find they cook better without too much moisture.
Eggplants are an easy to grow garden vegetable, as long as they are routinely watered much like any other veggie. Our Antigua eggplants over the years have been very low-maintenance, and were good producers.
If you’re interested in learning more about heirloom vegetables and seed saving, check out this post. The eggplants I purchased at the farmer’s market to make the recipe pictured here were actually a different heirloom variety (despite looking nearly identical), so I saved a handful of seeds for next year!
Tools Needed to Make Oven Roasted Eggplant
This post contains affiliate links, which means I make a small commission at no extra cost to you. See my full disclosure here.
This recipe is so simple, and really doesn’t use a lot of supplies!
- Eggplant: as mentioned, I prefer small eggplants for roasting.
- Salt
- Pepper
- Herbs: this is where you can get creative and use what you have on hand. Commonly used herbs for this recipe include rosemary and thyme. I have also made this recipe without additional herbs and only seasoned with salt and pepper.
- Olive Oil
- Paper towels
- Knife
- Large baking sheet: we received these baking sheets as a wedding gift and I cannot recommend them enough. Our old baking sheets would pop, and weren’t as high quality.
- Tin foil
How to make oven roasted eggplant
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- Line the baking sheet with tin foil for easy clean up, then spread a little olive oil onto the foil to prevent sticking.
- Wash and dry the eggplants, then cut off the green tops and slice them lengthwise.
- Cut a deep crosshatch pattern into the flesh of the eggplant, and sprinkle salt into the crevices.
- Let the eggplant sit on the counter with the cut side facing up for about 30 minutes, the salt will draw excess water out of the vegetable.
- Next, squeeze the eggplant over the sink or a bowl to ring out the excess water. It’s helpful to also use a piece of paper towel to press onto the eggplant to ensure all excess water has been removed.
- Apply a thin, even coating of olive oil to the cut side of the eggplants.
- Sprinkle black pepper and your herb(s) of choice. Dried rosemary and thyme sprinkled on top are excellent for this recipe.
- Arrange the eggplant onto the baking sheet with the cut side facing down and bake for about 1 hour, or until the eggplants collapse and turn brown as pictured.
- After baking, let sit for about 15 minutes (until they are safe enough to handle) then gently flip over to reveal a beautifully roasted eggplant!
Roasted eggplants make for the perfect appetizer or side dish, and are versatile enough to go with almost any dinner. Scrape the flesh off of the skins and enjoy!
Printable Recipe Card
Oven Roasted Eggplant
Crispy edges give way to a tender center with this oven roasted eggplant recipe. This simple dish is perfect for small, heirloom variety eggplants.
Ingredients
- 4-6 small eggplants
- Salt
- Pepper
- Rosemary / Thyme
- Olive Oil
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Line the baking sheet with tin foil for easy clean up, then spread a little olive oil onto the foil to prevent sticking.
Wash and dry the eggplants, then cut off the green tops and slice them lengthwise.
Cut a deep crosshatch pattern into the flesh of the eggplant, and sprinkle salt into the crevices.
Let the eggplant sit on the counter with the cut side facing up for about 30 minutes, the salt will draw excess water out of the vegetable.
Next, squeeze the eggplant over the sink or a bowl to ring out the excess water. It's helpful to also use a piece of paper towel to press onto the eggplant to ensure all excess water has been removed.
Apply a thin, even coating of olive oil to the cut side of the eggplants.
Sprinkle black pepper and your herb(s) of choice. Dried rosemary and thyme sprinkled on top are excellent for this recipe.
Arrange the eggplant onto the baking sheet with the cut side facing down and bake for about 1 hour, or until the eggplants collapse and turn brown as pictured.
After baking, let sit for about 15 minutes (until they are safe enough to handle) then gently flip over to reveal a beautifully roasted eggplant!
Roasted eggplants make for the perfect appetizer or side dish, and are versatile enough to go with almost any dinner. Scrape the flesh off of the skins and enjoy!
Pin it for later
I love to plan meals for our family surrounding what we have found at the farmer’s market or harvested from our garden and hope this post inspires you to do the same.
More Farm-To-Table Recipes from Simply Rooted Farmhouse
Thank you for visiting today and learning how to make this simple, delicious recipe with us! See you again soon!
Linked to: Embracing Home and Family: The Inspired Prairie, Home Matters Linky Party: Modern on Monticello, Simple Homestead Blog Hop: Oak Hill Homestead, Tuesday Turn About: My Wee Abode
I love eggplant. I usually always bread it & then deep fry it but I am going to try your method next time.
I haven’t tried eggplant for a long time. Pinned this for later! Thanks! Visiting today from the #homemattersparty.
This looks so delicious!! I’m pinning this recipe for later!
Thanks so much Meg!
This looks really good! I haven’t cooked eggplant for years! Think I need to give it another try! Thank you as always for linking up with us at Embracing Home and Family!
Thanks Jennifer! I didn’t know what to do with eggplant until I learned about this. So simple and tasty. Thanks for hosting the Embracing Home and Family party!