This eggplant pizza uses roasted slices instead of dough for a quick, healthy, gluten-free dinner. It’s easy to customize and ready in about 30 minutes!
Here’s a non-traditional pizza recipe that’s stolen my heart: eggplant pizza! Here roasted eggplant is the crust (not a topping!) and it’s a quick, healthy, gluten-free alternative that’s perfect for busy evenings when you don’t have energy to make a pizza.
As an expert in homemade pizzas, my margherita pizza recipe is my pride and joy, honed over a decade of studying Italian pizza. But that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy a quick and easy alternative! This eggplant pizza is actually a spin on a Julia Child recipe I made as an appetizer years ago when Alex and I were first learning to cook. It will always hold a place in my heart: and I hope you’ll love it too!
5-Star Reader Reviews
“Super easy and yummy way to use up a fall eggplant out of the garden. Thanks for sharing!” -Megan
“I made this recipe for my husband and he just loved it! He never missed the crust. I found it the easiest and healthiest way I have ever eaten eggplant. I am growing eggplant and have many to use up so I really appreciate a healthy way to serve eggplant.” -Anonymous
How to Make Eggplant Pizza
Here’s the basic concept behind eggplant pizza, or: pizza with a roasted eggplant crust! The main steps are as follows (or jump to the recipe):
- Step 1: Roast the eggplant. Slice an eggplant into rounds and then roast it for 15 to 20 minutes at 400°F. The texture you want is tender, but something that still holds its shape: so you can eat it with your hands!
- Step 2: Top with pizza sauce and toppings. Add pizza sauce (our homemade sauce is epic!) and top with cheese. In Julia’s pizza she puts fresh basil under the cheese, which makes for a nice fresh flavor.
- Step 3: Broil and serve. Then you’ll broil the pizza until the cheese is melted and golden brown. And that’s it: perfect eggplant pizza!
Tips for Best Results
Here are a few tips for making the best eggplant pizza:
- Look for a globe eggplant that’s as uniform in size all the way down as possible. Many globe eggplants have a thin neck and get very large at the bottom. This means that when you slice them, you get lots of small circles and then massive circles. Finding a uniformly sized eggplant helps so that all your pizzas are closer to the same size. Of course, this doesn’t affect the flavor: so it’s not it’s not required.
- Slice at ¾ inch thickness. Thinner eggplant slices get too floppy; thicker ones are too heavy on the eggplant flavor.
- Use homemade pizza sauce. My easy pizza sauce takes just 5 minutes to make in a blender. When you take a taste of a spoonful, you will never go back! Every time I make it, I taste it and say: “Wow, that really is the best pizza sauce.”
Easy Variations to Try
You can add any toppings you like to this healthy eggplant pizza! While I love them topped simply with cheese and fresh basil, here are a few more ideas and variations:
- Pesto and fresh tomatoes. See Pesto Pizza.
- Peppers, onions and arugula. See Best Healthy Pizza.
- Spinach and artichokes. See Spinach Artichoke Pizza.
- Olives, spinach & sundried tomatoes. See Mediterranean Pizza.
- Avocado, peppers, and goat cheese. See Veggie & Avocado Pizza.
- Air fryer version. Cook the eggplant rounds at 375°F for about 8 to 10 minutes, then add toppings and air fry for another 3 to 4 minutes until the cheese is melted and bubbly. It’s a great option for a small batch.
- Pizza bites / appetizer style. Use a smaller Japanese eggplant and slice it thinner for bite-sized rounds that are perfect party appetizers.
What to Serve With It
You can serve this eggplant pizza as an appetizer, and it feeds about 4 to 6 people. Or try it as a main dish! I’d recommend doubling the recipe below for 4, and then serving with some hearty sides. Here are a few things I’d pair with it:
- Green Salad. Try Perfect Italian Salad, Chopped Salad, Best Tossed Salad, Spinach Apple Salad, Classic Spinach Salad, Arugula Beet Salad, or Fennel Orange Salad.
- Hearty Salad. Try our Quinoa Salad, Kale Quinoa Salad, Simple Chickpea Salad, or French Lentil Salad for heartier choices.
- Sauteed Veggies. While the oven is baking the eggplant, make some Sauteed Rainbow Chard, Best Sauteed Kale, Simple Sauteed Broccoli, Sauteed Spinach or Best Sauteed Mushrooms.
Storing & Reheating
Store leftovers airtight in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. The rounds will soften as they sit. Reheat in a 375°F oven or a toaster oven until warmed through and the cheese is re-melted. Reheating would also work great in an air fryer!
I don’t recommend freezing eggplant pizza because the eggplant becomes very soft and watery when frozen and thawed.
Dietary Notes
This eggplant pizza recipe is vegetarian and gluten-free. It’s also suitable for low-carb and keto diets: each serving has a fraction of the carbohydrates of traditional pizza dough. To make it vegan, use a plant-based mozzarella substitute.
Frequently Asked Questions
This recipe uses roasted eggplant as the crust, which is not typically crispy. It’s more of a soft, roasted vegetable consistency. If you wanted a crispy pizza, you could make a cheese pizza with roasted eggplant on top.
You can, but it will be a much smaller batch. To make eggplant pizza in an air fryer, air fry the seasoned slices at 375°F for 8 to 10 minutes until tender. Add the pizza sauce, basil, and cheese, then return to the air fryer for another 3 to 4 minutes until the cheese is melted and the tops are golden. Work in batches to keep the rounds in a single layer. The air fryer is a great option for a small serving.
Yes, eggplant pizza is a low-carb pizza option. A traditional slice of pizza can have 30 to 40 grams of carbohydrates from the pizza dough alone. Eggplant is very low in carbohydrates (about 5 grams per cup), which makes these rounds a good fit for low-carb and keto diets. The toppings add a small amount of additional carbohydrates from the tomato sauce, but the overall carbs is below that of any traditional pizza crust.
Easy Eggplant Pizza (Healthy Crust Alternative)
Pin Recipe5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star
5 from 2 reviews
This eggplant pizza uses roasted slices instead of dough for a quick, healthy, gluten-free dinner. It’s easy to customize and ready in about 30 minutes!
- Author: Sonja Overhiser
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 2 to 3 as a main; 4 to 6 as an appetizer 1x
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: Italian
- Diet: Vegetarian
Ingredients
- 2 pounds globe eggplant*
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 cup Easy Pizza Sauce
- ½ cup mozzarella cheese
- ½ cup Parmesan cheese
- ¼ cup chopped fresh basil, plus more for garnish
- Kosher salt, to season
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F.
- Slice the eggplant into ¾ inch thick slices. Brush both sides with 2 tablespoons olive oil. Sprinkle the tops liberally kosher salt (about ¼ teaspoon total) and the dried oregano.
- Place the eggplant on a baking sheet and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until tender but still holding their shape.
- While the eggplant roasts, make the pizza sauce.
- Top the eggplant with a thin layer of the pizza sauce, then add the chopped basil, divided between the rounds. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese and Parmesan cheese, divided between the rounds, and sprinkle the tops with a little more kosher salt.
- Broil the eggplant until the cheese is melted and lightly browned, about 3 to 5 minutes, rotating the pan as necessary for even cooking (alternatively, you can bake the pizzas until the cheese melts). Top with more fresh basil and serve.
Notes
*This recipe is easy to double to feed 4 as a main dish. If you can, try to find eggplant that is a uniform size all the way down the eggplant (eggplant that has a very large bulb at the end makes for more variation in pizza size).
More Eggplant Recipes To Try
from A Couple Cooks https://ift.tt/ukYZKOH
