The Best Fried-Eggplant Sandwich Recipe (2024)

Rather than frying the eggplant, bake per Cook's Illustrated Parmesan recipe. After salting & blotting dry, dredge in seasoned flour, then egg, then fresh breadcrumbs with Parmesan cheese. Bake on oiled baking sheets at 425 for 30 minutes, flipping and rotating as needed. Crispy, crunchy and eggplanty, without being greasy. Approx. 3 tbs. oil per baking sheet is enough.

You'll have leftover beaten egg. Add some bread crumbs to it (and anything else you might like, like more cheese, cut up leftover veggies, bits of ham) and fry it in a pan with a little of that oil you cooked the eggplant in: frittata.

Broiling the eggplant is easier and much less fatty. Place slices on a cookie sheet and brush the slices, both sides, with olive oil. Broil until soft.

I'm a mayo freak so 2-3 tbl for 4 people isn't nearly enough. For this, I'd go with olive oil drizzle and a touch of balsamic vinegar. when I do eggplant (my Italian Aunts used to do this) I grill or bake first, lightly brushed w/ oil, then oven fry it (flour, egg, breadcrumb) on a cookie sheet, spraying it w/ olive oil from my atomizer. It gets just as crisp without it being a blotter for too much oil. Or , "erl" as an uncle used to say.

I took a look at the recipe and fell in love. Then, after pigging out, I decided to read the comments by others. I've never seen so many wannabe food cops. If you can't cook things so they taste good, then I'll cook for you. Just come to my house the next time you get all scared about something to do with a recipe, or change it up a bit. Just stop with the self appointed, holier than thou food policing. It just shows your ignorance. This was the best eggplant sandwich ever.

Yes easier and less fatty, but c'mon, this is about cooking the BEST fried-eggplant sandwich -- and not about skimping.

nix the beef for anchovies

Try provolone next time! Adds a nice smokiness to the sandwich.

On the West Coast, away from the delis in metropolitan areas, it can be hard to find the hot cherry peppers. Instead, look for small cans of sliced, red jalapenos in escabeche. Not as hot as the green, with nice hint of sweetness and bite from the escabeche.

For an authentic Italian touch swap out the roast beef for proscuto and drop the mayo dressing, use a olive oil and wine vinegar mix. Garnish with some basil leaves.

One should never fry using extra-virgin olive oil, as it has a very low smoke point, which is unhealthy. Much better to fry in vegetable, canola, or grapeseed oil!

Great recipe for eggplant Sam. Only surpassed by Gabrielle Hamilton's Sicilian mother in law's technique of dredging the raw slices in a mix of half bread crumbs and half flour before dipping in beaten egg and frying. The light and crispy, not greasy vegetable is great in both.

I've made great fried eggplant for years. Why did I follow this recipe? The eggplant was so oily, it was inedible. Recipe testers for Sam Sifton? Writer or chef? I wasted time and money on this recipe. It tasted like grease, with cherry peppers mixed in. Yuk!

I havent prepared this recipe but I do use eggplant frequently. I found a great hack where you slice the eggplant salt them and blot them - and then dip them in either beaten egg white or beaten whole egg ( your preference ) it is amazing how much less oil it absorb.
It gives it one extra layer of flavor and your recipes come out lovely with the great cooked soft luscious taste of eggplant with all without all that greasy over oiliness.

This sandwich is the bomb! I don’t know who thought of the combo, but Mmmmmmm mmmmm.

This was tasty, but I thought the eggplant prep as written was too much trouble for the end result.

Followed recipe to a tee. Stopped eating half way through (rare occurrence). Soggy mess, indeed.

Really Sam? 3/16" sliced eggplant? What would happen if it was 1/4"? What type of measurement tool would you recommend?The best ever eggplant sandwich I had was in Hannah's Kitchen in Toronto. Fried eggplant slices (5/21"), on light rye with sweet/spicy mustard, hummus and provolone cheese... Yumm!

It is not an eggplant and roast beef sandwich, it is an eggplant sandwich--"The Best Fried Eggplant Sandwich"--so yes, the beef is optional. This is a very nice sandwich! (And beef is always optional, as far as I'm concerned.) I, too, added a bit more mayo.

It never in the world would have occurred to me to combine eggplant with roast beef--I did sub Swiss cheese for the mozzarella. While I typically use horseradish with roast beef, the spicy pepper change-up was delicious. I did follow a tip on this page to reduce fat with the eggplant, broiling mine. This was a really yummy sandwich!

Simply the best! No beef needed. Get fancy with some arugula and coarse mustard. I‘ll even try some blue cheese (Gorgonzola) next time.Use the REAL buffalo Mozzarella!!!Fry eggplants in advance, stored (don’t stack them!) and at room temperature are just perfect, they stay crisp quite long. Use more parmiggiano in egg mixture. Regular eggplants are just fine, regular pickled red peppers as well. French baguette works best imho.Cheers from Germany!

Instead of roast beef I used large sliced pepperoni rounds. Good.

lived in red hook for 12 years and ate so somany of these sandwiches. snarfed up my last hot beef with eggplant and fresh mozzarella in the car (messy!) as we tailed the movers’ truck on our way to the Catskills. at defontes, they dip the top of the bread in jus. oh my word, what a delicious sandwich.

3/16 inch slices. A chef with a sense of humor!

Save the trouble of using racks. Just drain on fresh paper towels.

I breaded my eggplant (flour, egg, breadcrumbs) then baked. Had no roast beef, but put sandwich sized pepperoni slices instead, We loved it! Absolutely delicious.

Made this tonite as written. The first batch (abt 1/3) of eggplant absorbed all of the olive oil in the pan during the first round of frying. Overall eggplant was very greasy. Seemed to absorb oil less during second round if crying and having applied the egg coating. While it was very greasy, sandwich on toasted Kalamazoo sourdough with mayo and provolone was tasty. Would bake the eggplant next time.

Made this last night (4/14/20) using Steve's suggestion in the comments for baked breaded eggplant, since I wanted to avoid the mess and oil load from frying. And it worked out great!! The eggplant was beautifully crisp and crunchy on the outside and soft and tender inside. Took a little longer than frying but so what. Plenty of time on my hands these days, and it's hands-off cooking except for a mid-bake flip. Awesome sandwich! Thanks, Sam!

I was afraid about double frying because of the reviews, but agree that following the recipe turned out delicious! I toasted the buns and used a spicy pepper relish because I could not find the hot cherry peppers. I also used only one smallish eggplant and half the egg/cheese mixture, resulting in enough for about three 10-inch hoagie rolls packed with eggplant. I added arugula for a little green crunch.