There’s something incredibly satisfying and indulgent about this vegan aubergine parmigiana… Layers of succulent roasted aubergine slices with a delicious tomato sauce and a “secret” ingredient that confers a creamy, delicate, cheesy flavour, similar to the classical version with Parmesan cheese and mozzarella. Fresh basil leaves, reminiscent of long summer days when aubergines are in season and abundant, elevate this dish to perfection.
Vegan aubergine parmigiana is high on my list of favourites – definitely among the top 10! I adore aubergines, and this has to be one of the best ways to do justice to those plump, shiny purple vegetables!
This vegan aubergine parmigiana is every bit as delicious as its “classical” counterpart but with no animal suffering involved. In this post, you’ll learn how to veganise this immensely popular regional Italian dish without compromising on taste in any way. This mouthwateringly delicious aubergine parmigiana will have your friends and family raving and asking for more! Make plenty because I assure you, it’s highly doubtful there’ll be any leftovers! If there are, I can guarantee you or your commensals will polish them off in less than 24 hours!
about this vegan aubergine parmigiana recipe
I am dedicating this vegan aubergine parmigiana recipe to my good friend, Monica Riva (and accountability buddy), who I’ve known for 40 years. Monica was with me when I launched my blog on November 1 2022, and sat up with me until 4 am to help me with the last important steps before finally hitting that ever-so-daunting PUBLISH button! If that’s not friendship, I don’t know what is. Later, on New Year’s Eve, we had a nice quiet celebration together at her place, and I took this vegan aubergine parmigiana with me as part of my contribution to the meal. Today she asked me for the recipe, saying she loved it so much it’s been on her mind for the last two months.
Once upon a time, it was kind of taboo to ask people for recipes unless they were close friends or family. Recipes used to be closely guarded secrets that you didn’t just give away. Even if you did pluck up the courage to ask for the recipe, you usually got some vague answer and hastily rattled off ingredients and quantities that no one could possibly take in and remember. It’s not like that anymore, thank goodness and everyone shares – hoping for a little notoriety, maybe, and some 5-star reviews (hint).
So here’s the recipe, Monica! And for all you aubergine lovers out there – I hope you enjoy it!
What you’ll need – list of ingredients
- aubergines
- coarse sea salt
- extra virgin olive oil
- fresh basil leaves (optional, but absolutely recommended – just don’t use dried basil leaves)
- vegan parmesan cheese. This is the link to my homemade vegan parmesan cheese recipe. Alternatively, you can use your own favourite.
For the tomato sauce
- extra virgin olive oil
- a clove of garlic (optional)
- homemade tomato sauce, tinned tomato pulp, chopped tomatoes, or Italian plum tomatoes (I use my own homemade tomato sauce or Polpa Mutti)
- unrefined sea salt
- freshly ground black pepper (optional)
For the thick béchamel sauce
- olive oil
- all-purpose white flour
- unsweetened soya milk
- unsweetened almond milk
- a pinch of sugar
- a small onion (trimmed and left whole)
- cloves
- ground nutmeg
- unrefined sea salt
- ground white pepper
- nutritional yeast flakes
Important tips
- Aubergine parmigiana is a special occasion dish that takes a while to prepare. If you’re in a hurry, you could take the shortcut and not salt the aubergines. Even so, it’ll take a couple of hours to make from start to finish.
- Salting the aubergines gets rid of the excess water as well as their sponginess. This ensures that you get a silky, creamy texture. It’s that sponginess that absorbs so much oil. If you want to skip this step because you’re short of time, you can! I won’t make such a huge difference. However, if you’re looking to impress and want an outstanding dish to present, I really recommend going that extra mile and salting the aubergines.
- I recommend using tinned tomato pulp for this recipe. If you are using passata, don’t reduce it (see recipe card below).
- Don’t be tempted to put two trays of aubergines in the oven together. The aubergines on the lower shelf won’t brown properly. You’re after golden, roasted aubergine slices. You can only achieve that on the top shelf of the oven at 250 °C.
- I recommend you use the combination of plant-based milk stated in this recipe. I’ve tried them all, and this is the only vegan béchamel sauce recipe that is truly difficult to distinguish from the real thing. If you have to use a different type of milk for dietary reasons, use unsweetened.
- It’s best to leave the aubergine parmigiana to stand for 5 – 10 minutes before serving. That way, it will have the chance to set a little before you cut it and the béchamel and tomato sauce won’t “run”. You’ll also enjoy the flavours more if the parmigiana is warm/hot rather than boiling hot.
Method – How to make vegan aubergine parmigiana
Salt the aubergines
- Slice the aubergines quite thickly, about 1 – 1½ cm, crosswise or lengthwise – it doesn’t really matter – I cut mine lengthwise. Sprinkle some coarse sea salt on each layer and reassemble each aubergine by stacking the slices on top of each other. That way, the salt will be in contact with both sides of the slices of aubergine – top and bottom. Leave to stand for an hour.
- After an hour, rinse the aubergines under running water to get rid of the surplus salt. If you don’t, your aubergines will be very salty. Once rinsed, dry the aubergines between layers of kitchen paper or cloths. Press down to dry them well.
Roast/grill the aubergines
- Preheat the oven to 250 ºC.
- Put the aubergine slices on a sheet of baking paper or aluminium foil and brush lightly with oil on both sides.
- Place them on a solid tray on the top shelf of the oven and grill/roast for 10 – 15 minutes until the aubergine slices are golden. You’ll need to do them in batches. When done, remove from the oven and set aside. While you are roasting the aubergines, you can make the tomato sauce.
- After you have finished roasting all the aubergine slices, lower the oven temperature to 220 ºC.
Make the tomato sauce
- Crush the clove of garlic with the heel of your hand or a flat object. Put a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil in a pan and turn the heat on low. Add the clove of garlic and sweat gently without colour on the lowest possible heat for 5 minutes until the garlic has softened a little and is just starting to brown.
- Add the tomato pulp and season. Go easy on the salt because the aubergines will be quite salty. Cook on a low heat for about 30 minutes without a lid. The idea is to evaporate some of the water. Reduce by about a quarter so that you are left with approximately 600 g, and the tomato sauce is thicker than pasta sauce.
Prepare the béchamel sauce
- You’ll need approximately 250 g of vegan béchamel sauce for this aubergine parmigiana recipe. The béchamel sauce should be quite thick because we are using it to simulate the way mozzarella and Parmesan melt in this dish. If you follow my instructions and weigh the ingredients, your parmigiana will be perfect – no béchamel flowing out when you cut the portions!
- You’ll find the step-by-step instructions on how to make béchamel sauce in the recipe card below.
How to assemble your vegan aubergine parmigiana
- Now, it’s time to assemble the parmigiana.
- Put a thin layer of tomato sauce in the bottom of an oven dish.
- Lay slices of aubergine on top of the tomato sauce in a single layer.
- Spoon a little tomato sauce (about a level tablespoonful) onto each slice of aubergine and spread it out with the back of the spoon.
- Spoon a little of the thick béchamel sauce about a teaspoonful) onto each slice of aubergine, forming little mounds similar to what melted mozzarella would look like. Don’t spread it out.
- Finish the layer by putting a couple of fresh basil leaves on each slice of aubergine and sprinkling some vegan parmesan cheese over the top. To sprinkle the cheese uniformly, use a sieve.
- Repeat the layers of aubergines, tomato sauce, béchamel, basil and parmesan cheese until all the aubergines are used up. I made four layers. Leave the best-looking slices for the top layer.
- The final layer should be tomato sauce only, without béchamel sauce and basil. Make sure all the pieces of aubergine are lightly coated in tomato sauce. This will prevent your aubergine parmigiana from drying out on top.
- Using a coarse sieve, sprinkle a heaped tablespoon of vegan parmesan cheese over the parmigiana.
How to bake vegan aubergine parmigiana
- Place the aubergine parmigiana in the centre of the oven (on a rack, not a solid tray), and bake uncovered at 220 ºC for 20 minutes or until bubbling and just starting to brown on top.
- When done, remove from the oven and leave to stand for 5 – 10 minutes before serving. See notes below.
What to serve with your vegan aubergine parmigiana
In Italy, aubergine parmigiana is a festive dish. It adorns the table on Sundays, national festive days and family celebrations. On such occasions, it would be served as an entrée. As a vegan, I serve it as a main course after a first course of pasta or a starter. It’s the centrepiece of the table and needs nothing other than a slice of sourdough bread to accompany it.
Individual portions of vegan aubergine parmigiana – restaurant style
An interesting variation for another day – individual stacks of vegan aubergine parmigiana! Here, I cut the aubergines crosswise into rounds. The procedure is basically the same, but I finished off with a layer of thick béchamel sauce.
What to do with leftovers
Got some leftovers? Give me a shout – I’ll be right over! Seriously though, you can either store it in the fridge in an airtight container, where it will keep for 2 – 4 days, or in the freezer, where it’ll keep for 2 – 3 months. This vegan aubergine parmigiana is fantastic as a filling for a sandwich that you could have for lunch the next day. In the south of Italy, people often put vegetable concoctions between two slices of bread, especially this kind of thing which has a rich tomato sauce.
I hope you love this vegan aubergine parmigiana as much as I do! If you do, let me know in the comments! I’d love to hear from you!
Aubergine parmigiana
4
servings20
minutes1
hour30
minutes60
minutesA mouthwateringly delicious Italian special occasion dish that you’ll want to make over and over again!
Recipe by Deborah, veganhotstuff.com
Quantities are for 4 – 6 people as a main course.
Ingredients
4 large aubergines
coarse sea salt (for salting the aubergines)
olive oil for brushing
fresh basil leaves
Vegan parmesan cheese. See my recipe for homemade vegan parmesan cheese, or use your own favourite.
- For the tomato sauce
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 clove of garlic (optional)
800 g tomato sauce (see notes below and in the main blog post above)
1/2 tsp unrefined sea salt
freshly ground black pepper (optional)
- For the béchamel sauce (250 g)
15 g olive oil
25 g all-purpose white flour
125 g unsweetened soya milk
125 g unsweetened almond milk
1 small onion (trimmed and left whole)
2 whole cloves
1/4 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp unrefined sea salt
ground white pepper
1 pinch ground nutmeg
1 heaped tablespoon of nutritional yeast flakes
Directions
- Slice the aubergines quite thickly, about 1 – 1½ cm, crosswise or lengthwise – it doesn’t really matter – I cut mine lengthwise for this recipe. Sprinkle some coarse sea salt on each layer and put the aubergines back together again. That way, the salt will be in contact with both sides of the slices of aubergine – top and bottom. Leave to stand for an hour.
- After an hour, rinse the aubergines under running water to get rid of the surplus salt. If you don’t, your aubergines will be very salty. Once rinsed, dry the aubergines between layers of kitchen paper or cloths. Press down to dry them well.
- Preheat the oven to 250 °C.
- Put the aubergine slices on a sheet of baking paper or aluminium foil and brush some oil on both sides of the slices.
- Place them on a solid tray on the top shelf of the oven and grill/roast for 10 – 15 minutes until the aubergine slices are golden. You’ll need to do them in batches. When done, remove from the oven and set aside. While you are roasting the aubergines, you can make the tomato sauce.
- Prepare the tomato sauce. Crush the clove of garlic with the heel of your hand or a flat object. Put a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil in a pan and turn the heat on low. Add the clove of garlic and sweat gently without colour on the lowest possible heat for 5 minutes until the garlic has softened a little and is just starting to brown. Add the tomato pulp and season. Go easy on the salt because the aubergines will be quite salty. Cook on a low heat for about 30 minutes without a lid. The idea is to evaporate some of the water (reduce by about a quarter so that you are left with approximately 600 g and the tomato sauce is thicker than pasta sauce.
- Make the béchamel sauce. For detailed, step-by.step instructions with photos, see my post on How to make perfect vegan béchamel sauce.
Put the olive oil and flour in a pan (preferably with a rounded bottom). Don’t turn on the heat. Mix the flour and oil together with a hand whisk to make a roux (thick paste). Add the cold almond and soya milk. Amalgamate the roux and the milk together with the hand whisk until there are no lumps left. Do this without turning on the heat. Make incisions in the onion by sticking a knife into it. Be careful not to break it up; it should stay whole. Making incisions will allow the onion to delicately flavour the béchamel sauce. Stud the onion with the cloves. Add the onion, sugar, salt, white pepper, and nutmeg to the milk. Turn on the heat to medium. Stir constantly with the whisk while the sauce thickens. Once it starts to boil, turn off the heat. Add the nutritional yeast flakes and stir until they have dissolved. Remove the onion and the cloves. - Now, it’s time to assemble the parmigiana.
Put a thin layer of tomato sauce in the bottom of an oven dish.
Lay slices of aubergine on top of the tomato sauce in a single layer.
Spoon a little tomato sauce (about a level tablespoonful) onto each slice of aubergine and spread it out with the back of the spoon.
Spoon a little of the thick béchamel sauce (about a teaspoonful) onto each slice of aubergine, forming little mounds similar to what melted mozzarella would look like. Don’t spread it out.
Finish the layer by putting a couple of fresh basil leaves on each slice of aubergine and sprinkling vegan parmesan cheese over it. It’s best to use a sieve for that.
Repeat the layers of aubergines, tomato sauce, béchamel, basil and parmesan cheese until all the aubergines are used up. I made 4 layers. Leave the best-looking slices for the top layer.
The final layer should be tomato sauce only, without béchamel sauce and basil. Make sure all the pieces of aubergine are lightly coated in tomato sauce. This will prevent your aubergine parmigiana from drying out on top when it’s in the oven.Loading gallery media… - Place the aubergine parmigiana in the centre of the oven (on a rack, not a solid tray), and bake uncovered at 220 ºC for 20 minutes or until bubbling and just starting to brown on top. When done, remove from the oven and leave to stand for 5 – 10 minutes before serving. See notes below.
- Serve your vegan aubergine parmigiana. Buon appetito!
Notes
- I find baking paper is best to grill/roast the aubergines on. They tend to stick a bit on aluminium foil, whereas they don’t on baking paper. If you only have aluminium foil, leave the aubergine slices to cool down before trying to remove them from the foil. They will peel off easily once cool.
- Don’t be tempted to put two trays of aubergines into the oven together. The ones on the lower shelf won’t brown properly and will end up being rather soft and mushy. You’re after golden grilled/roasted aubergines. You can only achieve that on the top shelf of the oven at 250 °C.
- The soy milk and the almond milk that I use are both unsweetened and have no other ingredients except soy/almonds and water. Because cow’s milk has a slight sweetness to it, I added a teaspoon of sugar. I don’t recommend using any type/combination of plant-based milk other than that stated in this recipe. I’ve tried them all, and this is the only vegan béchamel sauce recipe that is truly difficult to distinguish from the real thing. If you haven’t got unsweetened almond milk, use all soya. You’ll be able to taste the soya, but it’s the second-best thing.
- There’s mozzarella in some of the many variations of traditional aubergine parmigiana. That’s off the menu here on Vegan Hot Stuff, of course, and I’m not crazy about vegan substitutes for mozzarella, either. I hate any kind of cheese which becomes a solid block when it’s cold. I have memories of mozzarella cheese on pizza turning into an unappetising solid mass when the pizza starts to go cold. So, for this recipe, I wanted something reminiscent of mozzarella when it’s warm without the unappealing characteristics when it turns cold. Because aubergine parmigiana is beyond delicious when put in a sandwich the day after, I had to find a substitute which is cheesy and delicious, both warm and cold. I came up with the idea of a thick, cheesy-tasting vegan béchamel sauce, and it does the trick perfectly – the aubergine parmigiana is perfect, both hot and cold! I really recommend that you try this recipe as it is at least once – that way, you’ll have a comparison to go by. Then, next time, if you have a favourite vegan cheese that you really want to put in there, just substitute the béchamel sauce with the vegan cheese of your choice. That way, by experimenting, you’ll be able to create your own personalised vegan aubergine parmigiana!
- It’s best to leave the aubergine parmigiana to stand for 5 – 10 minutes before serving so that the béchamel and tomato sauces don’t “run” when you cut it. The hotter the sauce, the more liquified it will be. Leaving it to stand will give it the chance to set a little so that when you serve it, it is more compact, and you can get the portions out in one piece. You can also savour the flavours better if you eat the aubergine parmigiana warm/hot rather than boiling hot.
I really hope you enjoy this vegan aubergine parmigiana recipe! If you do, would you consider giving it a star rating? If you could also leave a comment, that would be fantastic – your feedback is valuable to me, and it also helps others to find my blog and recipes. I’d really appreciate it, and it’s the best way to show your support!
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Thank you SO much for the recipe, Deborah. I’ve been dreaming about your Aubergine Parmigiana for over 3 months, since you brought it for our dinner on New Year’s Eve!
Over the years, I’ve tried several versions of this famous Italian dish, but your version of the Aubergine Parmigiana beats them all! … and I’m not even vegan! ?
So good to hear that, Monica – I’m really glad you like it! Thanks for the 5-star review and the comment – I really appreciate it!
As lactose intolerant and big lover of “melanzane alla parmigiana”, this recipe brought back to my table this great dish. Delicious!
That’s great to hear, Annika! Glad you like it! Thanks so much for the 5-star review and for taking the time to leave a comment – I really appreciate it!