Ina Garten's Simple Eggplant Parm Tip Will Make It The Best You've Ever Had

Many people have a list of dishes that they absolutely love but won't make themselves. And this isn't necessarily limited to people who just don't cook; lots of people who are very comfortable in the kitchen refuse to tackle certain meals. For me, it's chile relleno and eggplant parmesan. (Fun fact: it's cousin, chicken parmesan, isn't really from Italy at all.) These dishes are among my favorite foods in the world, but the prep work and popping oil keep me from making them at home. Leave it to Ina Garten to come up with a solution, at least for the eggplant parm. Instead of frying the eggplant slices like it's traditionally done, she roasts them instead.

Classic eggplant parmesan involves salting eggplant slices to draw out moisture, then breading and frying them before assembling with cheese and sauce, and finally baking everything in the oven. In fact, not salting the eggplant is one reason why eggplant parmesan may turn out soggy. It's a time-consuming process. Fans say it's well worth the wait, but Garten's recipe promises just as much flavor and satisfaction with far less mess. Not only does she take out the salting and fry time, but she also opts for store-bought marinara sauce over homemade. Her brand of choice is Rao's, long considered one of the best jarred marinaras on the market.

Ina Garten lets her oven do most of the eggplant prep work when she makes this classic Italian dish. First, she slices eggplant into half-moon shapes, spreads them out over several baking sheets, brushes each side of the vegetables with olive oil, and seasons with salt, pepper, and dried oregano. She roasts the eggplant at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for about 25 minutes, turning the tray about halfway through baking. Once the eggplant is baked, she starts assembling the dish.

Garten layers the eggplant slices with marinara, fresh basil, and three types of cheese: mozzarella, herbed fresh goat, and grated parmesan. She repeats the layers three times. To mimic the crunchy coating that you'd normally get with fried eggplant slices, she makes a breadcrumb topping to sprinkle over the assembled bake. Garten combines fresh breadcrumbs with garlic, basil, olive oil, and salt. The dish bakes for just under an hour, so the top gets golden brown and crunchy.

If you like the idea of not having to deep fry your eggplant but insist that the eggplant slices be browned and crunchy, you don't necessarily have to roast them like Garten does. You can dupe the frying by breading the slices as normal — in a flour, egg, and breadcrumb treatment — but cook them either in an air fryer or in a hot oven until the slices are browned. Then, assemble your eggplant parm as you normally would.