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Crispy Air Fryer Eggplant Fries

By Victoria · On: Aug 20, 21 · Last Modified: Apr 18, 23

128 shares
  • 28

Air Fryer Eggplant Fries are crispy, very easy to make and they are versatile so you can combine them with a lot of dishes. You will need only one medium eggplant, breadcrumbs, half of cup of parmesan, two eggs, a little bit of oil, and a pinch of salt. A perfect midweek meal that you can make in less than 20 minutes. They may work fantastic as a snack, appetizer or even you can serve them as a side dish.

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Close look of fried eggplant fries cooked in the air fryer.

This recipe may be a good fit if you want to introduce eggplants to your kids and they don’t like them very much. Because of the crispy texture, that usually kids are familiar with already, they may start eating eggplants after this recipe.

I suggest also serving them near a dipping sauce to make them more unique. I served them near my homemade marinara sauce, but you can also use a jarred sauce for the dipping.

In This Post: show
1 🥰 Why You Will Love This Recipe?
2 🏆 Tips for Success? How to Make It Better?
3 🖐️ How to Pick the Right Eggplant?
4 🤔 How to Scale the Recipe Up and Down?
5 🥘 Ingredients Needed for This Recipe?
6 🥦 Ingredients Swap?
7 🍽️ Serving Suggestions
8 📖 Variations
9 👩‍🍳 Step-by-step Directions
10 ♻️ Make Ahead, Storage and Heating:
11 🤔Answering Your Questions:
12 📋 Recipe Card:

🥰 Why You Will Love This Recipe?

  • It is very easy to cook and you need only a little bit of time.
  • They are crunch, because of the panko coating.
  • Great for the entire family.

🏆 Tips for Success? How to Make It Better?

  • For a more particular taste, you could add more spices like chili flakes, garlic or black pepper.
Eggplant snacks served near a marinara sauce on a white plate.

🖐️ How to Pick the Right Eggplant?

You may know that not all eggplants are the same in taste. A few of them have a bitter taste after cooking.

So how to pick the best ones?

First of all, pay attention to the weight of the eggplants. Pick those that are heavier, have a green stem, have a shiny peel, and that is slightly firm when squeezed.

Also, if you want to go safer, you may pick smaller ones because usually, they are less bitter than the large ones.

🤔 How to Scale the Recipe Up and Down?

This is a simple recipe, so just increase the ingredients proportionally.

🥘 Ingredients Needed for This Recipe?

Ingredients needed for the eggplant fries cooked in the air fryer.
  • 1 Medium Eggplant.
  • ½ cup of Freshly Grated Parmesan.
  • ½ cupf of Breadcrumbs.
  • 2 teaspoons of Olive Oil.
  • ¼ teaspoon of Salt or to taste.
  • 2 Medium Eggs.

🥦 Ingredients Swap?

  • Parmesan. You can replace it with another type of hard cheese such as Pecorino.
  • Breadcrumbs. You may use panko instead.
  • Seasoning. You may add black pepper, chili flakes, dried basil or garlic powder.
Crispy eggplant fries with bread crust and marinara sauce.

🍽️ Serving Suggestions

You could serve these air fryer eggplant fries with different sauces such as tomato sauce, garlic with mayonnaise, tzatziki sauce, or sweet chili sauce.

📖 Variations

  • You can use the gluten-free breadcrumb to make the gluten-free version
  • You may cut the eggplants into bite sized cubes, or to cut the eggplants into slices and to make the eggplant chips.
  • You can use more dried herbs to give a more special and personal taste.

👩‍🍳 Step-by-step Directions

Wash well the eggplant and cut it into sticks.

Quick Note: It’s important to cut the eggplant into similar size slices to avoid overcooking some of the slices and undercooking others.

Put the batonnet eggplant slices in a large bowl to be easier for you to mix them. Pour over salt and oil. Mix all the ingredients well.

Eggplant slices with salt and oil.

How to Make Coated Eggplants?

  1. Take a plate, where you need to combine together the breadcrumbs with salt and parmesan (image 1).
  2. Take another plate and beat 2 eggs in it (image 2).
  3. Soak each eggplant slice in the beaten egg (image 3).
  4. Roll the eggplant slices in the breadcrumbs and make sure that they are covered on all sides (image 4).
Step-by-Step how my make a crust on eggplants with breadcrumbs.

Preheat the air fryer for 5 minutes at 400°F (200°C) and arrange the eggplant strips evenly in a single layer in the air fryer basket.

Quick Note: If your air fryer basket is smaller, or if you need to cook a larger number of fries, for the best results, consider cooking them in a few batches to avoid overcrowding the air fryer basket.

Close look of uncooked eggplant slices in an air fryer basket.

Cook the eggplant fries in the air fryer for about 10 minutes at 400°F (200°C). The cooking time may also depend on how thick you cut the sticks. In my case, I cooked them for 10 minutes until I got a nice golden color. If you see that the fries didn’t become crispy yet, consider adding 1-2 additional minutes, but be careful not to burn them.

Quick note: Please consider that the cooking time may differ from one air fryer manufacturer to another or from the quantity of the ingredients you will cook simultaneously. Because of that, in the last minutes, please check from time to time fries and adjust the timing if is needed. For this recipe ai used: Cosori Air Fryer 5.8QT.

Top view of crispy eggplant fries in an air fryer basket.

The eggplant fries are ready to be served.

For the best crunchy texture, I’ll recommend eating the eggplant strips while they are still hot because if they will cool down, the texture will soften.

Additionally, when the eggplant fries are still hot, you may sprinkle them with parmesan cheese, or add a few crushed garlic cloves.

Macro view of eggplant fries with bread crust.

A good and simple option is to serve them near a homemade marinara sauce or just to use a jarred sauce.

Tomato sauce with eggplant fries on a concrete table.

♻️ Make Ahead, Storage and Heating:

Can I Prepare the Dish Ahead?

Not really. The only thing you could do ahead is to mix the breadcrumbs with salt and parmesan. I would suggest cooking and serving the eggplant strips immediately because they are the most crunchy right after you will take them off from the air fryer.

How Long Do They Last in the Fridge?

You can keep the eggplant sticks in the fridge for up 2-3 days in a well-closed container.

Can You Freeze Them?

I do not recommend freezing them as the texture will change.

How to Heat Them?

I recommend heating the fries in a preheated air fryer for 2-4 minutes at 375°F or until they will become crispy again. If you will heat the fries in the microwave, they will soften and not be as crispy as they was in the beginning.

🤔Answering Your Questions:

Do I Need to Peel the Eggplant First?

It is not necessary to peel the eggplant before making the fries, but it is a matter of personal preference. The peel is delicious and is nutrient-rich.

Can I Use Pre-Made Breadcrumbs for This Recipe?

Yes, you can use pre-made breadcrumbs, but fresh breadcrumbs will give better results.

Is It Necessary to Use Fresh Parmesan Cheese?

Fresh parmesan cheese will give better results, but you can also use pre-grated parmesan cheese.

What Dipping Sauce Goes Well With This Recipe?

Marinara sauce, ranch dressing, or tzatziki sauce are all great dipping options for this recipe.

📋 Recipe Card:

Macro look of fried eggplant appetizers cooked in the air fryer.

Air Fryer Crispy Eggplant Fries

Victoria
Easy to make panko-coated eggplant fries in the air fryer from a few simple ingredients like breadcrumbs, mozzarella, and eggs. These eggplant sticks are perfect to use for appetizers or snacks and you can serve them near your favorite sauce.
5 from 4 votes
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 5 mins
Cook Time 10 mins
Total Time 15 mins
Course Snack
Cuisine American
Servings 2 people
Calories 387 kcal

Equipment

Cosori Air Fryer 5.8QT
Cosori Air Fryer 5.8QT
White Plastic Cutting Board.
Cutting Board
Chef Knife
Chef Knife
Grater

Ingredients
 
 

  • 1 piece eggplant medium size
  • ½ cup Parmesan
  • ½ cup Breadcrumbs
  • 2 tablespoon olive oil
  • ¼ teaspoon Salt or to taste
  • 2 pieces Egg medium size

Instructions

  • Wash well the eggplants and cut them into evenly cutted sticks.
    1 piece eggplant
  • Prepare two bowls: The first one, with 2 beaten eggs, and another with a mix of Parmesan, salt and breadcrumbs.
    1 piece eggplant, ½ cup Parmesan, 1/2 cup Breadcrumbs, 2 pieces Egg, ¼ teaspoon Salt
  • Soak each slice first in the beaten eggs and then rotate on all sides in plate with breadcrumbs and parmesan.
  • Arrange them in the air fryer in a single layer and cook them for 10 minutes at 400°F (200°C).
    2 tablespoon olive oil
  • The air fried eggplants fries are ready to be served.

Quick Note

I highly recommend reading the entire recipe to find more tips and notes about this recipe. Read Full Recipe ⇑

Notes

  • Cut all the slices evenly to make sure that all of the fries will be cooked the same.
  • Make sure that the eggplant is covered on all sides with breadcrumbs and parmesan.
  • Arrange the fries in a single layer in the air fryer basket. If you need to cook a larger quantity, consider cooking them in a few batches to obtain the best results.
  • Eat them while they are hot because if they will cool down, the eggplant fries will soften.

Nutrition Estimates

Serving: 270gSodium: 895mgCalcium: 367mgVitamin C: 5mgVitamin A: 253IUSugar: 10gFiber: 8gPotassium: 602mgCholesterol: 21mgCalories: 387kcalSaturated Fat: 6gFat: 22gProtein: 15gCarbohydrates: 34gIron: 2mg
Keyword appetizers, easy recipe, eggplant, quick, snacks
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128 shares
  • 28

About Victoria

Hey, I'm Victoria, the blogger behind the Go Cook Yummy. I'm running this blog with my husband, Alex, where we share our family recipes that actually work.

Previous Post: « Frozen Green Beans in Air Fryer
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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Fredrick Hampton

    Apr 16, 22 at 2:02 PM

    5 stars
    As a novice cook, I found this recipe to be very user-friendly. Preheating the air fryer was a good tip, and I appreciated the suggestion to keep the skin on the eggplant.

    Reply
  2. Jamie Locke

    May 04, 23 at 8:46 AM

    5 stars
    This recipe was fantastic! I had never thought to make fries with eggplant before, and I’m so glad I found this recipe. I had to cook mine in a couple of batches to ensure they didn’t touch and got a uniform crispiness, but the wait was worth it.

    Reply
  3. Ella Greenwood

    May 16, 23 at 4:43 AM

    5 stars
    Wow, I tried this air fryer eggplant fries recipe last night and it was a game changer! The panko breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese created a nice crispy texture on the outside while the eggplant remained soft on the inside.

    Reply

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