These vegan Baked Eggplant Fries are crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. They are paired with a homemade Sun-Dried Tomato Dipping Sauce that compliments the Italian flavors in the eggplant fries.
Baking veggies like squash or eggplant in a cornmeal batter is one of my go-to ways to use up a large amount of vegetables, which happens a lot in my house.
There's a program here in Arizona called Market on the Move, where you get up to 60 lbs. of produce for $10. Often, I come home with a large box of zucchini, yellow squash, or eggplant along with a bunch of other veggies that need attending to like A.S.A.P.
The best way to do that is to make said vegetable into the star of the show, which is usually in the form of a soup, sauce, or baked in a batter and eaten as a meal. Since I usually have cornmeal stocked in my pantry, baked and battered veggies are often on the menu.
These Baked Eggplant Fries are my latest fry creation. To accompany them, I made a Sun-Dried Tomato Sauce that pairs perfectly with the Italian flavors. If you're in a hurry, you could always use marinara or pizza sauce.
These vegan eggplant fries are crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Serve them as an appetizer or eat them as a meal, like I did on several occasions.
If you've never had eggplant, which I know several people who never have, this is a great way to introduce yourself to it. Eggplant Bacon is another great recipe to try it.
Other Appetizers
Recipe
These gluten free eggplant fries baked in a cornmeal batter with Italian seasoning are a healthy snack or appetizer. Or, if you're like me, eat them as a meal.
If you love this recipe, please come back and leave your feedback and star rating.
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You May Need
Baked Eggplant Fries
Ingredients
Sun-Dried Tomato Sauce
- 2 cups cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1 clove garlic
- Salt
- 2 tablespoons sun-dried tomatoes in oil
Baked Eggplant Fries
- 1 medium eggplant, sliced into fries
- 1 cup cornmeal - medium grind
- 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 3 tablespoons Italian seasoning
- ½ cup unsweetened plain almond milk
- Salt
- Cooking spray
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450°.
- Sun-Dried Tomato Sauce: Place cherry tomatoes in a baking dish with garlic. Drizzle olive oil on top. Sprinkle salt over top. Bake at 450° for 25-30 minutes, or until caramelized. Let cool.
- Mix all ingredients in a Nutribullet or high speed blender. Reheat when eggplant fries are done if you prefer a hot sauce.
- Baked Eggplant Fries: In one bowl, put cornmeal, nutritional yeast, and Italian seasoning. Mix thoroughly. Taste, and add desired amount of salt.
- In another bowl, pour almond milk.
- In assembly line fashion, dip eggplant fries into almond milk, then cornmeal batter. Place on a piece of parchment paper lined baking sheet that has been sprayed with cooking spray.
- Bake at 450° for 15 minutes, flipping halfway through.
Nutrition
*Note: Nutrition information should be considered an estimate only. Different nutrition calculators give you different results.
Tricia says
Excited to try these. Do you peel the eggplant or leave the skin on for these?
Willow Moon says
I left the skin on, but you could peel it if you prefer.
Craig says
Made these in the air fryer and they are really good! My air fryer only goes up to 400F, so i cooked them about 20 minutes and they came out great.
Willow Moon says
Thanks for the feedback Craig! I haven't gotten on the air fryer bandwagon yet, but am considering it.
John in says
What is the yeast for?
Willow Moon says
Mainly for taste. It is a vegan replacement for parmesan.
Carmen says
This is my new favorite way to eat eggplant! Thanks for the recipe!
Willow Moon says
Thanks Carmen, I'm glad you like it!