A delicious low-carb eggplant parmesan casserole made with a gluten free breading. It’s loaded with cheese and full of authentic Italian flavor!
It was so exciting to get our first two eggplants out of the garden! I just love them. Last year, we had the smaller Asian variety. This year, we grew regular ones.
I’ve been wanting to make a low-carb eggplant parmesan casserole for a while. Since I had a couple fresh eggplants out of the garden, I thought I’d give it a try.
Traditional eggplant Parmesan adds a breading to the eggplant. But, you don’t really need to bread the zucchini first if you don’t want to. However, I chose to coat the sliced eggplant with a mix of pork rinds and coconut flour.
If you don’t care for the taste of pork rinds, you need to try storing crushed pork rinds in the freezer. For some reason, freezing removes most of the undesirable pork taste. I picked this tip up in a low carb Facebook group and have been doing it ever since. Although I don’t mind the pork skin taste, my husband doesn’t care for it. He hasn’t figured out that I’ve been using pork skins instead of bread crumbs.
Before using eggplant, I find it best to salt the slices first and let them sit for a half hour. This releases moisture and removes any bitterness. I also find that it softens the pieces up before cooking. There is some debate on whether you really need to salt an eggplant, especially if it’s small and fresh. But, it’s somewhat of a habit for me so I always do it.
I like to use a ricotta cheese mixture in an eggplant Parmesan casserole. It gives the casserole a richer taste like lasagna. You can certainly use your own cheese preference.
The cheese should be nice and golden when the casserole is done. It will be really hot, so you’ll want to let it sit for at least 10-15 minutes before serving.
I had to run out to a barbeque lunch right after baking the casserole, so I wasn’t able to enjoy it right away. I did break it out for breakfast the next day, though. Yes. I do eat casseroles for breakfast! Food is food, right?
This low carb eggplant casserole was much better than the one I used to get at my favorite Italian restaurant. And this dish is gluten free and low in carbs. You could easily bring this casserole to share with guests and they would never know it had pork rinds and coconut flour.
I still have a few more eggplants to use up. There always the skillet moussaka recipe or a simple hamburger dish that I could make. I may even try it on a fathead dough pizza.
There are some people out there who have never tried eggplant. The family hosting the barbeque mentioned that they have never had it. How could that be? My father used to cook it a lot when I was growing up. And, my favorite pizza flavor as a kid was the moussaka pizza made at the Greek restaurant near our house.
I hope you give this yummy low-carb eggplant parmesan casserole a try. It’s definitely going to go into my meal rotation again.
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Carbs Per Serving:18g
Prep Time:10minutes
Passive Time:
Instructions
- Peel eggplant and thinly slice lengthwise. Salt pieces and allow to sit in colander for about 30 minutes, then rinse and pat dry.
- In wide shallow bowl, combine pork rinds, coconut flour, garlic powder, and spice mix.
- Beat eggs in another shallow bowl.
- Dip eggplant slices into egg, then into pork rind mixture. Fry in hot oil until browned then drain on paper towels.
- Mix together all of the cheese mix ingredients until well combined.
- In 9×13-inch casserole dish, layer half the marinara sauce, half the eggplant slices, half the cheese mix, and half the mozzarella. Repeat the layers. Sprinkle additional Parmesan cheese on top, if desired.
- Bake in preheated 350°F oven for 35-45 minutes or until cheese has browned.
Recipe Notes
Recipe shared with permission by Lisa of Low Carb Yum. Click here to view the original recipe, notes, and instructions for making this low-carb Eggplant Parmesan Casserole.
Nutrition Facts
Eggplant Parmesan Casserole
Amount Per Serving
Calories 346 Calories from Fat 216
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 24g 37%
Saturated Fat 10g 50%
Polyunsaturated Fat 2g
Monounsaturated Fat 11g
Cholesterol 47mg 16%
Sodium 665mg 28%
Potassium 521mg 15%
Total Carbohydrates 18g 6%
Dietary Fiber 5g 20%
Sugars 8g
Protein 19g 38%
Vitamin A 17%
Vitamin C 9%
Calcium 48%
Iron 11%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
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