Sliced and breaded eggplant in air fryer is a delicious vegetable snack that comes out super crispy on the outside with very little oil. A healthier way to fry with the same great taste and texture you want.
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Fried eggplant is incredibly delicious but as an air fryer recipe you can make them healthier and even better than before. Sliced thick and made into chips you can get them crispy with breadcrumbs on the outside to dip in marinara sauce with your kids.
Ninja Foodi Eggplant Chips
I have both a Ninja Foodi machine and traditional electric air fryer too. It doesn’t matter what brand you have, the directions are the same for them all except that with this, use the lid that is attached. Whether you make this or our similarly coated air fryer cucumber chips, you will want to make these again and again.
THIS is how to get that great crispy deep fried taste with just a light spray of oil. No submerging or extra calories needed to get that great crunch! First grab one of these babies from the store….
Tips: My Favorite models are the Cosori or making Ninja Foodi recipes with the lid that is attached.
It is best practice to put food into a hot basket. This is how to preheat air fryer first before adding your food so it becomes as crispy as possible. For best results, here’s a printable free air fryer cooking time chart here for your fridge.
Should eggplant be peeled?
Generally it is said that yes you should because the skin can be a bit bitter, we did with our air fryer eggplant fries. Since it is sliced this way there is very little on each piece and the breading masks any bitterness you might want to avoid. You will want it also so it doesn’t want to fall apart, it will keep it in tact in a sense with it on.
Ingredient Notes
You will start with veggie journey with 1 Eggplant cut into 1/4 inch slices or dials if you will. You want to choose one that is rather firm with a slight tenderness but not soft (that means it is starting to go bad.
All purpose flour will coat the outside a bit to start the crispiness. I haven’t used a gluten free variety but Bobs Red Mill has a 1:1 that should work just the same.
Your Egg should be whisked and used in order to get the breading to stick well and not slough off when in the air fryer basket. If you cannot use this, other alternatives would be to brush with mayonnaise or plain Greek yogurt.
I love Panko bread crumbs over Italian for a lighter and crispier texture overall. Season as you wish with Italian seasonings, salt and pepper and/or garlic powder to add more flavor if you wish or leave as is. If you want more flavor add shredded parmesan cheese in there!
Air Fryer Eggplant without Breading
If you wanted to skip the breading like we made with our air fryer kale chips and spinach chips you could but would need to leave the skin on to stay in tact. In addition to that you would need to line the basket with parchment paper and flip halfway thru until tender to your liking.
Can you make this gluten free?
Yes you could use a gluten free flour and alternative bread crumbs like these instead. If you left it off entirely it would have a very different flavor and texture for sure, but possible. That would be the lowest carb and calorie method, but not quite as good.
How do you know when eggplant is done?
First off, make sure your eggplant is sliced the same thickness so they are done at the same time. Lay in a single layer so they aren’t overlapping to get them golden brown and when done the center will be fork tender, easy to slide in and out.
Eggplant in Air Fryer Recipe
Equipment
- 1 air fryer
- 2 bowls
Ingredients
- 1 medium eggplant, sliced 1/4" rounds
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 1 medium egg, beaten
- 2 cup Panko breadcrumbs
- 1.5 tbsp Italian seasoning
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1 spray olive oil spray
Instructions
- Use 3 shallow bowls. Whisk the egg in one, put flour in another and mix Panko breadcrumbs with seasonings in the third.
- Preheat air fryer to 380 degrees for 5 minutes.
- Slice stem end off, discard. Slice into 1/4" rounds. One at a time dip into the flour, then into egg.
- Then press breadcrumbs on both sides so they're nicely coated.
- Put into preheated air fryer basket so they're not overlapping, spray lightly with olive oil spray.
- Cook for 8 minutes, flip and spray tops lightly, then cook for another 3 minutes (times will vary depending on how thick they are and how brown you want them).
Video
Notes
Ninja Foodi Option
Use the basket with the holes in the bottom to lay them in. Preheat with lid that is attached placed down. Press air crisp button to set timing.Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
How do you know when eggplant is ripe?
Ideally you should pick them when skin is glossy. Dull fruit indicates that it may be over ripe already. Both under and over ripe picks tend to taste more bitter. Pick white eggplants before skin turns yellow and when it feels firm and no signs of it being soft or beginning to turn mushy.
How to save leftovers
If you do have leftovers we talk about how to freeze eggplant raw or already cooked right here. You wouldn’t want to bread, fry and then save because the texture when reheated is just off and not worth saving. It is best saving just the slices uncooked for best results.
Other air fryer finger food recipes
Want to make a whole meal with these babies in the same machine? You totally can throw in a few wings for finger food fun. Even if you forget to defrost dinner you can still make air fried frozen shrimp and cook to perfection tonight with this.
Try air fryer frozen mozzarella cheese sticks! Our air fryer eggplant parm is done in bite sizes similar to this but not breaded. You can even make Ninja foodi french fries in your handy dandy kitchen appliance in under 20 minutes now. Air fryer green beans rock too. You may not believe it but my kids love these so much they’ll eat an entire plate as a snack.
I think this large purple vegetable is highly underrated and overlooked. If you’ve been intimidated to try and cook it you’ve gotta’ try this! It is similar to slicing it into small finger foods like our ever popular air fryer zucchini chips but with a new veggie. Olive oil cooking spray will make it ultra crispy. That is the key to cooking all the things.
You may all think this is crazy but here goes……My husband and I went on a bread making and eating frenzy when covid started. It only took a short time to realize we were getting huge! Nothing goes better with homemade soup than oven fresh crispy bread until……I made these eggplants as bread substitutes with our soup. I followed the recipe except cut them a little thinner. Now when we have our soup, we look forward to crispy and tasty without bread. Give it a try!
Good afternoon! I made this recipe yesterday using Panko & Italian breadcrumbs & I threw in some of my own seasoning and it turned out amazing. The flour coating before the egg wash really helped with the eggplant’s moisture – otherwise it just normally can slide right off. My husband loves fried eggplant and would love for me to make it more, however, I’m not big on fried food at all. It’s just so much oil & heavy grease. I’m very health conscious and will bake or grill as much as possible. We bought a Ninja Foodi Combo Air Crisper/Pressure Cooker this summer and have really enjoyed how easy it is to make healthy dishes in half the time. I decided to see if I could use it to make air fried eggplant and found your recipe. It worked like a charm! The real proof was how quickly he was eating the slices of eggplant as fast as I could make them. They were perfectly crispy on the outside while still tender on the inside, but not greasy from being fried in a gallon of oil. And no mess. What a relief. With such an easy recipe for the air fryer, I just put in our grocery order and included 2 more eggplants so I can make more for his lunches for work. Thank you so much. This is a great recipe that anyone can make, it’s super healthy and is easy to customize. It’s definitely one that I’ll be adding to our regular menu, which makes my husband super happy. And for anyone asking, don’t skip on the cooking spray – it really crisps them up – spray on each side when you flip, you won’t be sorry. Perfection! (insert chef’s kiss!)
Have a great week!
So glad it was a hit, you’re welcome.
Well done! I’m vegan so I used Just Egg instead of real eggs and added some different spices and my fiancé said it was probably the best dish I’ve made thus far. Thank you!
OH yay!!
Love this!
You did say flour then egg to bread crumbs! Went back to make sure that I wasn’t losing my mind! LOL! You wrote it correctly at the top of the page, but then said egg, flour and bread crumbs down at the actual recipe. Looking forward having it again!
Sorry about that, made that tweak to the bottom one so it is correct in both locations. Glad it was a hit!!
Is it egg first, then flour, then breadcrumbs or flour, egg, breadcrumbs? Your instructions tell both ways.
I noticed that too. Last time I followed recipe but this time I’m going with flour first. We’ll see…
This recipe was absolutely what I was looking for! I added a few more spices of my own and they came out PERRRFECT! Spraying the Pam cooking spray on the tops was a nice tip because it helped them get a great crunch!
I will be adding eggplant to my regular diet now, so thanks!
I followed your directions by placing the cut eggplant into the egg first, then the flour and then the bread crumbs. The bread crumbs did not stick so I had to go back and put egg back on the eggplant and then added bread crumbs. Kind of a mess.
Yes you do need to gently press bread crumbs on depending on how fine they are. If they’re quite large it may need an extra dip.
these were delicious!!!
You don’t mention how or when to use the olive oil cooking spray. Do I spray each round, or the rack?
Sorry, added. Spray lightly when in basket so outsides crisp up well.
Love it. Will make again.