Eggplant Pizza

Eggplant pizza is so much fun! First, make the "pizza crust" with roasted eggplant slices, add some tomato sauce or marinara sauce, a pinch of melty cheese of any kind, and bake until it melts.

Top with a few fresh basil leaves, and you've got a simple and delicious appetizer, side dish, or even main dish that everyone will love.

From this eggplant pizza recipe you can expect a familiar, cozy flavor, similar to Italian eggplant parmigiana, sometimes known as eggplant parmesan. The crust is not crunchy like baked pizza dough, but it's delicious, nevertheless.

You can even make a lighter and fresher version with a topping of diced cherry tomatoes marinated in olive oil, basil, and garlic. This version is similar to a tomato bruschetta, but with eggplant slices instead of the bread.

This one is even healthier, and it tastes just as good. It's become a favorite appetizer in our family. We often serve it on a platter with grilled zucchini and crunchy crostini to add some delicious carbs to this low-carb eggplant pizza recipe.

Note: The recipe is gluten-free and vegan, provided you use vegan cheese.

Eggplant

We recommend using a long and thin globe eggplant (the one with dark purple peel) to make smaller, cuter slices so that you can eat eggplant pizza as finger food without a fork and knife.

Cheese

In general, any melty cheese works. However, to make this vegan, use grated melty cheese; that's the most popular and is available in many supermarkets or online.

Alternatively, some brands offer vegan mozzarella blocks made for pizza. Violife has some good options. You can even make yours with our melty vegan cheese recipe.

To make this vegetarian, we'd recommend Italian mozzarella. Combined with the tomato sauce, basil, and eggplant is unbeatable.

Tomato Passata

Italia tomato passata would be best for this recipe because of its creamy texture and sweet taste. Also, it doesn't require pre-cooking. There are many imported Italian brands in US and western supermarkets nowadays. Alternatively, you can use tomato puree or crushed tomatoes.

Olive oil

We always recommend using extra virgin olive oil because of its superior flavor and nutritional profile compared to most other oils. A cheaper alternative would be olive oil.

Dried oregano

Dried oregano makes the sauce taste like authentic pizza sauce. You can substitute dried thyme for oregano.

Garlic

Garlic is optional. Some kids don't like it, so if you make this recipe for them, you might want to reduce or omit the garlic completely. However, we love this recipe with at least one garlic clove. You can thinly slice it or mince it.

Salt & Pepper

Use sea salt or kosher salt for the best flavor. Freshly ground black pepper is also recommended. Optionally, you can add a pinch of red pepper flakes to make the sauce spicy.

Fresh Basil

We use fresh basil to garnish the eggplant pizza and add that distinctive Italian aroma everyone loves.

Roast eggplant discs

Preheat the oven to 430°F or 220°C. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Wash and dry the eggplant, remove the stem, and cut it into ½ inch (1.3 cm) discs.

Arrange the discs on the baking sheet, brush or drizzle them with extra virgin olive oil, and season with salt and black pepper.

Roast the eggplant for 20 minutes. While it bakes, make the pizza sauce.

Make pizza sauce

Add tomato passata, dried oregano, extra virgin olive oil, finely sliced or minced garlic, salt, and pepper, to a bowl, stir, and set aside.

Make eggplant pizza

Apply pizza sauce on top of roasted eggplant slices and spread with the back of a spoon. Sprinkle with a pinch or two of (vegan) cheese.

Put back in the oven and broil for about 5 minutes, until the cheese is melty and starts to brown.

Transfer onto a serving platter, sprinkle with a pinch of dried oregano, a drizzle of olive oil, and fresh basil leaves.

Our favorite variation of eggplant pizza is one with fresh tomatoes and basil, without the cheese. To make it, you'll need:

• 8 ounces (230 grams) of cherry tomatoes or other small tomatoes
• 1 clove of garlic
• ¼ teaspoon of salt
• 1 to 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
• 2 teaspoons of vinegar (balsamic or apple cider)
• 2 twists of black pepper
• 10 leaves of fresh basil

Roast the eggplant discs for 25 to 30 minutes until fully cooked. To a bowl, add diced cherry tomatoes, crushed garlic, salt, pepper, olive oil, and chopped basil. Stir and set aside while the eggplants bake.

Arrange eggplants on a serving platter on a single layer. Top with about a tablespoon of the tomato mix, and enjoy.

These eggplant pizzas can easily be served as an appetizer or dinner. Here are some scrumptious pairing ideas:

• Starter: serve on crostini, or on a platter with other starters such as focaccia bread, bean dip, and chickpea farinata.

• Main meal: by adding the eggplant on top of pasta, aglio e olio, or in a sandwich. You even make pizza dough with our flatbread recipe and top it with eggplant pizza.

• Side dish: pair with protein and serve with tofu dishes. We love it with vegan fish, marinated tofu, and mushroom tofu.

By now, you've probably realized that we're big fans of eggplant. Here are some of our family favorites:

• Roasted eggplant
• Air fryer eggplant
• Sicilian caponata
• Creamy eggplant dip
• Eggplant pasta
• Stuffed eggplant

If you want more ideas, see our 35 best eggplant recipes.