How to Fry Eggplant with Less Oil – Learn to fry eggplant slices perfectly golden crisp without getting soggy or oil-soaked. Healthier frying method for eggplant.
Do you love fried eggplant, but hate that it soaks up oil as it cooks? For years I avoided cooking eggplant slices; they really slurp up oil like a sponge. I replaced fried slices with roasted eggplant pieces in many dishes (those roasted pieces are great, by the way!). But there are times when we crave the taste of fried eggplant.
Well guess what? You CAN fry eggplant in oil without it turning soggy or greasy! The secret? Egg whites! Hey, it works for pie crust, doesn’t it??
I’ve run through the basic concept below. This method has consistently given me perfect, golden brown slices of fried eggplant while minimizing the amount of oil needed for a great result. The only thing you need to watch out for is splattering… wear an apron, and be aware that in the first 60 seconds of frying there may be a few little splatters here and there.
Those of you who love eggplant will adore this recipe. If you try it, let me know how it works for you! One more tip… I love to serve the fresh, hot fried slices topped with tahini sauce and a sprinkle of fresh chopped parsley. Toasted pine nuts are a nice touch as well. Highly recommended!
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How to Fry Eggplant with Less Oil
Ingredients
- 1 pound eggplant, about 1 medium
- Salt and pepper
- 2 large egg whites
- Oil with a high smoke point for frying (grapeseed, avocado, and peanut oil work well)
NOTES
Instructions
- Slice the eggplant into 1/2 inch rounds. Place the rounds in a colander and sprinkle them with salt (sea salt, kosher salt, any kind of salt will work). Make sure each eggplant round has a thin sprinkling of salt on it. Let the slices sit for 20-30 minutes until beads of liquid form on the surface. This process helps to remove any bitterness that may be present in the eggplant. Note that if you're using smaller eggplant pieces here, like Japanese eggplant, they are very rarely bitter and likely will not need salting. I usually use a medium-sized eggplant in this preparation because I like the size of the slices it produces for frying.
- Rinse the eggplant pieces thoroughly to remove the salt. Pat dry and spread out on a cutting board. Sprinkle the eggplant slices lightly with salt. The salt from the colander will be mostly gone after rinsing; if you're salt sensitive, you can skip adding salt at this point and add to taste after frying. Sprinkle the slices lightly with black pepper (also optional, but recommended). Whisk the two egg whites in a small bowl for about 60 seconds. Brush the seasoned eggplant slices with a THIN layer of egg white, making sure the entire white surface of the slice is coated. Turn the slices and brush the other side with another thin layer of egg white, so all white surfaces of the slices are covered with egg white.
- Heat 1/4 inch of grapeseed oil in a nonstick skillet over medium until hot enough for frying. The ideal temperature for frying eggplant is about 365-375 degrees F. The best way to monitor the temperature is to use a deep fry or candy thermometer; or, you can drop a small piece of bread into the oil. If it takes 60 seconds to brown, the oil temperature is perfect for frying. Heat up the oil while you're brushing the eggplant slices with egg white to save on time!
- Place 3 slices gently into the hot oil (do not cook more than 3-4 slices per batch, or the oil temperature will drop). Careful, it may splatter a bit, especially during the first minute or so of cooking. Let the slices fry for 2-3 minutes on each side until golden brown.Remove slices from the hot oil and drain on a drying rack or paper towel.
Nutrition
tried this recipe?
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Just tried this out now and it works a treat, yum! Thank you!
Can I used 2 whole eggs instead of just the egg whites?
Whole eggs work just fine, I do it that way myself sometimes. The light “coating” will be just a touch thicker, but it doesn’t make a big difference.
This is a great tip thank you for frying aubergine !
Absolutely perfect for the ketogenic diet! Thank you!
A stroke of genius!!! Thank you, Tori!!!
This sounds interesting! Here a method from Turkey: You soak those pores of aubergine with delicious tomato liquid, spice and water. This is traditionally made in a clay pot with lots of tomatoes and green peppers.
My very first time ever making eggplant of any kind. This recipe was so easy to follow and my eggplant came out looking beautiful. Made one batch light brown and the 2nd batch dark so I can taste the difference in the texture I must say I enjoyed the ones I fried harder and darker, had them with some pasta and spaghetti sauce yum yum
Excellent. Will cook this again. Ate most of it before serving to my husband. lol
Tried this tonight and likely will never fry eggplant any other way. I agree with others that no extra salt is needed after the initial salting and rinsing. And like another review said, skinning the eggplant may be something to try as it was difficult to chew through and needed a fork and knife (though the rest of the eggplant was very tender). Liked that this really needed only a teensy bit of egg white wash to acquire the beautiful browning!
Coating the eggplant sliced with eggwhites is genius. I tried it with excellent results. Thanks
For the easy recipe and boy is it, I used caramelized onion while it was still in pan then once I took it out of pan I added Parmesan cheese , I’m very happy how they turned out, will be making these again.
As a 2nd generation Italian – American, I’d like to offer a few tips for a slightly version of fried eggplant (Melanzane in Italian). There’s a few more steps involved, but it’s really worth it.
Slice eggplant on the thin side. Next, remove excess moisture from the eggplant by sweating the slices for at least an hour up to 6 hours. I like to lay them out on a tray, c top eith heese cloth and place my cast iron griddle on them. some kind of weight on them to really squeeze the moisture out. By removing the moisture, the eggplant will not be soggy or bitter.
After sweating, dip them in beaten eggs, dredge through breadcrumbs or flour (I double coat mine, remember to dip again in eggs for a double coating). Also, add some grated Parmesan to the bread crumbs.
Place them in tray with parchment paper & refrigerate, uncovered, for at least 30 minuted. This step helps the bread crumbs and floor bind to the eggplant.
Use the heaviest frying pan you have. Use regular or light olive oil (they’re better for frying. Don’t fry on a high heat with extra virgin olive oil). Add eggplant, turn over when golden in color. I do this for eggplant parmigiana, too. Good luck & mangiate
Thanks for sharing your tips! This tutorial is more of a quick way to fry slices without breadcrumbs, but I’m sure readers will appreciate hearing your ideas for breaded eggplant.
These were very delicious even pan fried in vegetable oil.
Next time, though, I will cut off the skin first before frying because they we’re too chewy and hard to bite off, so I cut the skin off after cooking.
Sadly, it didn’t work for me. There was too much salt. I did rinse them after the initial salting. Next time, I would salt them again. The first batch was ok bc I forgot to salt them a second time. I had to use canola oil & they were kind of oily. So sad.
Sorry to hear that, Danelle. I don’t recommend using canola oil for this recipe. As for the salting, the first one is required to remove bitterness from the eggplant. The second salting is completely optional.
Amazing! Cooked 3 Japanese eggplants, but ate 1/2 of them before serving:)
Discovered your recipes, Tori, when we started cooking from scratch during the lockdown. Have tried several dishes, and what a hidden blessing for these days/months. Thank you ?
I’m so happy the site is brining you some comfort during these strange times, Carolyn! Hang in there.
Can you use bread crumbs with this recipe??
This recipe is for unbreaded fried eggplant – I wouldn’t recommend adding breadcrumbs to this particular recipe.
Just tried this recipe, and it was great! To my surprise, my husband said it tasted like how his mother used to make eggplant! Light, not oily and very tasty. I made a small bowl of pieces of tomato in sauce on the side to dress them, and it was delicious! Thank you for making fried eggplants taste much better than the soggy traditional way to fry them!
Fantastic method of simly great bengan fry
Good recipe for eggplant.
Tori, I have tried your egg white recipe and I prefer it to oil. You do a great job on everything ! Thank you
Glad to hear it!
Wow. This is the best cooking hack ever. I was cooking with a friend of mine on Skype (it’s Covid-19 lockdown here, like many places) and he cooked his aubergine the normal way, I did mine this way, and I watched the oil vanish into his while my oil stayed in the pan – and the finished result was amazing. I love aubergines so this is a total game-changer. I can’t believe it worked! Thank-you so much!