Baked Eggplant Meatball Recipe

Eggplant meatballs piled on white plate with utensils on side.

Baked Eggplant Meatball Recipe

Baked Eggplant Meatballs, you won't miss the meat in these savory vegetarian meatballs! So many ways to enjoy them: as an appetizer, simmered in tomato sauce or stuffed into a meatball sub with lots of melted cheese.

Course antipasto, Main Course

Cuisine Italian

Prep Time 40

Cook Time 1

Servings meatballs

Calories 103kcal

Author Nadia Fazio

Ingredients

For roasting the eggplant:

1 large eggplant about 1.5 lbs or 675 grams
⅓ cup olive oil
salt to taste

For the meatballs

2 cups crumb from day old bread torn into small pieces by hand or pulsed in a food processor
½ cup Pecorino Romano cheese or Parmigiano if you prefer
¼ cup fresh chopped parsley
1 clove garlic, minced
1 large egg
1/4 tsp salt
freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup dry, unseasoned bread crumbs
2 tbsp. olive oil divided

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper
Remove strips of skin from the eggplant with a vegetable peeler. You may remove all the skin, if you prefer.
Cut into 1 inch cubes. Place on the baking sheet, coat generously with the olive oil and salt lightly.
Bake for 30 minutes, tossing halfway. If eggplant is dry, add additional oil. Set aside to cool.
Prepare the breadcrumbs: remove the crust from a loaf of Italian day old (or even 2 or 3 days) bread. Make crumbs by using your fingers to tear up the bread into small pieces or place in the bowl of your food processor and pulse a few times until it is broken down into coarse crumbs.
Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F and place a clean sheet of parchment paper on the baking sheet. Grease with 1 tbsp. of olive oil.
Place the cooled eggplant in a large mixing bowl. Add all remaining ingredients except for the dry breadcrumbs and oil.
Use your hands to combine the ingredients and break down the chunks of eggplant. You may also opt to further mash the eggplant pieces with a fork for a smoother texture.
Shape into 16 meatballs and roll in dry breadcrumbs before placing on the prepared baking sheet. Drizzle the meatballs with the remaining olive oil.
Bake for 15 minutes; flip them over and continue baking for another 15 minutes until golden brown.

Notes

Substitutions and Variations

-These meatballs can be prepared with any variety of eggplant.
-Other herbs may be added to the meatballs such as chopped fresh basil or oregano.

More tips

-The mixture for these meatballs is soft, this is normal. If it is difficult to handle, stir in a tbsp. or two of dry breadcrumbs for the desired consistency.
-If you opt to simmer the meatballs in tomato sauce, simmer for about 20 minutes. The longer they stay in the tomato sauce the softer they will become as they absorb the sauce.

Can they be frozen?

I freeze them after they are baked. Let cool completely and store in a freezer bag. Let them defrost and reheat in the oven or add directly to your tomato sauce.

Nutrition