Easy Eggplant Pizza

Use eggplant for the crust to make Eggplant Pizza! These mini pizzas are tasty and easy to make, covered in garlicky sauce and gooey cheese.

Here’s a non-traditional pizza recipe that’s stolen our hearts: eggplant pizza! No, it’s not pizza with eggplant on it. It’s pizza crust made of roasted eggplant! Yes, “pizza” is perfect for busy evenings when you don’t have energy to make a pizza. It’s a healthy, naturally gluten-free pizza that’s loads quicker than the standard. Top it with whatever you like, and it’s a quick, whole foods way to get dinner on the table fast. (Or a late night snack. Done it!)

Wait…eggplant pizza?

Here at A Couple Cooks, we don’t shortcut on our pizzas. Our Italian-style Margherita Pizza recipe is our pride and joy, honed over 10 years of studying Italian pizza. But! That doesn’t mean we don’t enjoy a quick and easy alternative. This healthy eggplant pizza is a spin on a recipe we made years ago from someone you might not expect…Julia Child!

Yes, Julia Child, master of French cooking, has a recipe for eggplant pizza in one of her cookbooks. Except she called it something fancy and French! Alex and I made these as an appetizer for a meal years ago when we were first learning to cook, so they’ll always hold a place in our hearts.

How to make eggplant pizza: an overview

Here’s the basic concept behind eggplant pizza, or: pizza with a roasted eggplant crust! The main steps are as follows (or jump right to the recipe):

• Roast the eggplant. Slice an eggplant into rounds and then roast it for 15 to 20 minutes at 400 degrees Fahrenheit. The texture you want is tender, but something that still holds its shape: so you can eat it with your hands!
• Top with pizza sauce & toppings. Add pizza sauce (our homemade sauce is epic!) and top with cheese. In Julia’s pizza she puts fresh basil under the cheese, which makes for a nice fresh flavor.
• Broil and serve! Then you’ll broil the pizza until the cheese is melted and golden brown. And that’s it: perfect eggplant pizza!

Look for a uniform-sized eggplant.

One tip for eggplant pizza: look for a globe eggplant that’s as uniform in size all the way down as possible. Many globe eggplants have a thin neck and get very large at the bottom. This means that when you slice them, you get lots of small circles and then massive circles.

Finding a uniformly sized eggplant helps so that all your pizzas are closer to the same size. Of course, this doesn’t affect the flavor. So it’s not it’s not required, just a helpful hint!

Try our homemade pizza sauce…it’s a must!

Of course, you can use storebought pizza sauce for this eggplant pizza. But! We highly recommend trying our Easy Pizza Sauce at least once because, here’s the thing. It takes just 5 minutes to make in a blender. And when you take a taste of a spoonful, you will never go back! Every time we make it, I taste it and say: “Wow, that really is the best pizza sauce.” Give it a try and let us know if you agree. (Fire roasted tomatoes are the key.)

Variations on eggplant pizza toppings

You can add any toppings you like to this healthy eggplant pizza! While we love them topped simply with cheese and fresh basil, here are a few more ideas:

1. Pesto and fresh tomatoes. See Pesto Pizza.
2. Peppers, onions and arugula. See Best Healthy Pizza.
3. Spinach and artichokes. See Spinach Artichoke Pizza
4. Olives, spinach & sundried tomatoes. See Mediterranean Pizza
5. Avocado, peppers, and goat cheese. See Veggie & Avocado Pizza

A great gluten-free pizza option!

This eggplant pizza is a perfect gluten-free pizza option! It’s difficult to find a great gluten-free pizza dough, and nice to have a different option for gluten-free and keto diets. Of course, we like this pizza in its own right: so it works for people of all diets.

What to serve with eggplant pizza

You can serve this eggplant pizza as an appetizer, and it feeds about 4 to 6 people. Or try it as a main dish! We’d recommend doubling the recipe below for 4, and then serving with some hearty sides. How to make this eggplant pizza into a meal? Here are a few things we’d pair with it:

• Green Salad. Try Favorite Chopped Salad, Best Tossed Salad, Spinach Apple Salad, Arugula Beet Salad, or Fennel Orange Salad.
• Hearty Salad. Try our Kale Quinoa Salad, Simple Chickpea Salad, or French Lentil Salad for heartier choices.
• Sauteed Veggies. While the oven is baking the eggplant, make some Sauteed Rainbow Chard, Best Sauteed Kale, Simple Sauteed Broccoli, Sauteed Spinach or Best Sauteed Mushrooms.

This eggplant pizza recipe is…

Vegetarian and gluten-free.

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Easy Eggplant Pizza

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(5 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

5 from 5 reviews

• Author: Sonja Overhiser
• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 20 minutes
• Total Time: 30 minutes
• Yield: 2 to 3 as a main; 4 to 6 as an appetizer
• Diet: Vegetarian

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Description

Use eggplant for the crust to make Eggplant Pizza! These mini pizzas are tasty and easy to make, covered in garlicky sauce and gooey cheese.

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Ingredients

• 2 pounds globe eggplant*
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 cup Easy Pizza Sauce
• 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil, plus more for garnish
• Kosher salt, to season

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Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Slice the eggplant into 3/4 inch thick slices. Brush both sides with 2 tablespoons olive oil. Sprinkle the tops liberally kosher salt (about 1/4 teaspoon total) and the dried oregano.
3. Place the eggplant on a baking sheet and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until tender but still holding their shape.
4. While the eggplant roasts, make the pizza sauce.
5. Top the eggplant with a thin layer of the pizza sauce, then add the chopped basil, divided between the rounds. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese and Parmesan cheese, divided between the rounds, and sprinkle the tops with a little more kosher salt.
6. Broil the eggplant until the cheese is melted and lightly browned, about 3 to 5 minutes, rotating the pan as necessary for even cooking (alternatively, you can bake the pizzas until the cheese melts). Top with more fresh basil and serve.

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Notes

*This recipe is easy to double to feed 4 as a main dish. If you can, try to find eggplant that is a uniform size all the way down the eggplant (eggplant that has a very large bulb at the end makes for more variation in pizza size). 

• Category: Main Dish
• Method: Baked
• Cuisine: Italian

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More eggplant recipes

Love eggplant? Us too. Here are a few more tasty eggplant recipes:

• Eggplant Caponata Eggplant and Mediterranean vegetables make a tangy, garlicky Italian appetizer that’s perfect spread over crusty bread.
• Roasted Eggplant Pasta Flavor-packed with zesty marinara sauce! An impressive plant based dinner, it works for weeknights or parties.
• Perfect Roasted Eggplant Here’s how to make the BEST roasted eggplant! Baking until it’s tender makes for unreal flavor.

A Couple Cooks - Healthy, Whole Food, & Vegetarian Recipes

* This article was originally published here

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