Baked Eggplant Casserole
This baked casserole is perfect comfort food and a creative way to cook eggplant.
I love baked casseroles and this is one of my favourites. My mom used to make a baked eggplant casserole similar to this when I was a kid and I always loved it. This one is filled with sautéed eggplant and other vegetables all mixed with condensed cream of mushroom soup.
The topping is incredible because it is a crumble mixture made with bread crumbs, cheddar cheese and green onions. So good!
Ingredients You Will Need
- eggplant
- onions
- mushrooms
- garlic
- cans of cream of mushroom soup
- bread crumbs
- cheddar cheese
- green onions
- butter
- milk
- spices
Sauté the Vegetables!
Get this casserole started by sautéing the onion, garlic and mushrooms with the butter in a large saucepan over medium to medium low heat. Keep stirring so they don’t scorch or stick to the bottom of the pan.
Cook for 6-8 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender, the onions are transparent and just starting to brown and caramelize.
Once the onions are transparent, add the eggplant and water. The water gives some moisture which helps the eggplant almost steam as the sauté.
Make sure to keep stirring the eggplant so all the pieces cook. You will notice the colour of them change as they cook and they will reduce in size by almost half. This takes 10-15 minutes.
Expert Tip! Cooking down the eggplant takes a bit of time, so make sure not to sauté at too high a heat because they could burn on the bottom of the pan. Instead, cooking at medium to medium low will ensure they simmer down.
Mix Together the Filling
Mix the sautéed vegetables with the bread crumbs and spices. In a separate bowl, whisk together the cream of mushroom soup and the milk. Stir until smooth and there are no more chunks of condensed soup.
Pour the soup and milk in with the eggplant mixture and stir well so that it is evenly incorporated. Dump the mixture in a large baking dish. I use a rectangular lasagna dish.
Expert Tip! Stirring the cream of mushroom soup and milk separately is an important step. This will ensure the soup is not clumpy.
Make Crumble Topping!
Now it is time to make the crumble topping. First, pour the melted butter in with the bread crumbs and stir until the butter is soaked into the bread crumbs. They will be wet and clumpy but still crumbly.
Next, stir in the grated cheddar cheese and sliced green onions.
How Long to Bake Eggplant Casserole
Evenly spread the crumble topping all over the eggplant mixture.
Now it is ready to go in the oven. Bake in a 350F preheated oven for 30 minutes.
Expert Tip! This baked eggplant casserole is easy to make ahead! Assemble the casserole and instead of putting in the oven to bake, cover it with plastic wrap and place in the fridge. Then it could be baked later that day or even the next day.
This dish is so good! The eggplant filling is creamy and a great way to cook eggplant. The topping is incredible. It is buttery, cheesy and I love the green onions!
Be careful, you may find yourself scraping some extra topping onto your plate. It is THAT good!
Whether you are a fan of eggplant or not, I would highly encourage you to give this casserole a try. It tastes fabulous and it might change your opinion of the vegetable, like it did to me.
Make It A Meal With These Recipes!
It is a great vegetable side that goes great next to many other dishes. Here are some recipes that complement this eggplant casserole very well.
- Meatloaf – Classic Homemade Recipe
- Baked Chicken Drumsticks
- Tangerine Chicken Thighs
- How to Cook a Smoked Picnic Ham
- Classic Homemade Mac and Cheese
- Herb and Garlic Roasted Potatoes
Baked Eggplant Casserole
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp butter
- 1 medium onion diced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 5 fresh mushrooms diced finely
- 8 cups eggplant peeled and cubed
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp parsley
- 1 1/2 cups bread crumbs
- 2 cans cream of mushroom soup
- 1 cup milk
Topping
- 1/2 cup melted butter
- 1 cup bread crumbs
- 2 cups cheddar cheese grated
- 5 green onions sliced
Instructions
- Melt butter over medium heat in a large saucepan.
- Add the onions, garlic and mushrooms and sauté until tender, about 6-8 minutes.
- Add in the cubed eggplant and water. Cook, stirring often until the eggplant are cooked. This should take 10-15 minutes and the eggplant will reduce in size by around half.
- Remove from the heat and mix in the salt, pepper, parsley and bread crumbs.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the cans of cream of mushroom soup with the milk until smooth. Pour in with the eggplant mixture and stir until well combined. Spread the mixture in a large baking dish like a lasagna pan.
- In a separate bowl, stir together the bread crumbs and melted butter. The bread crumbs should absorb the butter but still have a crumbly consistency. Mix in the grated cheddar cheese and sliced green onions. Sprinkle the cheesy crumble on top of the eggplant mixture.
- Bake in a 350F oven for 30 minutes.
- Serve
Nutrition
Per serving:
This recipe was originally published in June 2019.
