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All the flavors you love in the classic dish, this Eggplant Parmesan Panini is a simple 5 ingredient lunch or dinner, with grilled eggplant, marinara sauce, and gooey melty cheese! Leftover spaghetti sauce, frozen in small containers, works perfectly for this quick and delicious panini sandwich! Ready in just 20 minutes!
Make Eggplant Parmesan quick and easy with these 20 minute paninis! Eggplant is the veggie we just don't eat all that often.
But grilling up a sliced eggplant makes these paninis deliciously flavorful and simple to put together!
We love them for a quick dinner or meal prep lunch!
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Ingredients
- Eggplant - Eggplant isn't always the most popular vegetable. But, grilled up and nestled in between toasty bread with oozy cheese may just change your mind! It's nutritious and makes a great vegetarian meal!
- Marinara Sauce - This is where the freezer trick comes in! You can absolutely use a jar of store-bought marinara sauce, but really any red tomato sauce will work for these paninis! So whenever I make a large pot of Mom's Homemade Spaghetti, Italian Sausage Bolognese, or any red pasta sauce like this Sausage Peppers and Onions Marinara Pasta, I freeze the leftovers in different amounts. Some I put in large containers to reheat as another pasta night. Some goes into pint jars for homemade pizza sauce. And some I put in small containers, like half pint jars, to use for quick flatbread pizzas, or these eggplant paninis! This allows me to never need to buy jarred pizza or marinara sauce, and always have just the right amount!
- Cheese - Any melty white sliced cheese will work here such as provolone, mozzarella, or white cheddar. Fresh mozzarella slices would also be delicious! Then sprinkle on a good amount of Parmesan cheese!
- French or Italian Bread - Really any hearty panini bread works best, often a rustic loaf that you slice yourself.
Instructions
Step 1 - Preheat an outdoor grill. Then, prepare an eggplant by slicing it into rounds, and tossing it in olive oil, salt and pepper.
Step 2 - I like to grill the whole thing, which will probably be more than you need for one meal. Just store the rest in the fridge and it will last a few days for another panini or chop it and toss into pasta.
Step 3 - Assemble your sandwiches with the grilled eggplant, your thawed marinara sauce, and cheese. Spread a little butter or olive oil on the outsides of the bread and cook them in your panini press until golden brown.
Recipe Tips
- If you don't have a panini press, you can toast these sandwiches in a skillet, flipping them halfway through when the bread gets toasty, like you would make grilled cheese!
- If you want to skip the outdoor grill, you could roast your eggplant in the oven at 425°F or saute them in a cast iron skillet.
- Pesto - For a fun variation, you could substitute or add store-bought or Homemade Pesto to these Italian paninis!
- Leftovers - Extra grilled eggplant can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge and used within 3 days. Leftover paninis can also be refrigerated and reheated the next day, either again in the panini press, the microwave or the oven.
What to Serve it With
These Eggplant Parmesan Paninis with marinara can make a quick hot lunch or anchor a meatless dinner with an Italian Mixed Green Salad with Crispy Prosciutto or this Green Bean Salad.
Add a side dish like a Melon Prosciutto Salad, Broccoli Salad with Cranberries and Feta, Parmesan Kale Chips, or this Tomato Feta White Bean Salad.
Recipe FAQs
Yes! You could grill zucchini, onions, red bell peppers or mushrooms along with the eggplant to add to your paninis. You could also add raw spinach or basil leaves when assembling the sandwich before you press it.
Yes, you could add sliced prosciutto or sliced cooked chicken to your Eggplant Paninis. If you use leftover spaghetti sauce, your sauce may already have meat in it.
The peel of an eggplant is edible. However, overgrown eggplant can have tough skin that can taste bitter. So it's really up to you if you'd like to peel it. A vegetable peeler works great.
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Eggplant Parmesan Panini
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Print Pin RateEquipment
- outdoor grill
- panini press or skillet
Ingredients
- 1 eggplant olive oil salt and pepper
- 1 cup marinara sauce
- 4 slices provolone cheese
- ½ cup Parmesan cheese shredded or grated
- 8 slices French or Italian bread spread with butter or olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat an outdoor grill. Slice eggplant into rounds and toss in a bowl with olive oil, salt, and pepper and grill.
- Assemble sandwiches with eggplant, marinara sauce, and cheese and spread butter or olive oil on the outsides of the bread. Cook in a panini press or skillet until melted and golden brown.
Notes
- Marinara sauce can be store-bought or leftover spaghetti sauce or any red pasta sauce that has been frozen. Italian Sausage Bolognese or Grandpa's Spaghetti and Meatballs all work as leftover marinara sauce. Freezing small quantities of marinara sauce allows you to never need to buy jarred sauce, and always have just the right amount! Thaw it overnight in the fridge or for a few hours on the counter.
- Use any white cheese such as provolone, mozzarella, white cheddar or slices of fresh mozzarella.
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