The roasted eggplants in air fryer are an easy, quick, and light recipe, perfect for summer. In just a few minutes, you’ll get roasted eggplants that are soft inside and slightly crispy outside, ideal to serve as a tasty side dish, as a base for a light parmigiana, to prepare a delicious eggplant timbale, or as an appetizing appetizer, such as eggplant rolls with bacon and scamorza. A great classic of summer cuisine, roasted eggplants are always a guarantee of taste. I usually prepare them in the traditional oven, simply seasoned with salt, oil, vinegar, and a pinch of chili pepper, as in my recipe for spicy eggplants. But when I cook for just one or two people, the air fryer becomes the perfect ally: no long preheating times, reduced cooking times, and minimal energy consumption. For this version, I seasoned the roasted eggplants with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, salt, fresh mint and parsley, and chili pepper. But you can customize the recipe to your taste with oregano, basil, marjoram, minced garlic or enrich it with aromatic sauces like chimichurri or salmoriglio for an even more fragrant touch. Roasted eggplants in the air fryer are not only a quick and healthy solution but also a versatile base for endless summer preparations!
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- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Very economical
- Preparation time: 5 Minutes
- Portions: 2 People
- Cooking methods: Air Frying
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Spring, Summer
- Energy 172.59 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 12.26 (g) of which sugars 7.10 (g)
- Proteins 2.09 (g)
- Fat 14.41 (g) of which saturated 2.07 (g)of which unsaturated 0.19 (g)
- Fibers 6.09 (g)
- Sodium 198.99 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 80 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients for Roasted Eggplants in Air Fryer
- 1 black oval eggplant (medium, about 400 g)
- to taste extra virgin olive oil
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 bunch parsley
- A few leaves mint
- 1 dried chili pepper (optional)
Tools
- 1 Cutting Board
- 1 Knife
- 1 Air Fryer
- Air Fryer Paper
- 1 Oil Sprayer
How to Roast Eggplants in Air Fryer
To prepare roasted eggplants in the air fryer, start by washing and drying the eggplant. Cut it into slices about 0.2 inches thick (1). Line the basket of the air fryer with suitable paper and place the eggplants side by side. If they don’t fit, you can slightly overlap them, as I did (2), but they will need to be turned halfway through cooking.
Brush them with a little extra virgin olive oil (3). If you have one, you can use an oil sprayer. Lightly salt them and cook in the air fryer at 356°F (no preheating needed) for about 15 minutes. If you couldn’t fit the eggplant slices in a single layer but overlapped them, for even cooking, you need to turn them halfway through. When they are golden (4), turn off the air fryer, remove them, and let them cool slightly.
If you want to serve them as an appetizer or side dish, prepare a fine chop of parsley, mint, and chili pepper. Layer the roasted eggplants on a platter and drizzle with raw oil and the chopped herbs and chili pepper. You can serve the roasted eggplants in the air fryer immediately or let them marinate for a few hours in the refrigerator.
Storage
The roasted eggplants can be stored in the fridge for 3 days, in a glass container.
Tips and Variations
If you use black oval or striped violet eggplants, there’s no need to salt them. Long black eggplants, less suitable for this preparation but ideal for frying, need to be salted to purge with a weight on top for at least 30 minutes. Then they should be rinsed and dried.
