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Casserole is a always a favorite and the Eggplant Pasta Casserole is one hearty rich recipe that everyone will love – even those who dislike eggplant! It’s a cheesy vegetarian meal that is sure to please the whole family!
Table of Contents
Why you’ll love this easy eggplant pasta bake
- Hearty vegetarian meal. This baked eggplant casserole is so comforting, with chunks of eggplant throughout a zesty marinara sauce, loaded with pasta, and covered in cheese. It’s so filling and delicious!
- Flavor and Texture. Eggplant’s unique and subtle flavor makes it a perfect ingredient for absorbing other flavors. Its tenderness and texture are enhanced after roasting and then cooked in a casserole, making it an excellent addition to any dish.
- Easy to make. After roasting the eggplant, which only takes about 15 minutes, everything is tossed together in a baking dish and baked until the cheese is golden brown and melty.
ingredients to make the recipe
- Eggplants: The eggplants are chopped into pieces and roasted to enhance the flavor and get rid of any excess moisture.
- Oil: To roast the vegetables. We like to use olive oil, but vegetable or canola will work well.
- Seasonings: Salt, black pepper, crushed red pepper and fresh basil leaves.
- Onion and garlic: No Italian style dish is complete without onion and garlic! They add a nice base level of flavor.
- Pasta: This pasta casserole is great with rigatoni, a large tubular pasta. Other pasta shapes like penne of fusilli will work well too.
- Marinara sauce: This is where this yummy pasta bake gets it’s rich tomato flavor. You can use your favorite store bought, or make your own marinara instead.
- Cheese: We use parmesan and mozzarella for a cheesy pasta dish. You can use other shredded cheeses like mozzarella or jack if that’s what you have to hand.
how to make eggplant pasta casserole
Create a delicious eggplant pasta casserole by layering roasted eggplant, pasta, sauce, and cheese.
roast the eggplant
- Chop the eggplant and toss in olive oil, salt and pepper.
- Halfway through roasting, add the onions and garlic. Roast til golden brown.
assemble the casserole & bake
- Add the marinara sauce to cooked pasta.
- Stir to coat the pasta well in the sauce.
- Stir in the cooked veggies, parmesan and basil leaves and topped with shredded mozzarella.
- Bake until the cheese has melted and the sauce is bubbling.
Tips to make this recipe
- Cook the pasta in heavily salted water. This will help to add flavor to the dish right from the beginning of cooking. Be sure to check out these other tips to help you cook pasta perfectly!
- Don’t toss the water when you drain the pasta. This is perfect for thinning out the marinara sauce. It’s more flavorful than plain water and the starch in it helps it to stick to the pasta.
- Add different veggies. This is a great dis that is easy to adapt to suit whatever you have in your fridge. Other vegetables like mushrooms or bell peppers can easily be added to this recipe.
- Add in some protein. For a meatier main course, you can easily stir in some cooked shredded chicken, pressed tofu, or even brown some ground beef to stir in.
Frequently Asked Questions
This eggplant pasta casserole recipe makes enough for 6 hearty servings, and the leftovers are perfect the next day! Let the casserole cool completely before covering and storing in the fridge. It’s best eaten within a day or two, but will keep well for up to 4 days.
Preheat the oven to 360F and cover the dish loosely with foil so that it doesn’t dry out or brown to much. Cook in the oven for around 15 to 20 minutes til warmed through and bubbling.
This baked pasta is a hearty meal all by itself, but it’s great to serve with a side of bread, salad or veggies. Try it with:
Tomato Caprese Salad
Olive Oil Garlic Bread
Green Beans
Greek Salad
For more eggplant recipes:
- Baked Eggplant Parmesan
- Grilled Eggplant Parmesan
- Eggplant Chickpea Stew
- Eggplant Moussaka
- Baba Ganoush
- Grilled Eggplant
More casserole recipes:
- Chicken Broccoli Casserole
- Potato Cauliflower Casserole
- Easy Baked Spaghetti
- French Toast Casserole
- Ground Beef Pasta Casserole
If you try this healthy-ish feel good Eggplant Pasta Casserole recipe or any other recipe on Feel Good Foodie, then don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave a comment below! It helps others who are thinking of making the recipe. We would love to hear about your experience making it. And if you snapped some shots, share it on Instagram so we can repost on Stories!
Eggplant Pasta Casserole
Video
Ingredients
- 2 medium eggplants cut into 1-inch pieces
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 teaspoon salt plus more to taste
- Black pepper to taste
- 1 small yellow onion chopped
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper
- 1 pound rigatoni
- 1 28-ounce jar marinara sauce
- 1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese plus more for serving
- 3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese divided
- 1 cup fresh basil leaves torn, plus additional for serving
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Place the eggplant, olive oil, 1 teaspoon salt, and black pepper in the prepared sheet pan. Roast for 20 minutes, then flip halfway through, add the onions, garlic, crushed red pepper and return to the oven until the eggplant is golden brown and caramelized, 15 more minutes.
- Meanwhile, bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil and cook pasta until barely al dente. Reserve 1 ½ cups pasta cooking water, then drain and rinse pasta under cold water.
- Transfer the pasta to a 9×13 baking dish. Add marinara and stir as much reserved pasta cooking water as needed until the sauce is glossy.
- When the eggplant is done cooking, transfer it on top of the pasta. Fold in the Parmesan cheese, 1 cup mozzarella and 1 cup basil. Top with remaining 2 cups mozzarella.
- Lower the oven temperature to 375°F and bake until the sauce is bubbling on the sides and the cheese is melted, about 25 minutes. Top with more grated parmesan and torn fresh basil to serve.
Equipment
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information provided is an estimate. It will vary based on cooking method and specific ingredients used.
What can I do with leftover cooked eggplant, if I don’t want to use all of it in the casserole? And is it ok to also stir fry the eggplant instead of baking it?
I think you could stir fry the eggplant rather than roasting but it won’t be quite as flavorful. As for leftover eggplant, here are all my recipes with eggplant in them to inspire you: https://feelgoodfoodie.net/recipe/?_ingredients=eggplant
My husband was upset because I wasn’t making eggplant Parmesan. When he tasted this he couldn’t stop raving. I made it a bit spicier than the recipe calls for, but that is just our taste. Saving this one for sure! We grow eggplant so I make many recipes with our eggplant.
Haha so happy he loved it! I’m sure your homegrown eggplant is so good!! I recommend you try my Maqluba recipe next! It’s a Middle Eastern dish made with eggplant, potatoes, tomatoes, chicken thighs, and rice.
Was thinking of adding zucchini with the eggplant. Do you think that could work? Should I roast it with the eggplant the whole time or add it in halfway with the onion and garlic? Thank you! Love your recipes!
I would add them all in together! If you want, you could keep them separate on the sheet pan and remove the zucchini if they end up cooking quicker. But I think the zucchini and eggplant should cook in about the same amount of time. Enjoy!
This recipe was easy and worked fine. It’s mostly just pasta, store-bought sauce, and cheese though. I used whole wheat pasta to make it healthier. I would recommend increasing the eggplant and decreasing the pasta, as the dish was mostly pasta. Don’t think I would make it again.
Thanks for the feedback, Michele! Love the idea of changing the ratio to include more eggplant, especially if you’re trying to add more veggies into your diet.
Step 2 is confusing. I am interpreting roast for 20 minutes the eggplant only. It sounds like at the 10 minute mark you flip. Then after this total of 20minutes is over, add onions and peppers for another 15 minutes. Total oven time is 35 minutes. This also does not align with the cook and prep time estimates.
Yup, you are interpreting it correctly because the eggplant just needs more time as compared to the onions and peppers. I will update my time estimates though, to match this. Sorry for the incorrect calculation there!
Thankyou for this recipe, helped me learn I love roasted eggplant over sautéed but also the flavours were perfect.
Partner also loved it, will be making again.
You’re so welcome! If you’re a fan of eggplant, I’d love for you to try my Eggplant stew and let me know what you think!
This is sooo good. Have made it 3x now. Used eggplant from my garden, added peppers, extra garlic and about 1/2 the cheese. Husband is a huge fan. Thanks for the great recipe
Thank you so much! I love that!! You’re welcome!
This is such a teriffic, flexible, comforting dish. We like to boost the veggies when we have extra on hand (zucchini and bell peppers work well, added with the onions and garlic halfway through roasting). We sometimes sub whole wheat pasta, which we find works best in casserole-type dishes rather than on its own. The original had a little too much cheese for us, so now we reduce to 2 cups. Delicious and indulgent as written, or easy to tweak with modifications. Thank you for another great recipe!
Thank you so much! That’s exactly what I was going for. That sounds delicious. You’re welcome!!
Can you prepare it a day ahead or earlier in the day and then cook it later?
You could, or you could store it in an airtight container after cooking and keep in the fridge for up to 4 days.
you state 4 days in refrigerator, can we freeze as well?
You could, but it might not reheat as well.