Greek Baked Eggplant With Feta

baked eggplant with tomato sauce and feta cheese with rice.

5 from 1 vote

This Greek oven-roasted eggplant feta recipe has thick layers of eggplant, delicious tomato sauce, creamy feta cheese, and fresh herbs all baked together for an irresistible dish. You can serve melitzanes me feta (eggplant with feta) as an appetizer, side dish or even a main vegetarian meal with fresh bread, rice or grilled vegetables.

Prep Time30

Cook Time50

Course: Greek Appetizers, Greek Dinner Ideas, sides and sauces

Cuisine: Greek

Keyword: eggplant, tomato sauce, vegetarian

Servings: servings

Calories: 236kcal

Author: Ria Mavrikos

Equipment

8" x 8" baking dish

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil for sautéing the onions and garlic
1/2 cup white or yellow onion peeled and diced
2 garlic cloves peeled and finely diced
1/8 teaspoon red chili flakes optional
2 cups store-bought tomato sauce approximately 660 ml. Jar
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon sugar
4 Japanese eggplants sliced into ½^" slices
1 teaspoon salt to sprinkle over sliced eggplants
1-2 teaspoons olive oil For frying the eggplants (about ½ teaspoon olive oil for each batch)
1/4 cup flat leaf Italian parsley or basil de-stemmed and diced
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
balsamic vinegar glaze optional
1/4 cup breadcrumbs optional - to sprinkle on top

Instructions

Slice and salt the eggplant. Slice the eggplants into approximately 1/2-inch slices. They should be similar sizes so they can cook evenly. Sprinkle salt over the sliced eggplants and let them sit for 20 minutes. They should start to sweat. After 20 minutes, pat the eggplant slices well with a paper towel.
Heat the tomato sauce. In a large saucepan, sauté the white onions for a few minutes on their own. Then add in the garlic and red chili flakes. Cook together for a few minutes on medium-low heat. Pour in the store-bought tomato sauce, oregano, sugar, and continue to cook for another few minutes.
Pan-fry the eggplant slices. Heat up a little bit (½ teaspoon) of olive oil in a frying pan and pan-fry the eggplant slices in a single layer on medium heat for about 4-5 minutes on each side. You may need to repeat this process a couple times depending on the size of your frying pan. The eggplant slices will continue to cook once they're baked with the tomato sauce. Place the cooked eggplant on a plate lined with paper towel to remove any excess oil.
Assemble the eggplant dish. Spread a little bit of tomato sauce on the bottom of an 8"x8" baking dish. Add one layer of eggplant slices, feta cheese and parsley. Then repeat this step again. Finish off with tomato sauce, feta and parsley on top. You can also sprinkle some breadcrumbs over the top layer.
Bake at 350°F. Place the assembled eggplant dish in the oven. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the feta cheese is golden brown and bubbly. Enjoy!

Notes

If you're in a hurry, you can skip salting the eggplants when using Japanese or small, young eggplants. If you're using older, larger eggplants, then salting the eggplants helps it release some bitterness, resulting in a more tender eggplant, so it isn't as spongy.
You could substitute feta cheese with shredded mozzarella cheese or parmesan cheese.
This is optional, but you can drizzle balsamic vinegar glaze over the melted cheese once the eggplant bake comes out of the oven for a little salty and sweet combo!
Eggplant is like a sponge, so only use a small amount of olive oil when frying. The frying pan should be hot when you add in the eggplant slices. Don't overcrowd the pan.

Nutrition