Stuffed Eggplant Parmesan is a fun, easy twist on eggplant parmesan – these baked eggplant “boats” are hollowed out and stuffed with chicken sausage, tomato sauce and mozzarella.
Stuffed Eggplant Parmesan
I’ve been dreaming up this recipe since last year when I created my Sausage Stuffed Zucchini Boats. These are easier than making traditional eggplant parm because they use no breadcrumbs, and there is no breading and no frying! More eggplant recipes I love are baked Eggplant Parmesan, Eggplant Rollatini and Eggplant Meatballs.
If you love eggplant parm these are going to knock your socks off! My husband loves them!
How To Make Stuffed Eggplant
Look for medium sized eggplants; white or Japanese would be perfect here. You could use any variety as long as they aren’t too large. And don’t worry, nothing gets wasted! The pulp that gets scooped out goes right back into the stuffing. One boat is a complete meal and super filling, you can also serve it with a side salad if you wish!
Do you peel eggplant before cooking?
I get asked this a lot and actually, the skin is completely edible! Not only that, but it’s the most nutrient rich part of the vegetable filled with powerful antioxidants.
How to store and reheat
If you saved leftovers, you can reheat it in the microwave in a microwave-safe dish or in the oven at 350 degrees. Cover the dish with tinfoil and bake until ready. Refrigerate up to 4 days.
More Eggplant Recipes:
- Baked Eggplant Sticks
- Grilled Eggplant and Veggie Platter with Mint Yogurt Dip
- Eggplant Parm
- Eggplant Meatballs
- Eggplant Rollatini
Stuffed Eggplant Parmesan
Ingredients
- 2 medium, 15 oz each white eggplants, stems trimmed off and halved lengthwise
- 3 links, 8.4 oz sweet Italian chicken sausage, casings removed (I love Premio)
- 1/2 small onion, finely diced
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 1/3 cups crushed tomatoes
- 5 basil leaves, chopped (plus more for garnish)
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 1/2 cup shredded part skim mozzarella cheese
- 4 teaspoons grated Pecorino Romano
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F.
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
- Hollow out the flesh of the eggplant to create a boat using a melon baller or small knife, leaving a 1/2-inch of the skin all around to create a shell. Roughly chop the scooped out eggplant flesh.
- Drop the eggplant into the boiling water and cook 3 minutes (poking it with a spoon so they stay submerged). Remove with a slotted spoon and set them on paper towels on the counter.
- Meanwhile, brown the sausage in a large skillet over medium-high heat, breaking the meat up while it cooks into smaller pieces. Add the onions and garlic and cook on a medium-low heat for about 2-3 minutes, until onions are translucent. Add 1 cup chopped eggplant and cook about 2-3 minutes. Add 1 cup crushed tomatoes, season with salt and pepper and cook 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in fresh basil.
- Pour 1/3 cup of crushed tomatoes on the bottom of a 9 x 12 baking dish and place the eggplant boats on top. Season the eggplant with salt and divide the sausage and sauce evenly among the 4 eggplant boats.
- Top each with 2 tablespoons of shredded mozzarella cheese and 1 teaspoon each of Pecorino Romano cheese. Cover with foil and bake 30 minutes until cheese is melted and eggplant is cooked through.
Maybe I was multitasking too much… but I read the steps: “Roughly chop the scooped out eggplant flesh.
Drop the eggplant into the boiling water and cook 3 minutes” to mean ‘drop the roughly chopped eggplant into the boiling water’…Not the ‘remaining eggplant boats’ into the boiling water…. Vastly different and rather confusing. Unfortunately, I discovered this too late…. Crossing fingers baking them, only, is sufficient!
How did it come out without boiling the “boats”? I would think it would be fine. Maybe just bake a little longer if a fork test proved it was too firm.
I made this last night and it was delicious! I followed the recipe as is except I used 7 little eggplants that I had gotten from the farmers market. Thank you again Gina. You’ve made losing weight on WW easier and now maintaining is easier. Gone are the days of dry chicken breast and bland vegetables.
grilled the eggplant vs boiled
threw sausage in food processor
cooked in the air fryer
Very good recipe, I tried with round white eggplants and ground pork instead of chicken sausage and came out pretty good
This was delicious! My husband and I are trying to reduce our carb intake but looking for more substantial recipes than just meat and side veggies. This fit the bill. Great tasting and filling. I used chicken italian sausage and american eggplant. I I made some changes; added mushrooms and used a roasted garlic spaghetti sauce since I didn’t have crushed tomatoes. I made it a couple of hours ahead and cooked it later. A definite keeper.
This recipe is so easy to make and absolutely delicious. I can’t wait to make this again and again.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Wondering why there are so many carbs per serving. Thoughts?
I have an abundance of eggplants from the garden. Can this recipe be prepared and frozen?
We liked the stuffing, but the recipe was a little tough to follow. Do we boil the eggplant boats or the scooped out insides? White eggplant is hard to find. I used regular purple, which tend to be large, so I had trouble figuring out proportions. I ended up fitting 3 in my casserole dish and have a lot of scooped out eggplant to use up. Perhaps I will try again with Japanese eggplant as some other users did. Prep took awhile…
I use regular small-ish eggplants. Cut in half, Use a paring knife around the perimeter leaving a 1/4 inch rim inside, then I use the knife to cut the horizontal strips then cut across strips to make cubes and scoop out (careful not to cut through skin.) Then boil the hollowed out bowls for 3 minutes ( I also salt the water. Add the cubed eggplant to browned meat and sauté a few minutes. By the way, delicious with hamburger too! That’s what I’m making right now!
Good catch, while reading this in a.m. (b4 coffee), I thought I should boil the scouped out eggplant! I guess it coukd say boil the eggplant BOATS.
Good catch Ellie! It would be helpful for the recipe to say “boil the eggplant BOATS” for 3 min.
Thanks for mentioning, I was trying to picture in my mind how to keep all the chopped eggplant submerged!!🤣
Which eggplant goes into the boiling water? The boats, the scooped out flesh or both?
In her notes above, she states putting “eggplants” into boiling water and also says to keep them submerged. It would be difficult to.keep pulp submerged. Somall in all it is the eggplant shell itself.
I couldn’t wait to make this after seeing it on one of your social media platforms. I LOVE eggplant. This meal was easy to throw together and SO delicious!! I already can’t wait to make it again!
This is a fantastic recipe. The sauce taste like it has cooked all day. Making it for dinner again tonight
I’ve made this recipe once and it was fabulously wonderful. Can it be made the day before. Then baked before dinner.
This was stupidly good! We went to local farm to pick the last of the tomatoes of the season and ended up picking purple and white eggplant also, although I had no idea how I was going to use them! I followed the recipe as close as I could. Subbed the crushed tomatoes with roasted tomatoes – from the picking – that I had hit with a hand blender. And used some tomato basil chicken sausage I diced up that needed to be released from the purgatory of my freezer. And an Italian cheese blend instead of mozzarella. Those were the only things I changed. Served with a chopped Italian salad we were so stuffed and pleased. This will be going into the rotation. Yum!
Glad you enjoyed it!
This was so delicious!! Thank you!!
This was great. I used turkey breakfast sausage (about 14 oz) and the whole can of crushed tomatoes (about 3.5 cups) I used two cups of the eggplant insides as well and used one light string cheese per boat instead of shredded cheese.
I like my boats packed and overflowing. I loved it! And my twelve year old ate all the insides.
Made this with Beyond Meat Hot Sausage with a side of Italian rice. It was so good that my extremely picky eater ate every bite including the leftover sauce on the plate.
Love it!
This looks amazing but why do we put the sauce in the bottom of the dish, what is it for?
This was really good! I made the boats then nooked 2 halves at time for 2-3 min. I took the raw eggplant from digging the boat out & sautéd them, first, for a few min then added sausage…I’m all about cutting corners & getting the same flavor! Didn’t have crushed tomatoes so I added 2 small last tomatoes from the garden & 1c of leftover jar spaghetti sauce in fridge…Mmm! KEEPER!
I am so excited to find these healthy eggplant recipes! I LOVE eggplant, but most of the time just make the same old dish…now, I have options!!! I will be eating a LOT MORE eggplant this summer.
Enjoy!
Is there any way to do this recipe in a crock pot?!
Where is the Parmesan? I was planning to make this, but there is no Parmesan in it. Shouldn’t it be called Stuffed Eggplant Romano or maybe Stuffed Eggplant Italian Style or something? The title for this recipe is misleading..
Looks Delicious!!! I love love eggplant but not a fan of the skin. Could you possibly remove the skin after boiling the boats?
Made this quite a few times, absolutely love it, it’s a change from the “norm” a bit of messing, but….
I’ve always used beef mince instead of sausage meat, makes it much better.
Although not done it for a while, have to get recipe “out of mothballs “
Great,if you’ve got the time. Worth doing !!!
This is such a ymmy recipe. I’ve made it twice now, and even my husband likes it, and he’s not much for veggies. Thanks for another great dinner option, Gina!
Excellent! We made it with half sweet and half spicy chicken sausage. This is definitely a repeat! Love your recipes Gina!
Made this recipe for dinner tonight. Delicious. My store didn’t have white or Japanese eggplant and Italian chicken sausage, so I used regular purple eggplant and sweet Italian turkey sausage instead. Otherwise, followed recipe exactly. My only comment is that prep time is closer to 45 minutes, so plan ahead.
Very similar to a YUMMY recipe I make using spaghetti squash. But many of the recipes I’ve read/made using eggplant suggest “salting” the eggplant prior to cooking to take out some of the moisture. Is moisture not an issue in this recipe, especially since the shell is being boiled? Thank you
great question!
Sounds delicious – similar to spaghetti squash recipes I’ve made. But most eggplant recipes I’ve read/made suggest “salting” the eggplant prior to cooking to remove some of the moisture. Is moisture not a problem when it’s cooked this way, especially when boiling the shell? Thank you.
Should not be a problem.
OH MY GAWD – SOOOOOO Delicious. Tweaked a bit because we only had 1 eggplant (for 2 of us) so a few more SP but well worth it (used 2 sausages instead of 1-1/2). Thank you so much for the wonderful easy to follow recipes that are stupid delicious. As we were eating it we were brainstorming about making it taste like Sheik al Mehsheh by using our ground deer (really low fat and has a lamb like flavor) and the seasonings. Can’t wait to use your awesome recipe for one of our favorite dishes (that is too high in fat made the original way). Thank you again for all you do to make our weight loss journey tasty and easier.
This was delicious. I used Italian sausage and did not boil my eggplant at all. I used the purple eggplant from my garden and I used all the eggplant I scooped out (more than a cup)
OMG this was awesome! Kids liked it. A huge delicious hit. Only change was I cooked the scooped out eggplant starting 5 minutes before adding the sausage to the skillet rather than boiling it. This recipe was fast to make and easy. Loved it! Had eggplant, tomatoes, onion and basil in the garden…so timing was perfect. Thanks for another great recipe.
Absolutely delicious! I made it as suggested, boiling the boats and I think it was just perfect. Thanks!!
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Do you have to boil the eggplant? Won’t it cook in the oven? You don’t boil to roast? Just wondering. Is the step necessary. Would hate to skip the step and have the eggplant uncooked.
What can I substitute for sausage that is not meat?
You can always leave it out, or maybe try mushrooms?
This was amazing!!! I used one eggplant but it was bigger so it still made 4 servings
I made this tonight and it was so good! Very filling. Thank you!
I have made a TON of your recipes because you have the BEST ideas. And I love the WW points! BUT this is the only recipe of yours that I made and wasn’t crazy about. To my husband and I the eggplant “boats” were just basically bowls that held the meat sauce. I felt like I was just eating forkfuls of meat sauce. And we agreed the Italian Chicken sausage AND your Quick Marinara sauce were amazing and I will absolutely make again. Only next time I’ll make it to serve on top of zoodles. The actual eggplant boats were sort of pointless in this recipe, in our opinion. But the meat sauce and your quick marinara were fantastic!
I’m a workaholic and busy body and I am rarely home. I’m either on my way to something or at the office working. How would you recommend we preserve this meal without it getting soggy or losing its ✨? Also how do you reccomend it be reheated? And stored?
Thanks!
This is great cooked then reheated the next day for work stored in the refrigerator in a plastic container. Oven or micro would be fine.
would this be ok to prep the night before and cook the following? Not sure how the eggplant will be, any thoughts?
I think it would be fine!
On the menu for tonight. Using hot chicken sausage though in stead of the sweet. Family has been into spicy lately and this will amp it up
This was delicious! I used purple eggplant, spicy Italian turkey sausage and used up some fresh mozzarella I had in the fridge. I do agree the eggplant boats could be made closer to 1 inch thick, or possibly only blanched for 1-2 minutes, to better hold their shape. But as is, this recipe tastes great and has good texture – so it probably doesn’t really matter. Thanks – very filling and enjoyable!
This was absolutely DELICIOUS!!! I do not like basil so I replaced it with oregano and used fire roasted tomatoes. This is now a staple for my monthly food rotation! Got the Roasted Balsamic Chicken and Veggies in the oven now! Cant wait to eat it! Thanks for a fantastic recipe!
So happy you enjoyed it!
Wonder if you could twist the recipe and use ground turkey instead of sausage for a different flavor?
What’s a good side to pair this with?
Is there any difference or advantage using white vs purple eggplant if both are available? This sounds delicious and can't wait to try it.
I put all the nutrient info in the weight watchers calculator and it came out to be 6 points? Either way I made it!! 🙂
Thank you so much for updating the Smart Points on this so quickly! My weigh-in day is tomorrow and I've been searching your site for recipes that will help me ease into the new plan. A 4 point dinner entree, paired with a salad, I can do!
This is a KEEPER!!! Thank You..shared it on facebook and nothing but rave reviews
Absolutely delicious! I cooked up a whole package of Trader Joe's Sweet Italian Chicken Sausage and used extra chopped onions and extra garlic. I set aside half of that mixture for later. After I completed the recipe I sautéed the remaining eggplant in garlic infused avocado oil about 4 minutes then added a whole can of TJ's Diced & Fire Roasted Tomatoes with green chiles. Once that was cooked I added the reserved sausage, onion, garlic mixture and cooked until hot. I figure this will taste great with eggs, on cottage cheese, in a quesadilla etc. Such great flavors!
Made tonight – OMG YUM!!!! I had to use turkey sausage due to store was out of chicken sausage and used regular eggplant. A DEFINITE Re-Do!
This was great! Since I was making it just for me, I had a lot of leftovers. Re-heating it in a 350 degrees oven for 20 minutes (still covered with foil) worked great.
Love it! Thanks for another great recipe.
Another Skinny Taste winner! Even my husband who is not a lover of eggplant thought it was delicious
Thanks for so many good and good for you recipes!
Why do you have to cover them in foil?
Honestly, I don't even see the need for the blanching step. You're cooking them a half hour in the oven, and that should be plenty all by itself. I think I'll also add mushrooms like a previous reviewer, that sounds delish.
yes, it's the most nutritious part of the eggplant
Made these last night and added mushrooms–delicious! I'm definitely making these again. They're super filling, too!
Fantastic idea! This is such a creative recipe and who doesn't love eggplant parmesan? I made them in advance to bring to the office for lunch. They reheat very well and are very filling for 7 points! Thanks again Gina!
Hi Gina. This looks amazing, I never know what to make with Eggplant and I LOVED the spaghetti squash boats. I am just wondering I notice there called parmesan lasagna boats but I don't see parmesan in the recipe, can I sub the ramano cheese for parmesan? Also, will it effect the points if I use spicy chicken Italian sausage instead of sweet? Looking fw to your response. Thanks 🙂
Made it with purple eggplant and it was a hit! SO DELICIOUS! One of my boats absorbed a lot of water and collapsed but it did not alter the flavor. Thanks for the recipe!
I made this last night and it was amazing! The only suggestion I have to those who want to try the recipe: If you're unsure how much eggplant to scoop out, less is more! My eggplant boats didn't hold their shape well after I boiled them. It looked more like a casserole, but still tasted delicious!
These were great! We like spicy things so I used hot turkey sausage (couldn't find chicken at my local grocery store) and it was fantastic!
Just made them and omg they are delicious. I used the purple ones bc I had them. Outstanding. Oh yeah and garden tomatoes to boot
So glad you liked them!
I had lots of chopped eggplant left over. Any ideas?
I'm with you there, I put it in a baggy in the fridge and am hoping to find something else to do with it!
You can add it to marinara sauce.
Made this last night for dinner and was very impressed! I usually need to double the recipes to feed my family, yet I had some leftover turkey meat from a meatloaf I made the night before, so I threw in the remaining chicken sausage to make a healthy bolognese. I served this over spaghetti squash, which was a perfect compliment to the eggplant! Absolutely delicious!
This was so great! Kids even loved it and never made a peep about the eggplant.
I made this last night and was so impressed with the flavor! One question-do you have any ideas on how to make the dish less watery? I used the crushed tomato but was thinking maybe adding paste, or draining some of the water first.
Thanks for another great recipe! These came out so yummy! Love all your eggplant recipes because my garden is getting ready to explode with them!
I made these tonight with a couple of changes. I didn't have any sausage, so I omitted it, and used fresh diced tomatoes instead of crushed. This was FANTASTIC! Thanks for another great recipe!
These are amazing. I have been looking for a replacement for fried eggplant parmesan. This is it! I did like Michelle and used purple eggplant and ground turkey. Even though I slightly screwed up and forgot to add the basil, salt and pepper until the last minute they still turned out great! Thank you for the recipe!
THIS IS NOW A MUST-MAKE IN MY HOUSE.
This was absolutely amazing. I wasn't sure whether or not to boil the boat part of the eggplant as well but I did (a little hard to work with so I'm not sure if that was the right thing). The only things I did different was using purple eggplant and instead of sausage I used ground turkey (which I had on hand). This was insanely yummy =) Thank you!!!
Keep up the fantastic recipes – and amazing pictures!
Have you ever done a stuffed butternut squash? I would love to see your take on that when it comes back in season! 🙂
I made these last night and they were great! Even my non-eggplant eating husband really enjoyed them! Thank you so much.
I made this last night and it was VERY delicious, I will definitely make it again!! Also I used purple eggplant because my grocery store didn't have white…would love to try with white in the future.
There’s no word to describe such a great masterpiece. You made such an interesting piece to read about delicious dish San Antonio Personal Injury Lawyer
And just when I thought I would never find another way to indulge in my favorite veggie!
oxox
Just made these today, but with veggie crumbles instead of sausage. Very tasty! Thanks!
I made these last night and it was great! I need to add some more spices next time to up the flavor, but it was great. I added green peppers for bulk (and because i love sausage & peppers). Will definitely make again!
I made these and ended up using meatless sausage crumbles and they were wonder. Definetly have to make again! Even my boyfriend liked them and he's a picky eater. Thanks!
Really enjoyed the flavors of this dish. Wondering if I just hollowed out my eggplant too much because boiling it for the 3 minutes turned it much too soft to really hold up in "boat" form…by the time I took them out of the oven, they were barely holding the filling… But still tasted fantastic!
Nicki-I made these tonight and only boiled the "guts" that I scraped out. The boat portion will cook in the oven once you have filled it and covered with foil.
Gina,
As usual, another great dish. I didn't have white eggplant so I used purple. Was fabulous! Was trying to get my husband to change his tune about eggplant but no good. He did try it and said the flavor was good but just can't get past the texture of it. I, on the other hand just loved it. Thanks!
Just finished dinner, WOW, this was very good.
Thanks Gina!
Just made them for dinner tonight and wow! absolutely delish. my fiancé and I had one of those "how have we never thought of this before?!" moments… but I'm glad you did ! 😉
These look great! Trying them for dinner tonight, I couldn't find the white eggplant so I am using the purple.
I made you recipe with the purple eggplant and substitute the sausage for ground turkey and it tasted phenomenal. I felt like I was cheating. So delish. I always wondered how one prepares egg plant it is so yum yum. Thank you for this lovely recipe. 🙂
What a fabulous idea, Gina! These look wonderful!
Wow! Can't wait to try these – I just made your Zucchini Boats tonight for the first time and they were absolutely delicious. My husband said that they tasted like something you'd order at an Italian restaurant that they call their "specialty". I'm sure these are just as good!!
Dang! I wish my kids liked eggplant!
Amazing pictures! I always love a sneak peek behind the scenes 🙂 thanks for sharing San Antonio Real Estate For Sale
Looks so yummy…. I was looking for eggplant recipes, and this showed up in my inbox today! Can't wait to try it this week.
May be a silly question, but do you eat the eggplant shell, or just the filling from inside of it?
Eat the boat! Yum!
I ate the whole thing
Do you have any advice for covering it with foil to bake? When I do that, it always sticks to the cheese.. (and we dont want that! haha). thanks gina!! – adrienne
Use non-stick foil….works like a charm
I never use foil. Use parchment paper. It is much healthier. Aluminum foil has metal in it which will spread into your food as you cook it. I bake everything in glass pans or line with parchment paper. Your food will also taste better.
If you only have old school foil on hand, you can tent the foil by puffing it up a bit in the middle.
If you only have old school foil on hand, you can tent the foil by puffing it up a bit in the middle.
Add a light spray of Pam or cooking spray to the inside of the foil, it'll help prevent it from sticking to the cheese 🙂
Yum- Looks great & I need lunch ideas. This would work.
I pinned this! Looks incredible – esp with the addition of sausage! Thank you!
Thank you 🙂
Any chance these can these be frozen? They look amazing!
Sure!!
How do you thin it would be with dairy free cheese?
I've never had dairy free cheese but if that's something you normally eat them I would assume ok.
Hahaha you are a MIND READER! I have 2 eggplants at home that I MUST use ASAP! Guess what's for dinner!
You'll love it!!
Same here & I was missing some of the other things b/c I need to go to Kroger, like NOW, so I subbed:
Yellow onion -> red onion
Reg tomatoes -> fire roasted
Basil -> Dill
left out garlic b/c I'm out.
steamed guts, didn't do boats (used "reg" purple eggplants)
INSANELY GOOD.
I love eggplant, but I've never had white eggplant before. I'm going to try this. It looks to yummy to pass up.
I just made eggplant boats a couple weeks ago! I grilled them! They are so good. Love your version 🙂
I'm going to stop by the farmer's market to pick up some yummy eggplants for this recipe! Cannot wait!
Looks like another winner. I can't wait to try this one–it's on tomorrows menu.
This looks so good to me. I have never had the white variety of eggplant. Can I use the traditional dark purple; or, is there is a reason behind going with the white?
I mentioned above the recipe.
yum, yum! i love eggplant – had it for lunch!
http://therealfoodrunner.blogspot.com
Looks so good….I am allergic to eggplant, so I will use zucchini to make it tonight!
this looks unreal!! trying this weekend.
Do both the chopped eggplant and hollowed out eggplant boats go into the boiling water? Can't wait to try this!
Just the hollowed out part.
THIS MAYBE A SILLY QUESTION, BUT DO YOU PEEL THE EGGPLANT FIRST?
Nope!
DO YOU EAT THE SKIN OF THE EGGPLANT??
yes
The skin is the healthiest part I read somewhere!!