During the month of August I had the luxury of spending a lot of time with some really good cooks, including my boyfriend’s mother. One of the new-to-me dishes I learned to love – and cook – was stuffed eggplant. Have you guys made this before? It’s so delightfully simple! Not to mention major in the delish department. I was hooked after one bite (ok… three!), and I just know you will be, too.
I lightened up this meaty// cheesy stuffed eggplant situation by using whole wheat bread crumbs, light cheese, and chicken sausage. With so many flavors and textures exploded in this dish, you’ll never even notice those sneaky little changes 😉 Promise.
You can eat this excellent eggplant dish alongside a salad, stuffed shells, swordfish, or your favorite main dish. You can also serve this as the main dish! But we love food so much in my house we always have multiple dishes on the table 😉 But that’s just us! Any way you serve it, you’re destined for an awesome meal! xoxo
Skinny Sausage Parmesan Stuffed Eggplant
Ingredients
- 1 large eggplant
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
- 1/2 pound ground chicken sausage
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 small red onion, diced
- 1 roasted red pepper, diced
- 5 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 cup freshly chopped parsley leaves
- 3/4 cup freshly chopped basil leaves, chopped
- 3/4 cup grated Pecorino Romano, divided
- 1/4 cup Mozzarella cheese
- 1/4 cup whole wheat Italian bread crumbs
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup marinara sauce
- 2 Roma tomatoes, diced
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F). Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.
- Cut eggplant in half, scoop out the center (leaving just enough meat inside the skin so that it holds its shape when baked). Bring 4 cups of water to a rolling boil. Add the scooped-out center part and boil until very soft, about 12 minutes. Drain, pat dry, roughly chop, and set aside.
- Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to a medium-sized sauté pan over medium heat. Add the chicken sausage to the pan and saute until it browns slightly. Remove from heat, let cool briefly, then chop the cooked sausage with a wooden spatula (or knife…) so that there are no large chunks of meat. Set aside.
- In a separate medium-szied sauté pan over medium heat add the remaining olive oil and saute the onions and peppers for 5 minutes. Add garlic and sauté for another minute. Remove from heat. Set aside.
- In a large bowl mix together the cooked eggplant, the sautéed vegetables, cooked sausage, parsley, basil, 1/2 cup Pecorino Romano, bread crumbs, and the egg.
- Fill the scooped-out eggplant halves with this mixture, dividing it evenly among the 2 halves. Place eggplant on prepared pan.
- Top with marinara, chopped tomatoes, and the remaining 1/4 cup of grated cheese. Season with salt and pepper and bake for 1 hour in a preheated oven. After one hour, reduce heat to 300 degrees (F), remove eggplant from oven, sprinkle the mozzarella cheese evenly among the two sides, then return back to the oven for another 8-10 minutes, or until the cheese has completely melted.
- Let cool briefly, slice, and serve.
Liz @ The Lemon Bowl says
September 15, 2014 at 9:26 pmI won’t tell you the cuss word that came out of my mouth when I saw this?
bakerbynature says
September 15, 2014 at 10:28 pmI good one I hope?! Lol
Felice says
April 12, 2016 at 1:56 amI just finished making this and it was delicious! ! I shared my picture of the completed meal and everyone wanted the recipe. Will be one of my favs.
bakerbynature says
April 13, 2016 at 1:55 pmSo happy to hear it, Felice!
Laura (Tutti Dolci) says
September 15, 2014 at 10:10 pmI love eggplant, your skinny stuffed version looks fab!
Liz @ Floating Kitchen says
September 15, 2014 at 10:22 pmOh this sounds fantastic! Perfect fall recipe!
Faith @ Pixie Dust Kitchen says
September 16, 2014 at 12:18 amTo be honest, I don’t think I’ve ever had eggplant! BUT when it’s stuffed with cheese and chicken sausage, I think I would be on board!
Jennie @themessybakerblog says
September 16, 2014 at 12:35 amPass that stuffed eggplant this way.
Nicole ~ Cooking for Keeps says
September 16, 2014 at 2:08 amI have some eggplant in my fridge this very moment…… MMMMMMM
Millie l Add A Little says
September 16, 2014 at 5:21 pmLooks amazing! I love eggplant parmesan and the addition of sausage sounds great!
Alyssa (Everyday Maven) says
September 16, 2014 at 6:40 pmI need this! I love anything that even remotely resembles eggplant parm. Adding eggplant to my shopping list.
Fernando says
September 21, 2014 at 9:36 pmLooks very good. I would, however, roast the eggplant flesh rather than boil it. Maybe even replace the sausage w sautéed mushrooms! Add a little fresh sage to kick up the flavor.
Deb says
March 10, 2018 at 4:49 pmMe too Fernando. I love your ideas. And I want to make it with Italian sausage.
Rita says
September 28, 2014 at 10:40 pmMy husbnd came home from work with a box from his co-workers garden. Yes, eggplant, tomatoes, peppers, herbs and onions.. I am prepping this tonight for tomorrow’s dinner.
Clem Strong says
October 3, 2014 at 6:49 pmThis looks really good but how does all the sausage and cheese make this “skinny”?
bakerbynature says
October 3, 2014 at 7:51 pmHi Clem. It’s actually chicken sausage which is very low in fat and healthy and the cheese is scaled back. You can use low-fat cheese to make it even “skinnier”. Best – Ashley
Maura says
January 7, 2015 at 3:33 amDoes anyone know about how many weight watchers points this would be?
Catherine says
January 7, 2015 at 6:03 pmWe wanted to let you know we shared your delicious recipe on our 40+ Skinny Recipes To Start Your Year Healthy post! Check it out! Feel free to share on social media! Happy & Healthy New Year!
http://www.theshoppingmama.com/2015/01/40-skinny-recipes-to-start-your-year-healthy-including-desserts/
Catherine @ The Shopping Mama
Jessica says
March 6, 2015 at 4:08 amI made the not-so-skinny version of this tonight with italian pork sausage and it was AMAZING. My husband and two-year-old really liked it as well. Thank you.
bakerbynature says
March 6, 2015 at 1:55 pmHi Jessica. Ooooh, you’re tempting me to try it with pork sausage myself – sounds so delish! Thank you for making my recipe and taking the time to let me know it was a success 🙂 It really means a lot! xo
mandy says
July 27, 2015 at 9:17 pmThis is a fantastic recipe! I’ve made it multiple times, and everyone has loved it!!! Thanks 🙂
bakerbynature says
August 1, 2015 at 1:04 pmMandy, that makes me SO happy! Definitely one of my favorite Summer meals, too 🙂
Cassandra says
August 4, 2015 at 8:30 pmI made this with eggplant, tomatoes, and pepper from my garden and it was absolutely amazing!! This has become a new favorite dish in our house 🙂
Mary says
August 5, 2015 at 3:10 pmThis looks delicious! I have some massive eggplants from the Farmer’s Market that I’m going to try this out on. Do you know about how many this serves? I plan on making it the main entree.
Thanks!
bakerbynature says
August 6, 2015 at 3:58 amHi Mary. I would say one eggplant is enough for 4 🙂 Enjoy!
Christine says
August 25, 2015 at 10:11 pmi absolutely love this receipe! I made it last night!
Jen says
September 14, 2015 at 9:28 pmHas anyone tried prepping the stuffed eggplant ahead and freezing? I’m a busy working mom and would love to have these on hand in the freezer if it will baking well post-freeze! Thanks!
Udeni says
September 17, 2015 at 8:14 amThis was delicious!!!’ I made this for my family who is a mix of German, American, Sri Lankan and Italian. My step father in law is fully Italian and he LOVED this and so did the rest of the family who are foodies. I live in Berlin. No huge egg plants not Marinera in a jar. Had to make all from scratch! It was perfect. This would be a nice appetizer on a day I entertain people again!
bakerbynature says
September 18, 2015 at 2:10 pmHi Udeni. Thank you so much for sharing your story! I love reading how recipes turn out, and even more, knowing that your family really enjoyed the meal!
ashley says
March 9, 2016 at 5:48 pmLoved Loved Loved this. Thanks so much for the recipe! I will make this again. It was my first time cooking with eggplant.
bakerbynature says
March 10, 2016 at 5:45 pmYAY!!! So happy to hear this, Ashley! Thank you for letting me know 🙂
Tracy says
August 2, 2017 at 4:58 amHi there,
I was wondering why you couldn’tjust stuff the add the filling to the eggplant shell
And bake it❣️❣️
Rose says
December 10, 2017 at 7:22 amI made this the other night and I was a little disappointed. I think I may have overcooked the eggplant during the boiling stage (I doubled the time required) and then I strained the eggplant and pressed all the water out. I also used ground chicken sausage, rather than chicken sausage in casings. I also used Italian panko crumbs instead of Italian breadcrumbs. It was somewhat bland and mushy. Can anyone tell me what I really did wrong? No smart-aleck comments please, I need to figure out where I made the biggest mistakes. Thanks for your help.
Dan says
June 15, 2018 at 9:25 pmYes. You didn’t follow the recipe….
Robin says
June 21, 2018 at 2:21 amI love eggplant and will add this to my Eggplant Recipes board. But I am a vegetarian, so I will simply use a vegetarian sausage-flavored product instead of the chicken sausage #noanimalswillbeharmedinthemakingofthisdish The recipe sounds delish!!
Marsha says
December 3, 2018 at 12:08 amDelicious !!! I think I didn’t understand cooking time and temperature. Took much longer to cook. I did cover with foil for first time. Also, used spicey chicken sausage.
Leftovers were even better with crusty garlic bread. Definitely make this again !