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Eggplant casserole was my very favorite thing to get on Sunday afternoons after church at the old Wyatt's Cafeteria in Dallas. It took me years to recreate this creamy, cheesy, and comforting dish.
I’m thrilled to share it with you in the hopes that it stirs up your memories or creates brand new ones!!
🗝️ Key takeaways
- This creamy, cheesy, and satisfying recipe will make you love this underused vegetable.
- This is so good for potlucks because it's easy and unique. Or, serve it as a vegetarian dinner or delicious side dish.
- Don't store or freeze in aluminum - the acids in the casserole will react with it.
🧾 Ingredients
🔪 Instructions
- Peel and dice the eggplant.
- Boil eggplant and saute the onions/peppers. Drain and dry eggplant.
- Mix together the veggies and remaining ingredients in a large bowl.
- Bake until golden brown.
This cheesy eggplant casserole has been on my "A" list since I was a little kid. Sometimes I add a little creole seasoning or hot sauce to spice it up but most often I just make it as written.
📖 Recipe
Southern Eggplant Casserole Recipe
Print Pin Recipe Save Recipe Rate RecipeIngredients
- 5 cups eggplant, about 1 pounds, 5 cups diced eggplant
- ¼ cup onion, chopped
- ¼ cup bell peppers, diced
- 2 tablespoons butter, for sauteing peppers and onion
- 2 eggs, beaten
- ½ cup evaporated milk
- 2 cups Ritz crackers, crushed divided use
- 2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
- ⅓ cup butter, melted
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Spray a 2 quart baking dish with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
- Peel and dice the eggplant.
- Cook peeled, diced eggplant in boiling water until tender.
- Remove from heat and drain well.
- Add 1 tablespoon of butter to a skillet and melt over medium heat.
- Saute the onions and peppers until soft.
- In a large bowl, combine cooked eggplant, beaten eggs, crushed crackers, milk, shredded cheese, peppers and onions, melted butter, and salt and pepper.
- Spoon into prepared baking dish.
- Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes or until golden brown.
Notes
- Drain the cooked eggplant really well to prevent a runny casserole. After boiling, dab the pieces of eggplant with some paper towels to soak up additional moisture.
- Dice the eggplant as evenly as possible to ensure even cooking!
- Larger eggplant isn't better. The bigger it is the more of a tendency it has to be bitter.
Nutrition Facts
Nutrition information is estimated as a courtesy. If using for medical purposes, please verify information using your own nutritional calculator. Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
This recipe has been tested several times. If you choose to use other ingredients, or change the technique in some way, the results may not be the same.
🤫 Cook's secrets -
Eggplant, like apples or bananas, gets dark after it's been cut. If you'd like it to stay a light color lightly brush the cut surfaces with lemon juice.
🥫 How to store leftover eggplant casserole
Leftovers? No problem!
Let the casserole cool to room temperature. Cover with plastic wrap or place in an airtight container in the fridge for 3 to 4 days. Reheat the eggplant casserole in the microwave until it's warmed up again.
Prep in advance
You can prep this eggplant casserole recipe in advance to make dinnertime even easier.
Follow the recipe instructions through #9. Once all the ingredients are in the baking dish, cover it with some plastic and refrigerate for up to twelve hours.
Bake as directed in the recipe card below. You may need to add 5 - 10 minutes extra baking time since the ingredients will be cold.
To freeze
Eggplant casserole can be frozen for up to 3 months.
Let it come to room temperature and then cover with plastic wrap, then cover with aluminum foil and freeze for up to 3 months.
Don't freeze in an aluminum pan or allow aluminum to come in contact with the casserole long term. There's a chemical reaction between the two that will make your eggplant taste metallic and your aluminum pan pitted and ruined.
Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating in the oven.
Marye's Tips
- Drain the cooked eggplant really well to prevent a runny casserole. After boiling, dab the pieces of eggplant with some paper towels to soak up additional moisture.
- Dice the eggplant as evenly as possible to ensure even cooking!
- Larger eggplant isn't better. The bigger it is the more of a tendency it has to be bitter.
- Use a mix of bell peppers if you can. Green peppers are more earthy and red are sweeter, so you'll enjoy a variety of flavors in the casserole.
- Use a 2-quart casserole dish.
👩🍳 FAQs
Have other questions? Ask me in the comments!
My favorite way (and the method I've found easiest) is to slice off the bottom and top of the eggplant. Then, you can set the eggplant on this flat edge and carefully run the knife down the sides to remove the peel.
Not really! If you're used to doing it that way and you have the time, then go ahead. However, today's eggplants actually taste less bitter than they did years ago and the cooking process takes away the rest of it.
You can salt your water before boiling the eggplant, though. Some cooks feel that eggplant soaks up the salt (like pasta!) and helps flavor it for the final dish!
Whole eggplant is fine at room temperature for 2 to 3 days. Once cut it will need to be refrigerated and will last for 3-5 days. Rub with a little lemon juice to keep from browning. Cooked eggplant can be refrigerated 3-5 days or frozen for up to 6 months.
📖 Variations
- Sautéing the Vegetables—Melted butter adds richness to the casserole, but you can use olive oil if you prefer.
- Veggie Blend—Some people like to add diced zucchini, sliced mushrooms, and/or minced garlic for a different flavor and texture.
- Onion Options—Use your favorite type of onion. White, sweet, Vidalia, or yellow onions are all great choices. I wouldn't use red onions or green onions (except for garnish.)
- Butter Crackers—If you don't have Ritz, you can substitute another similar brand, like Club crackers.
- Or, Bread Crumbs—You can also sprinkle bread crumbs on top before baking. If you have some to use up, they'll do the job. However, they don't taste as buttery as the crackers. In that case, you should drizzle a few tablespoons of extra melted butter over top, too.
- Cheesy choices—Cheddar cheese really complements the flavors of this casserole, but you can experiment with other types too. Add in a little Mozzarella, Pepper Jack, or Parmesan cheese if you'd like to experiment.
📚 Related recipes
🍽️ Serve with...
Grilled Chicken Breast with spicy bourbon peaches is sweet and smoky! It's perfect with the creamy texture and cheesy flavor of the eggplant.
Cheddar and Cracked Black Pepper Dinner Rolls compliment the cheese in the casserole. They are tender, fluffy, and just packed with flavor.
Old-fashioned Dutch apple crumble pie is always a delicious addition to the dinner table!
🍽️ Repurpose leftovers
- Stuffed peppers - Hollow out bell peppers and fill them with chopped eggplant casserole. Top with grated cheese. Bake until the peppers are tender.
- Stuffed mushrooms - Remove the stems from large mushrooms and stuff the caps with chopped eggplant casserole. Top with Parmesan cheese and bake until the mushrooms are tender.
- Chicken stuffing - Pound out chicken breasts thinly. Put a spoonful of stuffing in the upper third and roll the chicken breast around it, securing with a toothpick. Cover with undiluted cream of mushroom soup. Bake at 375F until the chicken is done, about 35 minutes.
📞 The last word
It's one of my favorite summer casseroles, very comforting. I like all year but good eggplants (or aubergines if you're fancy) are hard to find in the winter.
Try this baked squash casserole recipe next time. It's another favorite.
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Annette Marsh says
My new fave way to fix eggplant! I didn't have crackers so I used panko, which worked, but now can't wait to try with Ritz crackers! We are growing the long Japanese eggplants so that's what I used without peeling them. Looking forward to trying more of your recipes.
Marye says
So glad you liked it!