This Miso Glazed Oven Roasted Eggplant is served with creamy coconut rice and crunchy chili garlic cashews. It’s vegan, gluten free, and a super flavorful dinner for any night of the week!
Think you don’t like eggplant? Try this recipe, then get back to me and let me know if you’ve changed your mind.
It’s eggplant like you’ve never had it before: crispy, caramelized, salty, flavorful deliciousness. It’s hard not to eat the eggplant slices on their own, but they’re especially good paired with coconut rice and chili cashews!
I’m a huge fan of eggplant, but I never ate it growing up, other than in the occasional baba ganoush. I actually didn’t like baba ganoush at all when I was younger. Now I’m obsessed! It might even beat out hummus for me, which is really sayin’ something.
Since going vegetarian, I’ve started to experiment more with eggplant. One of my all-time favorite dishes is baingan bharta, a smoky eggplant tomato Indian dish. It’s my go-to order when my husband and I get takeout from our local Indian restaurant!
A few other favorite uses for eggplant include Vegan Cobb Salad with Eggplant Bacon, Roasted Eggplant, Tomato & Caramelized Onion Pasta and Lentil Stuffed Eggplant Boats. Oh, and this Roasted Eggplant Carrot Tahini Dip!
How to make oven roasted eggplant
There are a few important steps to follow when it comes to making perfect oven roasted eggplant.
First…
How to salt eggplant
It’s important to apply salt to the eggplant before oven roasting. This helps remove some of the excess moisture, which allows the eggplant to crisp up and cook faster in the oven.
Additionally, salting the eggplant seasons it properly, so the interior tastes as delicious as the seasoned exterior.
To salt your eggplant, first slice it as noted in the recipe. Then, toss it in a colander, sprinkle generously with salt and let it sit for 30 minutes. You’ll notice pretty quickly that it will start to sweat and release moisture. That’s how you know it’s working!
After 30 minutes, use a clean towel to pat the eggplant dry. Use a bit of force – the whole point is to remove as much moisture as possible! It’s a bit messy, but produces much better tasting eggplant.
Next, transfer the eggplant slices to a sheet pan, brush with oil and get them started roasting in the oven for 20 minutes. They need a bit of a head start before you brush them with the glaze, otherwise the exterior will burn.
Make the miso glaze
Once the eggplant slices have roasted for 20 minutes, it’s time to get the glaze going!
Simply whisk together miso paste, maple syrup, tamari or soy sauce, sriracha, sesame oil, lime juice, garlic powder and a bit of powdered ginger. It’s a little spicy, a little sweet, and packed with delicious umami flavors.
Use a pastry or grill brush to each side of the oven roasted eggplant slices. Return them to the oven, broil for a few minutes and watch as they get crispy, caramelized and SO delicious!
NOTE: be sure to stay near your oven while the broiler is on! They can burn very quickly, so you’ll need to monitor this process.
Coconut Milk Rice
Let’s chat rice. Sure, you could just make regular old jasmine rice.
Or, you could make sweet, fragrant, rich, delicious (and easy!!) coconut milk rice! All you have to do is swap water with full-fat coconut milk. Yep, that’s it!
Otherwise, cook the rice according to package directions. It’s so delicious, guys. Don’t skip this step!
Chili Garlic Cashews
The final step: spicy, crunchy chili garlic cashews! This simply involves toasting some cashews in a pan with chili flakes, garlic powder, salt and pepper.
It only takes a few minutes and they’re so good! The perfect textural complement to the rice and eggplant. Keep on eye on the cashews and stir often – they burn very easily.
Garnish with thinly sliced scallions and enjoy!
Flavorful weeknight dinner favorites
- Vegan Rice Noodles with Crispy Tofu and Mushrooms
- Teriyaki Mushroom Bowls
- Vegan Cauliflower Fried Rice
- Grilled Tofu Kebabs with Peanut Sauce
- Red Curry Almond Butter Zoodles
- Vegan Sushi Bowls with Miso Tahini Dressing
If you make this miso glazed oven roasted eggplant recipe, we’d love for you to leave a comment and rating below! We also love to see your creations on Instagram – tag us at @crowded_kitchen so we can see what you’ve been cooking.
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Miso Glazed Oven Roasted Eggplant
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: Serves 4 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Oven
Description
This Miso Glazed Oven Roasted Eggplant is served with creamy coconut rice and crunchy chili garlic cashews. It’s vegan, gluten free, and a super flavorful dinner for any night of the week!
Ingredients
- 1 large eggplant, sliced into half moons
- 1 tbsp sesame oil, divided
- 3 scallions, thinly sliced
- Lime wedges for serving
Cashews:
- 1 cup raw cashews
- ½ tsp red pepper flakes
- ¼ tsp garlic powder
- ¼ tsp salt
Rice:
- 1 cup dry jasmine rice
- 1 14-oz can lite coconut milk
- 1 ½ tsp coconut sugar
- 1 tsp salt
Glaze:
- 1 ½ tbsp white miso paste
- 2 tsp maple syrup
- 1 tsp tamari or soy sauce
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp sriracha
- ½ of a lime, juiced
- ¼ tsp garlic powder
- ¼ tsp ginger powder
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450°F. Add the sliced eggplant to a colander and sprinkle generously with salt. Let the eggplant sit for up to 30 minutes, then use a clean dish towel to dab the eggplant dry.
- Meanwhile, make the chili garlic cashews. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat with ½ tbsp sesame oil. Add the cashews, red pepper flakes, garlic powder and salt and toast, stirring frequently, until the nuts are browned on most sides. If they’re browning too quickly, turn the heat down to medium. Transfer the nuts to a bowl.
- After the eggplant has released a lot of moisture, transfer it to one or two baking sheets (make sure it has enough room to crisp up) and brush with sesame oil. Roast for 20 minutes, flipping halfway through and brushing the other side with oil.
- Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, bring the rice, coconut milk, salt and coconut sugar to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, and cook, covered, for 18-20 minutes, until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is tender.
- Combine the soy sauce, sesame oil, maple syrup, garlic, miso, ginger, sriracha and the juice from half of a lime in a small bowl. Whisk well. After the eggplants have roasted for 20 minutes, remove them from the oven and spread each piece with the miso glaze on both sides.
- Turn the oven to broil and return the eggplant to the oven for 5 minutes. Watch the eggplants carefully, as all broilers differ and burning can happen quickly.
- To serve, divide the coconut rice between plates, top with eggplant slices, sprinkle with cashews, scallions and serve with lime wedges on the side.
Keywords: oven roasted eggplant
This was an absolute 10! I made double the miso glaze and made some miso glazed cod to go with it, but it certainly didn’t need it. This is going to become a staple at our house!
★★★★★
So glad to hear that, Char!! Thanks so much for your comment!