Love fried eggplants? You have to try this Keto Eggplant Milanese! It's so easy to make with just a few simple ingredients. This fried dish is delightful and completely gluten free. You just need a few simple ingredients for a delicious and crispy side!
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To prepare this easy dish, we start with baking the eggplant slices on a parchment covered baking sheet with a little olive oil and salt and pepper. After roasting, we create a dredging station for our eggplants. We use seasoned whey protein in place of flour, eggs, and pork rind crumbs in place of seasoned breadcrumbs.
After frying in oil until golden brown, this dish so perfect! You won't believe how good these are. Feel free to skip to the recipe card if you’re ready to get right into it. We do cover common questions, tips, and tricks in the body of this post to keep reading if you’re wondering something!
How To Make The Best Keto Eggplant Milanese:
Start By Roasting the Eggplant:
We start with this step to help the eggplant to soften, and a release a bit of moisture. It also takes away that bitter flavor that raw eggplant has. We don't recommend skipping this step, but check out some of our tips below if you choose to do so.
Preheat oven to 400°F. Cut eggplant into rounds about an inch thick. Line a baking sheet with parchment. Place the eggplant rounds on the baking sheet in a single layer. Drizzle eggplant with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper on both sides. Bake for 15 minutes to soften.
Prepare Your Dredging Station:
Create dredging station. In a shallow bowl or plate, add whey protein isolate, some of the salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, and garlic powder and mix.
Take a separate large bowl, combine pork rind crumbs, parmesan cheese shreds, some of the garlic powder, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper.
In a third bowl whisk two eggs with 1 tablespoon of water, and remaining salt and pepper.
Dredge:
Heat a cast iron skillet (10"or larger) with avocado oil about 2 inches deep. You want the oil to be around 375°F.
Dredge the eggplant slices in the whey protein mixture, followed by the egg wash, and then finally the pork rind and parmesan cheese combo.
Fry:
After dredging, add directly to the hot oil. Fry until golden brown on both sides, about 2-3 minutes per side.
Set fried pieces on a paper towel lined baking sheet to soak up excess grease. Fry in batches as to not overcrowd the pan, and allow the oil to come back to full temperature between batches.
Serve with ricotta cheese, arugula, basil, lemon wedges, tomatoes, parmesan cheese, salt and pepper and even a drizzle of balsamic vinegar. Enjoy!
Can I Make This Dish In An Air Fryer?
We don't personally own an air fryer ourselves, but we imagine these would come together nicely in that appliance as well if you don't feel like frying.
Is There A Good Substitute For Pork Rind Panko?
If you don't eat pork, feel free to substitute pork rind crumbs for almond meal or flour. We haven't tried it personally but we imagine that it works quite well. Be warned that almond flour will burn a little quicker, so keep a close on them.
You can also double dredge the eggplant rounds into the whey protein mixture instead of pork rinds. We have tried this method and it does work, but the slices weren't quite as crispy.
What Is A Good Substitute For Whey Protein Isolate?
We unfortunately do not have a good substitute for the whey protein isolate at this time. Our best guess would probably be coconut flour, but again, we aren't sure. If you want to do some experimenting, feel free to let us know in the comments so we can update the instructions!
A Few More Tips For The Best Keto Eggplant Milanese:
- We do recommend roasting the eggplant before frying for best results. It's also the quickest solution! If you want, you could also salt the eggplant a couple of hours before you begin, let it sit out in a colander, and rinse and dry the wedges to get rid of excess water.
- If you need a bit of time between dredging the eggplant slices and frying them, freeze them on a parchment lined baking sheet for about 30 minutes.
- Avocado oil used for frying was not included in the nutrition facts, and this is because we don't know how much oil your eggplant will absorb while frying.
- We also didn't include the side salad or ricotta in the nutrition facts. The nutritional information in the recipe card is for the breaded eggplant Milanese only.
More Recipes To Try:
- Keto and Gluten Free Fried Pickles (made with whey protein isolate "breading")
- Cast Iron Cheesy Baked Meatballs
- Burrata and Prosciutto Salad with Arugula
- Keto Lasagna Soup
- Steak Caprese
- Garlic Butter Steak Bites with Lemon Zucchini Noodles
- Steak Salad Recipe
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Until Next Time,
Briana & Chamere
📖 Recipe
Eggplant Milanese (Keto and Gluten Free)
Ingredients
- 1 large eggplant cut into rounds
- 1.5 tablespoons olive oil
- 1.5 teaspoons kosher salt, divided
- ½ teaspoon black pepper, divided
- 60 grams unflavored whey protein isolate (about half a cup or 2 scoops)
- 80 grams pork rind panko (roughly 1.5 cups)
- ½ cup shredded parmesan cheese (about 40 grams)
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning, divided
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder, divided
- 2 whole eggs
- 1 tablespoon water
- Avocado oil for frying
- Serve with ricotta cheese, lemon juice, and a fresh arugula side salad if desired!
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place the eggplant rounds on the baking sheet in a single layer. Drizzle eggplant with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper on both sides. Bake for 15 minutes to soften. Set aside.
- In a shallow bowl or plate, add whey protein isolate, some of the salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, and garlic powder and mix. In a separate bowl, combine pork rind crumbs, parmesan cheese shreds, some of the garlic powder, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper. In a third bowl whisk two eggs with water, and remaining salt and pepper.
- Heat a cast iron skillet (10” or larger) with oil about 2 inches deep to 375°F.
- Dredge the eggplant slices in the whey protein mixture, followed by the egg wash, and then finally the pork rind and parmesan cheese combo. Add directly to the hot oil. Fry until golden brown on both sides, about 2-3 minutes per side, then set on a paper towel lined baking sheet to soak up excess grease. Sprinkle with more salt if desired. Fry the eggplant in batches as to not overcrowd the pan, and allow the oil to come back to full temperature between batches.
- Serve with a fresh arugula side salad, ricotta cheese, lemon wedges, parmesan, and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar. Enjoy!
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Notes
- All garnishes pictured are not included in the macros. They are simply suggestions. We love to serve it with a fresh arugula side salad, fresh herbs and ricotta cheese.
- We didn't include the oil for frying in the nutrition facts, which is honestly quite a lot of added calories. It will depend largely on the size of your skillet and how much oil you need to add to it to have 2 inches of oil in the skillet, how much the eggplant absorbs, etc.
- To make a quick arugula side salad, mix together arugula, lemon juice and zest, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper, olive oil, cherry tomatoes and parmesan cheese. Toss to combine. We didn't measure anything this time, but it's essentially the same base as this burrata prosciutto arugula salad. That salad would be great to serve with this as well.
- We do recommend roasting the eggplant before frying for best results. It's also the quickest solution! If you want, you could also salt the eggplant a couple of hours before you begin, let it sit out in a colander, and rinse and dry the wedges to get rid of excess water.
- We don't personally own one ourselves, we imagine these would come together nicely in an air fryer as well if you don't feel like frying.
- If you need a bit of time between dredging the eggplant slices and frying them, freeze them on a parchment lined baking sheet for about 30 minutes.
- If you don't eat pork, feel free to substitute pork rind crumbs for almond meal or flour. We haven't tried it personally but we imagine that it works quite well. Be warned that almond flour will burn a little quicker, so keep a close on them.
- You can also double dredge the eggplant rounds into the whey protein mixture instead of pork rind crumbs. We have tried this method and it does work, but the slices weren't quite as crispy.
- We unfortunately do not have a good substitute for the whey protein isolate at this time. Our best guess would probably be coconut flour, but again, we aren't sure. If you want to do some experimenting, feel free to let us know in the comments so we can update the instructions!
Lea says
Super delish! I could probably eat this everyday!
Briana says
So wonderful to hear Lea!! Thank you so much for trying it, and for sharing the love. We're so glad you enjoy it so much. 🙂