This cheesy Vegan Eggplant Casserole is a satisfying one pot meal that’s loaded with vegetables and covered with delicious cashew sauce. Its easy and perfect for all year round. Serve it as the main dish or as a side, its beautiful to present to your guests as well.
Course Main Course
Cuisine American
Keyword baked eggplant casserole, how to make vegan eggplant casserole, vegan eggplant casserole recipe, vegetarian eggplant casserole
Preheat oven at 400-degree Fahrenheit and grease a large rectangular /square baking dish.
Place the sliced eggplants preferably in a single layer (avoid stacking). Sprinkle ¾ tsp salt evenly followed by black pepper, oregano and parsley. Place it in the middle rack of the oven and bake it for only 10 minutes.
In the meanwhile, combine all the cashew sauce ingredients in a blender and blend it smooth. Keep it aside.
Take out the baked eggplant and keep the oven on. Evenly spread onions, carrots and red bell pepper on the baked eggplants.
Cover the top evenly with cashew sauce by spreading it evenly with a spatula. Place it again in the middle rack of the oven and bake it for 20 minutes or until the sides starts to brown.
Turn it off and take it out. Immediately, garnish with cilantro and let it cool down a bit (2-3 minutes at room temperature) so it’s easier to handle. This helps in firming up the sauce a bit as well. divide it into 6 servings and scoop it from the bottom to serve.
Notes
I have provided the stepwise images in the post above for your convenience and reference.
While choosing the eggplant try to buy a firm and spotless eggplant. Do not buy a very large one though. A medium sized eggplant works best here.
Do not peel eggplants for this recipe. Its skin provides a lot of flavor and firmness for the right texture.
Slice the eggplants round with ¼ inch thickness.
I used a rectangular stoneware baking dish for this recipe but you may use any with sides. Cuisinart glass baking dishes also works well for this recipe but use the large rectangular one.
Preferably oat milk tastes best here but you can use unsweetened original almond milk as well.