Salting eggplant is an important step in managing the smooth, creamy texture of this vegetable. Salt helps mitigate the bitterness for which eggplant is often known.

Why Salt Eggplant?

Salting your eggplant slices pulls excess moisture out of the vegetable. This liquid is what is know to carry the bitter flavor that is often associated with eggplant.

Salt also helps to shrink the size of the plant cells which are spongy in nature. This reduces the air pockets throughout the eggplant and keep it from absorbing too much oil, which often results in that greasy mouth-feel you can get when eating eggplant.

How To Salt Eggplant

First, peel the eggplant. (We like this peeler.) The skin can often be tougher in texture depending on the age of the eggplant.

After peeling cut into ¼ – ½ inch rounds. Then generously salt the eggplant and let rest in a colander or on a rack for an hour. (I use these cooling racks for so many more things than baking use.)

After letting the moisture drain, press or squeeze the slices a bit to remove any remaining liquid. Then pat them dry.

You can also rinse the eggplant before drying, but I’ve never been bothered by the amount of salt that remains on the surface.

Once you’ve salted your eggplant, you’re ready to make the crispy, cheesy, immensely snackable Air Fried Eggplant that is going to change your mind forever about this awesome vegetable.

Air Fryer Eggplant Parmesan is a fresh new way to make classic eggplant parm. Crispy, lightly breaded slices of eggplant don’t get too soft in this recipe process, and they form delicious layers between all that sauce and cheese.