Vegetables are a great source of nutrients, and it is highly recommended to include them in your daily diet.
No one vegetable can give you all the necessary nutrients; you have to have them all, or at least the ones that go with your taste and provide essential nutrients.
When it comes to vegetables, portion size is also ignored cause the more you eat them the more it is good for you. The condition for this is that the vegetable is prepared healthily.
When it comes to a healthy way of cooking, air fryers are the ultimate appliance that is chosen for most people.
Air fryers are considered to be a replacement for deep fryers, but in fact, this appliance is a mini version of almost every kitchen appliance to might have been using.
Eggplants made in an air fryer are super healthy, easy, simple, crunchy, tender, and delicious. One that you might love to have all day, every day.
Today, let us learn everything about this combination of food and appliance.
Can you put Eggplant in the air fryer?
Can you put eggplants in the air fryer? This one question is often asked by people when they are beginning their air fryer journey. Let me tell you, my friend, when it comes to the air fryer, there are countless possibilities for food preparation.
Cooking eggplants in the air fryer is a possibility and a very fortunate one. If you like having crispy yet tender eggplants, then air-fried ones will be your go-to dish for sure.
The recipe hardly takes 20 minutes at 370 degrees Fahrenheit and preheating if that’s okay for you.
I always tell people that when it comes to air fryers, the temperature and timings for any dish depend upon your brand and model.
So be sure to know how your appliance works with the food to decide the temperature and all, but it will not variate much from what I have stated above.
Check out this amazing eggplant air fryer recipe to make bring health and deliciousness side by side!
Does Eggplant need to be soaked before frying?
For steaming and some other recipes, eggplants are soaked before cooking, but this is not necessary with the air fryer.
You can cut the eggplants into your desired shape, in thin slices; if you want them to be super crispy, place them in it the air fryer with other ingredients marinated in it.
If soaking an eggplant is something very important to you, then you can surely go ahead with it. Make sure that it is completely dried before you put them into the air fryer to avoid water dripping to the bottom.
Too much water or dripping water can be a cause of fire hazards in an air fryer. An air fryer is an amazing appliance, but it comes with baggage, and you have to be careful dealing with it. Handle with care is all that I can say!
If you think that soaking your eggplants makes them soggy or not soaking them gives them a soggy touch, then know that you are misunderstood.
Eggplants are soggy due to their structure. The tiny air pockets in the middle of it make the vegetable soft and tender as it absorbs the oil quicker than you think.
Best way to prepare an Eggplant
Eggplants are nutrition-rich, delicious, and versatile vegetables that can be made in many ways.
Eggplants can be a bar to be queued, grilled, braised, baked, deep-fried, stir-fried, steamed, roasted, and of course air-fried.
No one way can be chosen as the best one because everyone thinks differently and everyone has their own choice. You can tell them the possibilities, but you cannot tell them the best possibility.
And if be fair, all the methods of cooking eggplants have something different to serve, so it only depends on how you want your eggplants that day to choose the best way to prepare eggplant.
Let’s figure out the calories in eggplants made in different ways through the table below.
| Ways to Cook Eggplant | Calories |
| Air-Fried | 54 calories |
| Grill | 45 calories |
| Bar Bee Que | 45 calories |
| Deep-Fried | 101 calories |
Are Eggplants better with skin or without skin?
Vegetables are often liked and preferred with their skin-on as this seems to be the only healthy way of eating them but in some cases, it is almost impossible to eat your green with the peel.
Eggplants that are young and small are okay to be indulged with the skin, but the ones that are all grown and old give a bitter flavor when made with the skin-on.
Whenever you are questioning about ‘with or without skin’ always choose without skin to avoid unnecessary bad experiences because no one wants to crave something, give the effort to make the recipe right, and end up making it bitter.
So, it is better to be safe than sorry!
Summary
Those who like eggplants must be thrilled to know that they can make their favorite vegetable in an air fryer too and with a lot of variety.
In this article, we have discussed:
- Eggplants can be cooked in an air fryer. There are many recipes that you can try to make in this appliance.
- It takes about 20 minutes to cook eggplant in an air fryer at 370 degrees Fahrenheit. Preheating air fryers are preferred for a crunchy experience.
- There are many ways in which you can cook an eggplant. You can grill, bar bee queue, roast, bake, and air fry them.
- And the best way for cooking an eggplant depends on the taste you want from this dish at that moment.
- Small eggplants that are young can be cooked with their skin on, but the larger and older ones are bitter when cooked with the skin.
- Soaking an eggplant is up to your choice, but not soaking them is not an issue. If you still wish to soak them, then try to dry them completely before putting them in the air fryer.