One of the easiest dinners around – 6 ingredient roasted eggplant pasta! Enjoy your favorite pasta noodles served with roasted eggplant & onions in a rich tomato sauce with fresh herbs. Simple cooking with delicious results!
I absolutely love eggplant paired with pasta – especially when it’s roasted. Actually I love all vegetables with pasta but eggplant is special. It has a meaty texture and savory flavor that works perfectly with a rich tomato sauce.
Take heart, because this recipe is one that is beyond simple and includes only several ingredients to complete. I love serving this eggplant sauce over a gluten free lentil & chickpea pasta or zucchini noodles to keep it healthy.
Ingredients Needed
For this simple recipe you’ll need just 6 main ingredients (not including salt). Here’s everything you’ll need:
- Eggplant: Use a small or half of a large eggplant.
- Yellow onion: for sweetness or use a red onion.
- Oil: I recommend using avocado oil when roasting vegetables but olive oil works too.
- Garlic powder: Even though I love fresh garlic, using garlic powder is a lot faster and easier especially when roasting.
- marinara: using a quality tomato sauce is key for the most flavorful dish! See tips below for my favorite marinara recipes.
- Pasta: use any pasta noodle you like! See notes for my top picks.
How to Make Roasted Eggplant Pasta
- First, lay chopped eggplant and onion on a sheet pan and toss with with oil, salt, and garlic powder. Roasted 400F for 20-25 minutes – flip halfway through.
- While eggplant is roasting, bring pot of well salted water to a boil for pasta. Cook noodles until “al dente” in texture.
- Then heat up sauce in a pan and fold in roasted eggplant and onions.
- Serve sauce with pasta noodles and fresh basil.
How to Store & Freeze Leftover Pasta
Storing leftovers: to keep leftovers fresh – store sauce and pasta seperately in airtight containers for 3-5 days. Reheat sauce in a pot then add pasta to serve again.
Freezing tips for sauce: let leftover eggplant sauce cool and store in an airtight container – freeze for 2-3 months.
Extra Helpful Recipe Tips
- Tomato sauce: Use a homemade tomato sauce like my San Marzano Tomato Sauce or spicy Italian Arrabbiata Sauce. You can also use your favorite store-bought pasta sauce – I recommend Rao’s Marinara.
- Pasta noodles: use your choice of pasta noodles. You can also swap for healthier noodles like Banza chickpea or lentil pasta for a gluten-free & protein packed option.
- Vegetable noodles: To make this recipe even more healthy, serve with your favorite vegetable noodle such as zucchini, carrot, or sweet potato noodles. Make by using a vegetable peeler or spiralizer.
- Eggplant preparation: I did not peel the eggplant before roasting because I love the texture it brings to this dish. If preferred you can peel the eggplant before cutting into cubes and roasting.
Since this recipe is so simple you can add extra herbs, red pepper flakes if you enjoy spice, and even roast additional vegetables with the eggplant like zucchini or broccoli.
Enjoy this recipe as a simple vegan/vegetarian friendly meal and make sure to serve with warm french bread! Perfection.
What to Serve it With
This pasta pairs wonderfully with additional roasted vegetables on the side, a simple homemade bread like our no-knead cranberry walnut bread, or a beautiful Italian salad or artichoke salad!
More Vegetarian Italian Recipes
- Cheesy Rotini Pasta with Roasted Vegetables
- 30-Minute Easy Baked Ziti
- Baked Eggplant Rollatini
- 15-Minute Roasted Red Pepper Pasta
- Three Cheese Baked Rigatoni with Roasted Vegetables
Roasted Eggplant Pasta
Ingredients
- 1 large eggplant, cut into cubes
- 1 small yellow onion, chopped (or half of a large onion)
- 1-2 Tablespoons oil
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2-3 cups tomato sauce
- 1 16 oz. box of pasta noodles (see notes)
- salt & black peppers
- fresh basil *optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F.
- Roast eggplant and onions: arrange sliced onions and diced eggplant on a sheet pan and toss with oil, garlic powder, and a generous pinch of salt & pepper. Roast for 20-25 minutes – flip halfway through roasting time.
- Cook pasta: bring a pot of well-salted water to a boil. Cook pasta as box instructs. I like to cook the noodles until they are al dente in texture! Tip: al dente means "to the tooth" – the pasta should have a bite to it and not be too soft.
- Heat sauce: In a sauce pan, simmer the marinara on low to heat up. Fold in roasted eggplant and onions to sauce when they're finished cooking.
- Serve: Serve pasta noodles with eggplant and marinara sauce, chopped fresh basil, and parmesan cheese!
Notes
- Tomato sauce: Use a homemade tomato sauce like my San Marzano Tomato Sauce or spicy Italian Arrabbiata Sauce. You can also use your favorite store-bought pasta sauce – I recommend Rao’s Marinara.
- Pasta noodles: use your choice of pasta noodles. You can also swap for healthier noodles like Banza chickpea or lentil pasta for a gluten-free & protein packed option.
- Vegetable noodles: To make this recipe even more healthy, serve with your favorite vegetable noodle such as zucchini, carrot, or sweet potato noodles. Make by using a vegetable peeler or spiralizer.
- Eggplant preparation: I did not peel the eggplant before roasting. If preferred you can peel the eggplant before cutting into cubes and roasting.
I made this for dinner for my sister and myself. I’m not usually the cook (I’m a baker). This dish was so easy to make and the end result was fabulous. My sis gave it 5 stars!!! This recipe will definitely be one of my favorites. Also, I’m a vegetarian and this fit the bill! Thank you for sharing this.
So happy to hear it worked out for you and your sister! 🙂 Thank you so much for sharing, Leslie!
Very easy and delicious. I used tortiglioni pasta, arrabiatta sauce, and one clove of freshed minced garlic.
So happy to hear you enjoyed it, Marcia! Love the addition of the arrabbiata sauce 🙂 I bet that was delicious!
Delicious and I left the skin on when I roasted. And I used 2 cloves of fresh garlic. Huge success and great recipe
Love this simple recipe. Used eggplant from my garden. I used double the amount since we love it. Plus I used extra garlic and my homemade sauce. Tossed everything with linguine. Will definitely make this again. My whole family enjoyed it.
So..so..good……Thank you for the recipe. I have made stuffed eggplant before but have never used it with pasta…..What a treat! Will be added to my favorite recipes……..Can I freeze this?
Thank you so much, Doris!! I love eggplant rollatini & parmesan as well, but this recipe is great if you’re short on time and ingredients. Glad to hear you enjoyed it so much 🙂
Have used this so many times!
I’m so glad to hear that! Thanks, Cherie!
Excellent recipe! Wonderful way to use eggplant, zucchini and hot peppers straight out of the gardenN