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Go all out on tonight’s dinner with this Eggplant Rollatini recipe. It’s made with a heaping portion of veggies, tons of spices, and three different cheeses. Eat up!
The most delicious baked eggplant rollatini meal
Are you ready to do a deep dive into some serious flavor? Today, we’re cooking up a delicious eggplant rollatini recipe that hits all of the flavor marks and tastes like a dream. It’s complete with a perfect cheese to sauce ratio and is made using loads of spices for taste!
If you’re unfamiliar, rollatini is a dish consisting of what are essentially stuffed slices of eggplant. They’re filled with veggies like onion, pepper, and mushrooms, a meat (we’re using turkey), and a blend of cheeses! Many recipes call for breading the eggplant, but we’re skipping that step in favor of a healthier result.
So if you’re ready to fill your belly with a wildly satisfying Italian-inspired meal, let’s dive in!
Ingredients in this eggplant rollatini recipe
We’re loading up this dish with three cheeses, various veggies, and loads of seasonings.
- Eggplants: Start with 2 large eggplants. You’ll need to slice them.
- Avocado oil: 2 tbsp of avocado oil will be needed for cooking the veggies.
- Vegetables: And as for the veggies themselves, dice up 1 small yellow onion, 1 red bell pepper, and 1 cup of mushrooms.
- Turkey: For the meat, include 1 lb of ground turkey.
- Ricotta: Time to start on the cheese! Begin with 1.5 cups of part skim ricotta.
- Parmesan: Follow that with 1/2 cup of grated parmesan.
- Seasonings: Next, we’ll be adding the most important ingredients — the spices! Include 3 cloves of minced garlic, 1/4 cup of fresh chopped basil, 1 tsp of salt, and 1/2 tsp of ground pepper.
- Marinara sauce: We’ll be using 2.5 cups (divided) of marina sauce for this dish.
- Mozzarella: Finally, finish off the recipe with 1 cup of delicious shredded mozzarella cheese.
Tools needed to create this recipe
When it comes to making this dish, you’ll need a good amount of kitchen tools. I like to gather everything before I start cooking to make the process that much smoother. Here’s what you’ll need, in order:
- Cutting board
- Chopping knife
- Mandolin slicer (optional)
- Paper towels
- Baking sheet
- Parchment paper
- Skillet or pan
- Spatula or stirring utensil
- Strainer
- Large mixing bowl
- 9×13 inch casserole dish
- Aluminum foil
As for measuring, you will need 1/2 tsp, 1 tsp, 1 tbsp, 1/4 cup, 1/2 cup, and 1 cup.
How to make baked eggplant rollatini
You’ll need about an hour and a half to prep this recipe and let it cook and cool. Save it for a relaxed weekend meal or prep it ahead for an easy pop-in-the-oven weeknight dinner! The end result is so worth it.
Eggplants
To begin, preheat the oven to 400ºF and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Slice the eggplants into 1/4 inch thick slices. Generously salt both sides of the slices, and then let them sweat for 10 minutes. Liquid will release, which will prevent excess moisture later on. After 10 minutes, dry the slices with a paper towel.
Bake the eggplant for 10 minutes to soften, as this makes it easier for them to roll. Let them cool completely.
Veggies & cheeses
Meanwhile, chop the veggies and heat the avocado oil in a pan. Once it’s hot, add the veggies.
Let them cook for 4 minutes and then add the ground turkey. Sprinkle in a pinch of salt and pepper, and cook until the turkey is no longer pink.
Drain the excess liquid from the meat and veggies, and set it aside to cool.
In a mixing bowl, stir together the ricotta, parmesan, garlic, basil, salt, and pepper.
Add the meat and veggies to the ricotta mixture and stir.
Assembly
Add 1 cup of marinara sauce to the bottom of the 9×13 inch casserole dish.
With the eggplant slices, add 1/4 cup of meat to the wide part of the slice, adjusting the amount based on the eggplant size. Roll tightly.
Place the eggplants seam side down in the dish and repeat with all of the slices.
Top the eggplant rollups with the remaining marinara sauce and the mozzarella cheese.
Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Take off the foil and bake for 10 more minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes before eating, and enjoy!
Recipe Tips
Can I use a different sized casserole dish?
You sure can! I find that a 9×13 inch size does a good job of holding all of the eggplant rolls, but any size will work as long as the eggplants are in a single layer. If you’d like to half the recipe, it may be easier to use an 8×8 or smaller dish.
How should this be stored?
Store leftover eggplant rollatini in a tightly sealed container. Keep it in the refrigerator and enjoy within 2 to 3 days.
To freeze for the future, simply prep as directed, but cover and freeze prior to baking. Remove from the freezer and thaw prior to cooking.
Substitution Tip
Need to switch things up? Here are some easy recipe swaps that you can make! I threw in a few add-on options as well.
Yellow onion
Simply enough, you can replace the yellow onion with red or white.
Red bell pepper
Rollatini isn’t a picky dish — feel free to swap the red bell pepper for green, yellow, or orange!
Ground turkey
If you’re not feeling ground turkey, feel free to substitute it with ground beef or chicken.
Marinara sauce
Many recipes use tomato sauce rather than marinara. That substitute should work just as well!
Add-on options
Add to your veggie mixure by including chopped zucchini, tomatoes, or even celery! I recommend salting the zucchini like the eggplants if you plant to use them. You don’t want a watery rollatini!
Extra spices
Finally, you can add extra flavor with any combination of parsley, red pepper flakes, or paprika.
If you liked this recipe, you’ll want to try these!
I love including turkey in my recipes because it’s a lean option that really amps up meals and leaves you feeling full and satisfied. Here are some more entrées that utilize it!
- Buffalo Turkey Stuffed Zucchini Boats
- Easy Pineapple Turkey Burgers
- Easy Turkey Meatballs (Gluten-Free)
- Butternut Squash Chili with Turkey
Recipe by Erin Morrissey and Photos by The Mindful Hapa
Eggplant Rollatini Recipe
Go all out on tonight’s dinner with this Eggplant Rollatini recipe. It’s made with a heaping portion of veggies, tons of spices, and three different cheeses. Eat up!
Ingredients
- 2 large eggplants
- 2 tbsp avocado oil
- 1 small yellow onion, diced
- 1 red pepper, diced
- 1 cup mushrooms, diced
- 1 lb ground turkey
- 1.5 cups part skim ricotta
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 2.5 cups marinara sauce, divided
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Slice eggplant about 1/4 inch thick into long slices. Generously salt both sides and let the eggplant sweat for 10 minutes. Liquid will release from the eggplant to prevent excess moisture. After 10 minutes, dry off with paper towel.
- Bake eggplant for 10 minutes to soften (makes it easier to roll). Let cool completely.
- Meanwhile, chop all veggies and heat avocado oil in pan. Once hot, add veggies.
- Let veggies cook for 4 minutes and then add ground turkey. Sprinkle in a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook until no longer pink.
- Drain excess liquid from meat and veggies. Set aside to cool.
- In a bowl, stir together ricotta, parmesan, garlic, basil, salt and pepper.
- Add meat and veggies to the ricotta mixture. Stir.
- Add 1 cup of marinara sauce to bottom of 9×13 casserole dish.
- For the eggplant, 1/4 cup meat to the wide part of the eggplant (adjust based on eggplant size) and roll tightly.
- Place seem side down in casserole dish. Complete until all eggplant has been used.
- Top eggplant rollups with remaining marinara sauce, and then top with mozzarella cheese.
- Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Take off foil and bake for 10 more minutes. Let cool 10 minutes before eating.
- Enjoy!
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Georgia says
Got to get better at my eggplant rolling but absolutely delicious. Thank you, Erin for another home run dinner.
★★★★★
Erin says
Hi Georgia, so happy you liked it and practice makes perfect here for sure!!
Lex says
Cheesy and delicious
★★★★★
Erin says
Hi Lex, so happy you enjoyed it!!
Georgeann says
Worth the prep! This was simply delicious. My kids loved it and I loved all of the extra veggies in the mix! Win win!
★★★★★
Erin says
Hi Georgeann, I am so glad everyone loved it! 🙂
Erika says
This was pretty easy to make, even though it required a couple of prep steps to soften the eggplant. I think a good additional instruction would be adding in that you want a long eggplant, not a short and squat one. The short ones make the rolls hard to form, and they come out kinda like a cylinder rather than a roll. I had too much filling leftover and some odd eggplant pieces, but I whipped up a quick lasagna to avoid wasting perfectly good food! I’d make this again.
★★★★
Erin says
Hi Erika, so happy you loved it and good ideas! 🙂
Katie S. says
so fricking amazing. This tastes so good and yet it’s not even that hard to make. I didn’t have too much ricotta so I used some cottage cheese (a stretch but I love cottage cheese) and it was fantastic. Thanks for this lovely recipe Erin :))
★★★★★
Erin says
Hi Katie, I am so happy you enjoyed it and made it your own!!
Carolyn says
Really enjoyed making these. They were so good and I loved the healthy twist. The leftovers also heated up really well!
★★★★★
Erin says
Hi Carolyn, so glad you enjoyed them!!
Colleen says
Made this on Monday and have been enjoying it all week! Such a good recipe and a great way to get my veggies in!
★★★★★
Erin says
Hi Colleen, so happy you loved it so much!!
Emily says
I made this for meal prep this week. The eggplants I bought were a little small for rolling with filling, so I decided to just layer like a lasagna instead. I was nervous because I’ve never made a dish with eggplant, but it turned out much better than I imagined. So good, Erin! Thank you for sharing this recipe : )
★★★★★
Erin says
Hi Emily, I am so happy you loved it and made it your own!! Congrats on using eggplant for the first time!
Lauren says
This is one of my family’s new favorite recipes!! It was absolutely delish. I had to hide the leftovers from my husband 🙂
Erin says
Hi Lauren, so glad you both loved it!! 🙂
Alexis says
This recipe was fantastic! So easy to make and stored really well!! I got 4 work lunches out of it!
★★★★★
Erin says
Hi Alexis, so glad you loved it!!
Casey Colodny says
a easier, lighter version of eggplant parm all paired with the yumminess of lasagna, I will 100% be making again!! going to try and do a mushroom “meat sauce” to serve with as well!
★★★★★
Erin says
Hi Casey, so glad you enjoyed them so much and great idea!!
Michele says
Another winner, Erin! My husband and I are in home stretch of Whole30 so we used Kite Hill Ricotta and left out the mozz. So flavorful, so delicious!!!!
Thank you!!!
★★★★★
Erin says
Hi Michele, I am so glad you both loved it!! 🙂
Katie says
His Erin,
We made this and loved it! We have some left over. How would you recommend heating up the leftovers?
Thanks!
Erin says
Hi Katie, so happy you loved them and you can reheat in the oven or microwave!
Nicole says
Oh my, sooo delicious and easily customizable! I’m vegetarian, so skipped the meat and added spinach to the filling and it was so good! My mom said it tasted restaurant quality. Will definitely be making again!
★★★★★
Erin says
Hi Nicole, so glad you loved them so much!!
Courtney says
Made this today for dinner- so outstanding!! So satisfying, and subbed in Trader Joe’s autumnal pasta sauce for some fall vibes. Your recipes never fail to be delicious.
★★★★★
Erin says
Hi Courtney, so glad you loved them!!
Rebecca Fallon says
Every recipe I’ve tried of yours turns out amazing and this one is so so incredible!!! The store didn’t have regular marinara so I used a spicy Arrabbiata marinara and it actually adds a nice kick. Do you think I can freeze it once it’s already made?
★★★★★
Erin says
Hi Rebecca, so happy you loved it so much and great idea! Yes you can!
Katie J says
The self proclaimed eggplant hating husband LOVED these…like went back for thirds loved. Incredibly delicious!
Erin says
Hi Katie, so glad you both loved them!!
Rachel says
This was AMAZING. I made this for dinner tonight and it has been the best dinner I’ve made in a long time. Even my husband who swears he doesn’t like eggplant, agreed that this was delicious! Will deff be making again.
★★★★★
Erin says
Hi Rachel, so happy you both liked it! 🙂
Erin Spreen says
Hi Erin –
If this tastes as good as it looks and sounds I am about to have a fabulous dinner!! I ended up with quite a bit of extra filling…perhaps because my eggplant slices were not large enough to fill with TOO much. How would you suggest storing this? Do you think I could freeze then defrost and make more at a later time?
Thanks!
★★★★★
Erin says
Hi Erin, it does!! You can freeze it for sure, and I would recommend an air tight tupperware container. Let me know how it goes!
Cindy says
I can’t wait to make this!!
Erin says
Hi Cindy, it is a good one! Let me know how yours comes out!