Cajun eggplant casserole
Soft eggplant baked with the Cajun trinity, sharp cheddar and a buttery cracker crust, the Louisiana church-supper classic without the shrimp.
- 70 min total
- 30 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 4
- About $2.51 a serving
- 490 calories
- Good the next day
- Vegetarian
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 2 eggplant, medium
- 3 tbsp butter, divided
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 1 green bell pepper, diced
- 2 stalks celery, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1½ tsp Cajun seasoning
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup milk
- 1½ cups shredded cheddar, divided
- 1 cup butter crackers, crushed, divided
- 1 tsp hot sauce (optional)
From your pantry
- 1¼ tsp salt, divided
Each serving has about 490 calories, 19 g protein, 36 g carbs and 32 g fat, and costs about $2.51 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No butter? Ghee works.
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
- No green bell peppers? Red bell peppers or yellow bell peppers work.
- No milk? Half-and-half works.
- No shredded cheddar? Cheddar cheese or Mexican blend cheese or Monterey Jack cheese works.
- No hot sauce? Sriracha works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the oven to 350°F.
Preheat. Preheating means turning the oven on before you start, so it’s fully hot when the food goes in. Food that starts in a cold oven cooks unevenly and doesn’t brown the same.
How you’ll know: The oven beeps or its light clicks off, usually 10 to 15 minutes after you turn it on.
the eggplants and cut into 1-inch .
Peel. Peeling means removing the skin with a vegetable peeler or a small knife. It takes off tough or bitter skins, though potato and carrot skins are fine to leave on unless the recipe insists.
How you’ll know: The color underneath is even all over, with no patches of skin left behind.
Cube. Cubing means cutting food into chunky, even squares, usually three quarters of an inch to an inch. Same-size cubes cook at the same speed and brown on every side.
How you’ll know: Your pieces look like a handful of sugar cubes, a little bigger than diced, all close to the same size.
them in a pot of water with 1 teaspoon salt until very tender, 8 to 10 minutes.
Boil. Boiling means heating a liquid until big bubbles rise and break all over the surface. It’s the fastest way to cook pasta, potatoes and eggs, because it’s as hot as water gets.
How you’ll know: Bubbles are breaking across the whole surface, not just at the edges, and steam is rising.
High heatTimer: 9 min
the eggplant in a colander, pressing gently with a spoon to squeeze out the water.
Drain. Draining means pouring off liquid, like tipping pasta into a colander or spooning extra fat out of the pan. Pour hot grease into a can or jar, not the sink, where it hardens and clogs the pipes.
How you’ll know: Only a few drips are left, and the food isn’t sitting in a puddle.
Dolly’s tip: Soggy eggplant makes a watery casserole. Press until it stops dripping.Meanwhile, 1 tablespoon butter in a over medium heat and cook the onion, pepper and celery until soft, 6 to 8 minutes. Add the garlic and Cajun seasoning for 1 minute.
Melt. Melting means gently heating something solid, like butter or cheese, until it turns liquid. Low or medium heat keeps it from browning or burning.
How you’ll know: It’s smooth and liquid, and butter may foam a little but hasn’t turned brown.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Medium heatTimer: 8 min
In a large bowl, the eggs, milk and remaining ¼ teaspoon salt. Stir in the eggplant, mashing it a little, the vegetables, 1 cup cheddar, half the crackers and the hot sauce.
Whisk. Whisking means beating quickly with a whisk or a fork to blend things together. It smooths out lumps and mixes eggs, oil or sauces evenly.
How you’ll know: It all looks one even color and texture, with no streaks or lumps.
Spread it in a buttered 8x8-inch baking dish. the rest of the butter, it with the remaining crackers and scatter over the top with the last ½ cup cheddar.
Melt. Melting means gently heating something solid, like butter or cheese, until it turns liquid. Low or medium heat keeps it from browning or burning.
How you’ll know: It’s smooth and liquid, and butter may foam a little but hasn’t turned brown.
Toss. Tossing means gently lifting and turning food so everything gets coated, like pasta in sauce or vegetables in oil. It coats every piece evenly without mashing anything.
How you’ll know: Every piece looks glossy or evenly coated, with no dry spots hiding underneath.
until set in the middle and on top, 30 to 35 minutes.
Bake. Baking means cooking in the oven with dry heat all around the food. It cooks evenly from every side, so you can mostly leave it alone.
How you’ll know: It’s golden on top and passes the recipe’s check, like a clean toothpick or the right temperature.
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Timer: 32 min
Food safety: For the safest eggs, cook until the whites are fully set and the yolks begin to thicken. Dishes made with eggs are done at 160°F.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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