How to Make Easy, Low Carbohydrate Stuffed Eggplants in Your Air Fryer or Oven (Diabetic Friendly)

These little eggplants are really tasty and good for you! I use baby eggplants (sometimes they are called "Indian eggplants"), which tend to be less bitter than the large, American eggplants. I suspect you can use the long Japanese eggplants or the traditional American eggplants, but I haven't tried it. The eggplants get a filling of onion, cottage cheese, and Monterey Jack cheese, and they come out of the air fryer browned, cheesy, and smokey-sweet. Although we usually have the eggplants as a side dish, you could serve them as a meatless main dish, if you like. The eggplants are full of protein, fiber, and "good carbs," not "bad carbs," and they are great if you're on a diabetic diet or want to "eat healthy." I prefer to make the eggplants in the air fryer, but you can also bake them. Enjoy!

How to Make Easy, Low Carbohydrate Stuffed Eggplants in Your Air Fryer or Oven (Diabetic Friendly)

Low Carbohydrate Stuffed Eggplants (Diabetic Friendly) -- Serves 4

4-5 baby eggplants

1/4 cup of chopped onion

1/4 teaspoon of garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon of salt

1/4 teaspoon of pepper

1/4-1/2 teaspoon of smoked paprika

1/2 cup of low-fat cottage cheese

1 large egg

1/3 cup of Monterey Jack cheese

1/2 teaspoon of dried parsley

Fresh parsley, optional

Wash and trim the ends off the eggplants. Split them in half, stem end to bottom and put them on a microwave-safe plate. Microwave the eggplants for a few minutes or until they have softened. Let the eggplants cool enough so you can handle them. Scoop out the pulp from the eggplants with a spoon, leaving about 1/4-1/2 inch of pulp in the shell. Put the extracted pulp in a large bowl and add the chopped onion, garlic powder, salt, pepper, smoked paprika, cottage cheese, egg, Monterey Jack cheese, and dried parsley. Mix everything together well and divide the mixture evenly among the eggplant shells, stuffing the filling into the shells. Spray a baking pan with non-stick cooking spray (or line the pan with foil and spray the pan with cooking spray for easy cleanup) and arrange the filled eggplants in the pan.

Air Fryer: Air fry the eggplants at 360 degrees for about 15 minutes or until bubbly and deeply browned.

Oven: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Bake the eggplants for about 20 minutes or until deeply browned.

Let the eggplants cool a little before serving them, sprinkled with a little fresh parsley, if you'd like.

How to Make Easy, Low Carbohydrate Stuffed Eggplants in Your Air Fryer or Oven (Diabetic Friendly)