Fried Eggplant Chips with Rosemary and Honey

In this Fried Eggplant Chips with Rosemary and Honey dish, eggplant is sliced thinly, pan-fried, and served with a drizzle of honey and fresh rosemary. It is crispy on the outside slightly soft in the middle, sweetened with honey, and sprinkled with aromatic rosemary.

I never would have thought to combine these ingredients. However, this was a dish at a Spanish tapas restaurant that I tried on a Food Tour in Healdsburg, CA outside of Sonoma. Chances are I wouldn’t even have ordered it, except that the tour guide ordered it for the group.

It was so good that it made me want to go back and try it again at a later time, which we did. The eggplant is mild in flavor, and it gets crispy on the outside and a little softer in the middle. What makes this recipe so good is that you’re getting the texture of the crispy eggplant, but the flavor of the honey and rosemary. Something that would also be great on pizza.

The best part about this dish is the mixture of textures and the flavors are so unexpected when combined. It’s also really quick to throw together, with just a few minutes of prep (no advanced prep or salting needed), and a few minutes to fry. Be sure to serve immediately for maximum crispiness!

Another veggie side that we love that is inspired by our travels is this recipe for lightly-pan fried and blistered Spanish peppers. They are made with peppers called pimientos de padrón, but can easily be substituted with shishito peppers. Or for a Spanish main course try Flamenquines, a dish originating in Córdoba, where thin pork cutlets are wrapped around ham and cheese, breaded and pan-fried until crispy and the cheese is melty.

Fried Eggplant Chip Ingredients:

• Flour: use all-purpose flour.
• Eggplant: if you have access to thin, narrow eggplants, choose those.
• Salt: for seasoning the eggplant.
• Vegetable Oil: for frying.
• Honey: any honey will work, used for sweetness and flavor.
• Rosemary: use only fresh rosemary, the fresher it is the better the flavor. If you do not have fresh rosemary, I recommend you skip it and just add honey.

How to Make Eggplant Chips Crispy

Thin slices: The best way to make eggplant chips crispy is to thinly slice the eggplant to about ⅛ of an inch thick. If the slices are too thick the middle of the slices get soggy. You can use a mandolin, but I find that by cutting the slices by hand with a sharp knife, I get a more consistent thickness.

These eggplant chips are designed to be crispy on the edges and slightly soft in the middle. If you want them to have a more potato chip-like crispiness, then slice them even thinner.

Thin, narrow eggplant: The narrower, more slender, the eggplant the easier it will be to get a crispy eggplant chip. These narrow eggplants, however, can be hard to find, so just choose what is available.

Salt: I've seen recommendations to salt the eggplant slices and let them sit to draw out the water. I compared this technique with just adding some salt, coating in flour, and immediately pan-frying the slices. While the salt does draw out water from the eggplant slices, it did not make any noticeable difference in how crispy the eggplant chips were.

Set on a Drying Rack: Once fried, lay the eggplant chips in a single layer on a cookie-drying rack. This prevents moisture from getting trapped under the slices which would turn them soggy.

Serve immediately: these chips are at their crispiest right after pan-frying. Serve them immediately to ensure each one is crispy.

How to Make Fried Eggplant Chips with Rosemary and Honey

Below are the step-by-step instructions and photos for how to make Fried Eggplant Chips with Rosemary and Honey.

Step 1. Season the eggplant slices with salt. Add flour to a small shallow baking dish. Coat both sides of the thinly sliced eggplant in the flour. Shake off excess flour.

Step 2. Bring a large sauté pan to medium heat. Coat the bottom of the pan in vegetable oil. Allow to warm through. Working in batches, add the eggplant to the pan and fry, turning once to brown both sides.

Step 3. Remove and set on a cookie cooling rack to cool slightly (that way the bottoms won’t get soggy and will stay crispy and fried).

Step 4. Drizzle the eggplant chips with honey and sprinkle with rosemary. Serve immediately while warm.

If you're looking for more appetizers, you may love these:

If you make these crispy fried eggplant chips, I'd love to hear from you and learn how it went. Leave a rating and a comment down below and let me know how it turns out. Your feedback means a lot!