moussaka recipe

An authentic, delicious recipe for Eggplant Moussaka- with a Tomato lamb sauce, and creamy béchamel sauce. Vegetarian Adaptable! Can be made ahead and baked prior to serving. See notes for VEGAN.

Rustic Eggplant Moussaka

lbs Eggplant

T olive oil

olive oil

onion

garlic, rough chopped

lbs ground lamb, beef

tomato paste

½ Cup white wine

parsley

tsp sugar

cinnamon

tsp kosher salt

cracked pepper

butter oil

flour rice

milk

tsp nutmeg (use fresh grated if possible)

white pepper

grated Parmesan, Pecorino

Pre-heat oven to 400 F. Cut eggplant into ⅓- ¼ inch thick disks (no thinner), sprinkle with a little kosher salt and let sit in a colander or bowl for 20-60 minutes. Eggplant will start to release liquid (making it less bitter)

Rinse well, pat dry and brush each side with olive oil (or use spray oil).

Place on a greased sheet pan and roast in a 400 F oven until golden, about 20-30 minutes. Alternatively, you can grill the eggplant on each side ( getting nice deep grill marks) then wrapping it in foil after for 10-15 minutes, so it steams and cooks through.

While eggplant is roasting -make the tomato- meat sauce

In a large pan, saute diced onion in oil on med-high heat for 3-4 minutes, add garlic, turn heat down to med-low and saute for 8-10 minutes until onions are tender. Add the ground lamb ( or beef or vegetarian meat), turn heat up to medium and brown, stirring often, about 15 minutes. Drain fat if any. Add the rest of the ingredients -diced tomatoes, tomato paste, white wine, fresh chopped parsley, sugar, cinnamon, kosher salt and pepper. Stir and cover and let simmer on med-low heat for 20 minutes.

Make Bechamel Sauce

 In a small pot, heat the butter. Whisk in the flour and let cook for 2-3 minutes on med heat, stirring often. Whisk in the first cup of milk a little at a time. Whisk well, and add the 2nd cup. Stirring constantly bring to a boil, lower heat, and let simmer on low for an additional 2 minutes. Remove from heat and add nutmeg, cheese, salt, pepper. Set aside to cool. In a separate bowl, lightly beat an egg, but do not add it just yet.

Assemble

 Divide eggplant slices into three stacks, reserving the best looking largest pieces for the top and bottom layers. The others can be placed in the middle layer which will be concealed.

In a greased 8x 13 inch baking dish, place one layer of eggplant. Add half the meat sauce. Add another layer of eggplant and the remaining meat sauce. Add the third and final layer of eggplant. Whisk in 2-3 tablespoons of bechamel sauce, into the beaten egg (to temper it) then pour this into the bechamel sauce, whisking until nice and smooth. Spread the bechamel over the final eggplant layer.

Sprinkle with the remaining cheese ( optional)  and place in a 350F oven for 50-60 minutes, uncovered until beautifully golden. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

A family favourite that’s absolutely scrumptious! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!!!!

I lost my Greek and Armenian cookbooks from my early years of marriage in a California wildfire, but had made moussaka often enough to do it well enough from memory. It had been nearly a year since I’d last made it, and now at age 79, I don’t trust my memory, so I went online to see what I could find. It seemed all the recipes did not grill (prefer) or oven roast the eggplant. Until I finally saw this, when I was already well into prep with the sauce. Yours is the ticket! There is understanding of the nature of eggplant here. We eat vegetarian often these days, so I may use your suggestion to do it that way next time. Thank you!

https://content.jwplatform.com/videos/VDXGBQtK.mp4

An authentic, delicious recipe for Eggplant Moussaka- perfect for entertaining or serving at a special gathering. Can be made ahead. Vegetarian adaptable!

Rustic Moussaka Recipe 

Make this mouth-watering and healthy moussaka with a simple plant-based ragu. It's an easy dinner for the family that packs in all five of your 5-a-day

Vegan moussaka

bag dried porcini mushrooms

onion, finely chopped

carrots, finely chopped

celery sticks, finely chopped

garlic cloves, sliced

thyme

tomato purée

red wine(optional)

dried green lentils

plum tomatoes

pack chestnut mushrooms, chopped

pack portobello mushrooms, sliced

soy sauce

tsp Marmite

1kg floury potato(such as Maris Piper), peeled and chopped

oregano

aubergines, sliced lengthways

soya milk

Pour 800ml boiling water over the dried porcini and leave for 10 mins until hydrated. Meanwhile, pour 1&frac12; tbsp oil into a large saucepan. Add the onion, carrot, celery and a pinch of salt. Cook gently, stirring for 10 mins until soft. Remove the porcini from the liquid, keeping the mushroomy stock and roughly chop. Set both aside.

Add the garlic and thyme to the pan. Cook for 1 min, then stir in the tomato purée and cook for a minute more. Pour in the red wine, if using, cook until nearly reduced, then add the lentils, reserved mushroom stock and tomatoes. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and leave to simmer&nbsp;with the lid on.&nbsp;

Meanwhile, heat a large frying pan. Add 1&frac12; tbsp oil and&nbsp;tip all of the mushrooms into the pan, including the rehydrated ones. Fry until all the water has evaporated and the mushrooms are deep golden brown. Pour in the soy sauce. Give everything a good mix, then scrape the mushrooms into the lentil saucepan.

Stir in the Marmite, then continue to cook the ragu, stirring occasionally, over a low-medium heat for 30-45 mins until the lentils are cooked and the sauce is thick and reduced, adding extra water if necessary. Remove the thyme sprigs and season to taste.&nbsp;

Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Put the potatoes into a pan of cold salted water. Bring to the boil, then cook until mashable.

Meanwhile, mix the remaining 5 tbsp oil with the oregano, then brush the aubergine slices with most of it and sprinkle with sea salt. Griddle for 3 mins on each side until soft.

Drain and mash the potatoes with the soya milk.&nbsp;Season to taste.

Spoon the ragu into a large lasagne dish (or two smaller ovenproof dishes), layer in &frac12; the aubergine, followed by the mash. Brush the remaining oregano oil across the mash, then finish by topping with the remaining aubergine slices. Bake in the oven for 25-35 mins until golden and bubbling.

The very best traditional Greek Moussaka recipe. Imagine layers of juicy beef mince, sweet eggplants, and creamy béchamel sauce baked to perfection!

Traditional Greek Moussaka recipe (Moussaka with Béchamel)

eggplants

vegetable oil (for frying the eggplants)

beef or lamb mince (26 oz)

red onions (chopped)

garlic

tomatoes

sugar

red wine

sea salt and black pepper

bay leaf

milk (31 fl.oz)

butter (4 oz)

flour (4 oz)

nutmeg

Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese (3.5 ounces)

salt

To prepare this Greek moussaka recipe, begin by preparing the eggplants. Remove the stalks from the eggplants and cut them into slices, 1 cm thick. Season with salt and place in a colander for about half an hour.

Rinse the eggplants with plenty of water

and squeeze with your hands, to get rid of the excessive water. Pat them dry and fry in plenty of oil, until nicely colored. Place the fried eggplants on some paper, in order to absorb the oil. (For a lighter version of the traditional Greek moussaka try drizzling the aubergines with some olive oil and bake them for 20 minutes instead of frying them). Set aside when done.

If you are adding potatoes to your moussaka, now its time to slice them into 0.5cm, half a finger width slices. Fry them or bake them in the same way as the eggplants. Season with some salt and set them aside when done.

Prepare the meat sauce

for the moussaka. Heat a large pan to medium-high heat and add the olive oil. Stir in the chopped onions and sauté, until softened and slightly colored. Stir in the mince breaking it up with a wooden spoon and sauté. When it starts to brown, add the the garlic and tomato puree and sauté until the garlic starts to soften. Pour in the red wine to deglaze the meat juices and wait to evaporate. Add the tinned tomatoes, the sugar, a pinch of cinnamon, 1 bay leaf and a good pinch of salt and pepper. Bring to the boil then turn the heat down and simmer with the lid on for about 30 minutes or until most of the juices have evaporated. Set aside when done.

Prepare the béchamel sauce

for the moussaka. Use a large pan to melt the butter over low-medium heat. Add the flour whisking continuously to make a paste. Add warmed milk in a steady stream; keep whisking in order to prevent your sauce from getting lumpy. If the sauce still needs to thicken, boil over low heat while continuing to stir. Its consistency should resemble a thick cream.

Remove the béchamel pan from the stove and stir in the egg yolks, salt, pepper, a pinch of nutmeg and the most of the grated cheese. Reserve some cheese to sprinkle on top! Whisk quickly, in order to prevent the eggs from turning an omelette!  Season with salt to taste. Take one spoon full of béchamel and stir it in the meat sauce. Set the béchamel sauce aside.

Now its time to assemble the moussaka. For this moussaka recipe you will need a large baking dish, approx. 20x30cm / 8x12inch). Butter the bottom and sides of the pan and layer the potatoes first (if you&#8217;re using them), then half the eggplants. Pour in all of the meat sauce and spread it out evenly. Add a second layer of eggplants, top with all of the béchamel sauce and smooth out with a spatula.

Sprinkle with the remaining grated cheese

. Preheat you oven at 180C/350F and bake your musaka for about 60 minutes or until its crust turns light golden brown. Even though it will be really hard to do so, you should wait for the moussaka to cool down and be just warm to the touch before cutting into pieces. This will prevent the béchamel sauce from pouring out when you&#8217;re cutting your pieces.

Serve the Moussaka with a refreshing Traditional Greek Salad  and enjoy over a glass of wine!

Greek Moussaka is a tasty, hearty eggplant casserole. Layers of eggplant, potatoes, and a spiced meat sauce nestled in between.

Moussaka: Eggplant Casserole

large eggplants, sliced lengthwise into 1/4 inch-thick slices, end slices discarded

Salt

Private Reserve extra virgin olive oil

yellow onion, finely chopped

lb ground lamb (or beef)

tsp black pepper

tsp paprika or hot paprika

14 oz can diced tomato

beef broth

russet potatoes, peeled, very thinly sliced lengthwise

water

bread crumbs

fat free Greek yogurt

eggs,

tbsp allpurpose flour

reduced fat ricotta (cream cheese would work if you prefer)

oz crumbled feta cheese

Spread the eggplant slices in one layer and sprinkle with salt. Let set for 30 minutes to "sweat out" its bitterness.

Pat the eggplant slices dry and assemble in one layer on a lightly oiled baking sheet. Drizzle generously with olive oil. Place the baking sheet on the top oven rack and broil briefly, turning over so that both sides of the eggplant are softened and golden brown (do not worry if parts of the eggplant are slightly charred, but watch carefully so it doesn't burn). Remove from the oven and set aside.

Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a skillet. Cook the onions on medium heat until they turn slightly golden brown, stirring regularly (about 5 minutes). Now add the ground lamb. Cook the lamb until fully browned, tossing regularly. Drain the lamb from any excess fat and return back to the skillet. Now add the dried oregano, ground cinnamon, pepper, nutmeg, and hot paprika. Stir to coat the meat with the spices. Add the wine and boil for 1 minute to reduce. Stir in the canned tomatoes, sugar and broth. Simmer on medium-low heat for 30 minutes.

In the meantime, boil the sliced potatoes in plenty of water until they are completely soft and easily breakable (about 5-7 minutes). Drain the water and set the potatoes aside briefly.

To prepare the cheese topping, whisk the Greek yogurt with the eggs and flour. Add the ricotta and feta cheese and whisk again to combine.

When ready, lightly oil a 9 1/2" x 13" oven-safe baking pan. Layer the eggplant slices on the bottom. Add the meat sauce and spread to cover the eggplant. Layer the potato slices to cover the meat sauce and sprinkle with the bread crumbs. Finally spread the cheese topping to thinly cover the potatoes.

Bake in the 350 F degree-heated oven for 45 minutes. If you need to, transfer the baking pan to the top rack and broil briefly so that the top of the moussaka gains a nice golden brown color (watch carefully).

Remove from the heat and let sit 5-7 minutes before cutting through into squares to serve. Enjoy!

This recipe can easily be made gluten free.  My wife and I loved it.   Takes me back to Greece.

Very good. I’ve never made moussaka before and this is definitely a keeper. Because of ingredients I had on hand I substituted ‘beyond beef’ for the beef , sour cream for the yogurt and sweet potato for russet potatoes. Flavors melds really well and everyone had 2-3 helpings.

That was pretty delicious. It had a wonderful unique flavor that i can't tell what from, the cheese or the spice mixture.

Mousaka has to be one of the top dishes to ever exist, a real example of great world cuisine. I like to think of it as a low-carb version of lasagna (not that I follow that diet). It was a more involved recipe than I am used to, which I welcomed since I always like to learn new techniques just as much as new recipes. All of this came together in the end, and it was a wholesome, delicious, filling meal. 

My housemate was won over within the first bite. If that is not a compliment, I have little idea what is. Sure as hell will I be making this one again.

This screams for salt.  Needs garlic, too sweet.

I just made this for the first time adding a bit of fresh garlic to the sauce, and using whole fat dairy products. Forget bechamel! This recipe reminds my husband and me of the moussaka we enjoyed on our anniversary on the island of Paros last year! Honestly,  I am wondering if Anna and Giorgos in Marpissa use this recipe? Brava, Suzy!

We loved this Moussaka! I used eggplant and tomato from my garden. The tomato was sliced and layered on top of the lamb. The potato also went in uncooked. Cooking time in the skillet was reduced to about 8 minutes and the oven cook time was increased to one hour. The topping was added after 30 minutes.

We are gluten free, so for the bread crumbs I substituted a 13oz can garbanzo beans, mashed, incorporated into the topping and omitted flour. It browned up very nicely under the broiler.

Provided one uses lamb (and not the ground beef option), this recipe leads to a fabulous meat sauce with the perfect combination of spices.  However, I am not sure what the creator was thinking for the cheese topping which is both unauthentic and unappetizing.  The topping should be replaced simple white bechemel sauce (butter, flour, milk) with the addition of egg yolks and a grated hard cheese.  This recipe sort of works if you replace the 3 eggs by egg yolks but if you include whole eggs, it will set into something with quite an unpleasant rubberized texture that is nothing like real Moussaka.

This is a wonderful dish! I made it with ground turkey, it worked out beautifully for me. I particularly love the eggplant in the recipe - no bitterness at all, and I was very hesitant to cook with eggplant before. Your tricks are marvellous! I added a bit more salt to the meat, though, I would say it's necessary. I also added some fresh basil on top, yum! Thank you very much, Suzy!!!

https://content.jwplatform.com/videos/EyhsXfD1.mp4

How to Make Greek Moussaka

potatoes (optional)

for the moussaka. Heat a large pan to medium-high heat and add the olive oil. Stir in the chopped onions and sauté, until softened and slightly colored. Stir in the mince breaking it up with a wooden spoon and sauté. When it starts to brown, add the the garlic and tomato paste and sauté until the garlic starts to soften. Pour in the red wine to deglaze the meat juices and wait to evaporate. Add the tinned tomatoes, the sugar, a pinch of cinnamon, 1 bay leaf and a good pinch of salt and pepper. Bring to the boil then turn the heat down and simmer with the lid on for about 30 minutes or until most of the juices have evaporated. Set aside when done.

Now its time to assemble the moussaka. For this moussaka recipe you will need a large baking dish, approx. 20x30cm / 8x12inch and 8cm/3 inch deep). Butter the bottom and sides of the pan and layer the potatoes first (if you&#8217;re using them), then half the eggplants. Pour in all of the meat sauce and spread it out evenly. Add a second layer of eggplants, top with all of the béchamel sauce and smooth out with a spatula.

https://mediavine-res.cloudinary.com/video/upload/t_original/v1621689141/nvgjg0gcuhlmmybstmna.mp4

The very best traditional Greek Moussaka recipe video! Imagine layers of juicy beef mince, sweet eggplants, and creamy béchamel sauce baked to perfection!

Traditional Greek Moussaka recipe

An easy Moussaka recipe made with ground beef, spices and potatoes. This traditional Macedonian recipe is satisfying comfort food that tastes amazing! 

Meat and Potato Casserole {Traditional Macedonian Moussaka}

russett potatoes, (peeled,

yellow onion, (diced)

beef, ((hot pork sausage tastes great, too))

salt and pepper

paprika

eggs, (beaten)

Preheat oven to 375˚F.

Cook sliced potatoes in boiling salted water for 5 minutes; drain under cold water and cool immediately. Set aside.

Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat and add onion; cook for 2 minutes.

Add ground beef; break apart with a wooden spoon and cook until browned, about 5 minutes.

Stir in garlic.

Add tomato paste and stir until completely incorporated.

Season beef with paprika, salt, and pepper.  Taste for seasonings and adjust accordingly. Remove from heat and set aside.

Grease a 13x9-inch baking dish.

Layer 1/3 of the sliced potatoes on the bottom of the prepared baking dish.

Top the potatoes with half of the ground beef mixture.

Spread 1/3 potato slices over beef.

Add remaining beef mixture and top with last layer of potatoes. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs; then whisk in the milk, salt, and pepper; continue to whisk until thoroughly combined.

Pour the milk mixture over the potatoes.

Bake for 45 to 55 minutes, or until custard is set and potatoes are a golden brown.

Let rest 10 minutes before cutting and serving.

Cover fresh vegetables and lamb in creamy, light bechamel sauce.

Moussaka

eggplants,

brown onion, finely chopped

garlic cloves, crushed

lamb mince

(125 milliliters) dry red wine

can Heinz big red tomato soup

(250 milliliters) Massel beef stock

(750 milliliters) milk

brown onion, coarsely chopped

butter

(50 grams) plain flour

(40 grams) finely grated parmesan cheese

This Greek Moussaka Recipe is packed with layers and layers of yummy eggplant, zucchini, tender potatoes, savory perfectly seasoned meat, and a creamy parmesan bechamel sauce. It’s an unbelievably tasty casserole that is easy to make and sure to tickle your tastebuds.

Moussaka Recipe

potatoes

salt (or

⅛ teaspoon pepper (or

eggplant

zucchini

garlic (minced)

beef

allspice

Italian seasoning

tomatoes (1 can)

unsalted butter (1 stick)

all-purpose flour

pepper

Parmesan cheese (grated)

Prep the oven.

Prep the potatoes.

Start by tossing the sliced potatoes and red onion with the olive oil, salt, pepper, thyme and oregano in a medium size bowl.

Bake the potatoes.

Spread them in a single layer on the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking pan. Bake for 20 minutes until they begin to soften and turn golden.

Prep the eggplants.

While the potatoes are baking, sweat the eggplant slices by placing on paper towels then sprinkling some salt over each slice. Let them sit like that for about 10 minutes then flip them over and sprinkle with additional salt. After 10 minutes you can soak up any water you may see over the eggplant with paper towels.

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