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Have You Tried Eggplant Moussaka?
Moussaka is basically like a Greek version of lasagna or macarona bechamel, and this Eggplant Moussaka uses slices of roasted eggplant instead of of lasagna sheets. The eggplant is layered with both a chunky tomato meat sauce and a creamy nutty bechamel sauce. It’s the kind of dish that you can serve up for a special occasion but also throw it together easily for a weeknight meal.
There are many variations of the Eggplant Moussaka recipe, but the Greek Moussaka tends to be the most popular. My version is without potatoes to keep it low-carb and simplify the recipe while still keeping all those traditional flavors in the dish!
Happy Cooking!
– Yumna
Eggplant Moussaka Ingredients
The ingredient list may look long, but it’s mostly made up of pantry staples so don’t worry!
Ingredients for the Meat Sauce
- Olive Oil: Used as a base for cooking the onions, ground beef, and garlic but you can use butter.
- Onion: Chopped to incorporate into the ground beef mixture.
- Ground Beef: It’s traditionally made with ground lamb but I find ground beef more accessible. You can also use ground chicken, ground turkey, or a mixture of any of these.
- Garlic: Mince it for even flavor.
- Diced Tomatoes: I like using canned diced tomatoes to make it easier and create more of a sauce, but fresh tomatoes work too.
- Spices: Oregano, cinnamon, and a dash of salt and pepper.
Ingredients for the Bechamel Sauce
- Butter: Use unsalted butter so you can control the salt in the sauce.
- Flour: A little all-purpose flour to help thicken the sauce, but you can use cornstarch instead.
- Milk: I use 2% milk but full fat works along with half-and-half, or a non-dairy milk. Just make sure it’s warm.
- Eggs: Beaten in a small bowl and whisked into the sauce – don’t skip them because they help create the richness in bechamel and help it set.
- Nutmeg: Sprinkled into the sauce, adding a warm and nutty flavor.
Ingredients for the Casserole
- Eggplant: Sliced lengthwise, salted, and roasted until tender. You can swap half the eggplant for sliced potatoes if you’d like and you can also add any other roasted vegetables like onion, zucchini, bell peppers, or mushrooms
- Olive oil, salt and pepper: Used to season the eggplant for roasting.
- Shredded Parmesan Cheese: Sprinkled on top of the eggplant moussaka before baking. You can skip this or use any other shredded cheese.
How to Make Eggplant Moussaka
There are four parts to making Eggplant Moussaka:
Bake the Eggplant
Cook the Meat Tomato Sauce
Make the Bechamel Sauce
Layer the Eggplant Moussaka
My Best Eggplant Moussaka Tips
- Peel the skin off the eggplant. The skin on the eggplants can very tough and chewy, making it hard to cut through. It can also taste pretty bitter and take away from the dish. So if you’re serving it to kids or want an overall more cohesive appearance, I would recommend peeling off the skin. I don’t always do it though!
- Sweat the eggplant. Sweating the eggplant is very important when baking it in a casserole because it holds a lot of water, which can ultimately ruin the moussaka. To prevent the moussaka from being watery, make sure to lay the eggplant on a paper towel, sprinkle lightly with salt and let it sit for 30 minutes. You’ll notice small beads of moisture all over the eggplant. After half an hour, you can use a paper towel to wipe off the moisture.
- Use warm milk for the bechamel sauce: When making the bechamel sauce, make sure to warm the milk before adding it to the saucepan. This will help the sauce to thicken more easily and result in a smoother and creamier sauce.
- Leave the moussaka to rest before serving. I recommend half an hour. That way, the pieces stay together better when you cut and serve them. It’s similar to lasagna in that way.
Serving Ideas
Moussaka is a hearty dish that is full of flavor, so I like to keep it simple and serve it with a fresh side salad like one of these:
Recipe Help & FAQs
Allow the moussaka to cool completely, then store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. To reheat the moussaka, place it in an oven-safe dish and cover it with foil. Bake at 350°F for 20-30 minutes, or until heated through. You can also reheat individual portions in the microwave.
Yes, you can freeze Eggplant Moussaka since the moisture is removed from the eggplant, which makes it more freezer-friendly. Allow the moussaka to cool completely, then wrap it well with plastic wrap and foil. Label and date the moussaka, then freeze it for up to 3 months. To reheat, place the moussaka in the oven at 350°F, covered with foil, and bake until heated through, about 30-40 minutes.
Yes, you can make this moussaka up to 2 days ahead of time! Simply assemble fully and cover in the fridge until ready to bake. Add 5 to 10 minutes to the cooking time.
More Mediterranean Recipes:
If you try this Eggplant Moussaka recipe or any other recipe on Feel Good Foodie, then don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave a comment below! It helps others who are thinking of making the recipe. I would love to hear about your experience making it. And if you snapped some shots, share it on Instagram so we can repost on Stories!
Easy Eggplant Moussaka
Ingredients
For the Eggplant Layer & assembly
- 3 large eggplants sliced lengthwise into ¼-inch thick slices
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Olive oil for brushing
- ½ cup shredded parmesan cheese
For the Meat Sauce
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 large onion chopped
- 1 pound ground beef
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 2 teaspoons oregano
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 15- ounce canned diced tomatoes with juices
For the bechamel sauce
- 4 tablespoons butter
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 ½ cups milk warmed
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- 2 eggs
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F.
- Prepare the eggplant. Lay the slices of eggplant on paper towels, sprinkle lightly with salt, and set aside for 30 minutes to draw out the moisture. Pat dry, then brush both sides of the eggplant pieces with olive oil and season with black pepper. Place on a sheet pan and roast for 20 minutes, flipping halfway through.
- Make the meat sauce. In a large skillet over medium heat, add olive oil, onions, ground beef and garlic. Season with oregano, cinnamon, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon until beef is browned and crumbled, about 10 minutes. Add the diced tomatoes, and reduce heat to low. Simmer uncovered until the sauce thickens, about 20 minutes.
- Make the bechamel sauce. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat, then whisk in flour and cook, stirring occasionally, until it bubbles. Gradually pour in the warm milk, whisking constantly until it thickens. Bring the mixture to a boil, then decrease the heat to medium and continue cooking for 2 more minutes. Remove from heat and whisk in the salt and nutmeg. In a small bowl, beat the eggs. Then whisk in 2 tablespoons of the bechamel sauce into the eggs to temper them. Pour the mixture into the saucepan with the bechamel sauce and whisk again until the egg mixture is fully incorporated.
- Assemble the moussaka. Arrange half of the eggplant in an 8×11 baking dish. Add the meat sauce all over the eggplant and then layer the remaining eggplant on top. Pour the bechamel sauce over the top and smooth out with a spatula. Sprinkle the parmesan cheese on top.
- Bake. Decrease the oven temperature to 350°F and bake until the bechamel is set and golden, 35-40 minutes. Allow to cool for 30 minutes to set before slicing and serving.
Equipment
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information provided is an estimate. It will vary based on cooking method and specific ingredients used.
Can it be made ahead of time (1 day) and assembled and cooked the next day? Can I use green lentils instead of ground beef?
Yes, you can make this moussaka up to 2 days ahead of time! Assemble it fully and cover in the fridge until ready to bake. Put it straight into the oven from the fridge and add 5 to 10 minutes to the cooking time. I haven’t tried making this recipe with green lentils but I think it could work.
I don’t see the allspice in the recipe: “Instead of 1 teaspoon of allspice, you can use ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon, ½ teaspoon ground cloves, and a pinch of ground nutmeg”
Oops, this was leftover from the previous version of the recipe that used allspice but I updated it to make the spices more accessible. I deleted that note now!
Everything was good until the bechamel sauce. It is the most disgusting texture I have ever had. My husband and children tried to choke it down until I said I didn’t like it! Next time, I will make it into a type of shepherds pie. What a waste of time and food!!!!
Oh no, so sorry to hear that! It sounds like your bechamel sauce may have curdled, is it possible that your heat was too high and/or you added the ingredients too quickly?
Do you have a version where you put everything in a pan to cook in the oven without the roasting step and cooking beef separately? I love the recipe but it’s time consuming. Would love a time hack and if anyone can hack this, it’s you 🙂 thanks in advance
Hii,
I’m planning on making this for Christmas but how many grams of canned diced tomatoes is 1 15 ounces? And how many milliliters of bechamelsauce do I need?
Hope you can help me out!
Hi Fleur, I do not cook in grams or milliliters, so I am really not sure. I am so sorry!
Prep time 20 minutes??? I spent about 2 1/2 hours doing this and was working all the time. But despite that, it was very good and turned out fine following the directions. The only thing I added was chopped up radishes in the meat sauce, simply because I had them.
Sorry for any confusion, the prep time refers to the time spent gathering and preparing the ingredients for cooking. You’ll see the total time of the recipe is listed as 2 hours and 10 minutes.
Delicious! I used smaller eggplants from my garden, so I cut them into coins instead of sheets. Also, I decided to add potatoes to mine. To do this, I used the instant pot and cooked the potatoes the same way as for potato salad (four minutes on high pressure, with the potatoes resting on an inner rack. They were medium reds, peeled). They sliced up very easily this way and I layered them over the eggplant coins. There was a bump in the road when it came to the amount of salt in the béchamel sauce. At this time, there is no specific amount listed in the recipe segment for the sauce. I decided to use a half teaspoon since I figured the parmesan cheese would also add saltiness.
My mother said this is the best eggplant dish that she has ever had. Everyone in the family tried it and loved it.
Wow, thanks for letting me know about the addition of potatoes and how you prepared them, it sounds delicious! Also, thanks for the heads up about the salt in the béchamel sauce, I have updated it accordingly. So glad the whole family enjoyed this dish!
Thank you Yumna, I’m looking forward to trying your delicious Recipe on my husband. Your Mousakka looks absolutely fabulous.
You’re so welcome! You’ll have to come back and let me know what you guys think when you make it! Enjoy!
Very delicious recipe! I added the potatoes and it was a hit! Took it to our friend’s house, and everyone loved it! Thanks Yumna!!!
Thank you so much! I’m glad to hear it was a hit. You’re so welcome, Dema!