Moussaka is a layered Greek casserole with 3 main components: pan-fried eggplant, a rich tomato-based meat sauce, and a thick, velvety bechamel. Layer these in a dish, bake, and enjoy! If you like lasagna, you will love moussaka! While moussaka can be slightly time-consuming to prepare because of its parts, there’s nothing complicated about the recipe at all.
The meat sauce is similar to a bolognese but a bit thicker, and the extra creamy bechamel adds a luscious top to the casserole. Thanks to the addition of 3 egg yolks, the sauce sets perfectly when you bake the casserole, making it easy to slice. For more Greek recipes, try my spanakopita, tsoureki, and avgolemono.
Ingredients
Eggplant — peel and cut 3 large eggplants into ½-inch-thick slices.
Aromatics — yellow onion and minced garlic are flavor building blocks for the sauce.
Meat — use ground lamb, ground beef, or a combination of the two.
Seasonings — dried oregano, granulated sugar, ground cinnamon, salt, black pepper, and a bay leaf infuse the meat sauce with flavor.
Wine — use a red wine you enjoy drinking to add depth to the meat sauce.
Tomato sauce — canned tomato sauce brings acidity and a little sweetness to the meat mixture.
Bechamel sauce — for the thick, creamy béchamel sauce, you’ll need butter, all-purpose flour, whole milk, parmesan cheese, salt, nutmeg, white pepper, and egg yolks. The flour and egg yolks help the sauce thicken and set.
Panko breadcrumbs — this adds a crisp, crunchy topping and absorbs excess moisture between layers for a perfectly set moussaka.
How To Make Moussaka
1. Lay paper towels on a work surface. Lightly salt both sides of the eggplant slices and place them in a single layer on the paper towels to absorb any moisture the slices release. Let them stand for 30 minutes, turning each piece over after 15 minutes. Pat the slices dry.
2. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet. Add some of the eggplant to the skillet and cook until golden brown, about 2 minutes per side. Repeat with the rest of the eggplant, adding 1 additional tablespoon of oil to the skillet for each batch.
3. Start the meat sauce by heating oil in the same skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook until softened. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Then add the ground meat and cook, breaking it up into small pieces with a wooden spoon until browned. Drain any excess grease from the skillet.
4. Stir in the oregano, white sugar, cinnamon, salt, pepper, and bay leaf. Add the red wine to deglaze the pan, scraping up any browned bits. Then, stir in the tomato sauce and bring the meat mixture to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook until the meat sauce thickens, about 25 minutes. Remove the bay leaf. Set aside.
5. To make the bechamel sauce, melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Then add the flour and cook for 3 minutes, whisking constantly, until it’s lightly golden. Gradually pour in the whole milk while constantly whisking. Cook, whisking frequently, for about 7 minutes, until the mixture thickens.
6. Add the parmesan cheese, salt, nutmeg, and white pepper and whisk until fully combined. Remove from the heat and let the sauce cool for 5 minutes. Whisk in the egg yolks so the sauce thickens nicely.
7. To assemble the Greek moussaka, grease a 9×13-inch baking dish. Cover the bottom of the baking dish with half of the eggplant slices, overlapping slightly.
8. Sprinkle the eggplant with ¼ cup of the panko breadcrumbs.
9. Spread half of the meat mixture over the layer of eggplant. Repeat with the remaining eggplant slices, ¼ cup of breadcrumbs, and the rest of the meat mixture.
10. Pour the bechamel sauce over the top of the meat sauce and sprinkle with the remaining ¼ cup of breadcrumbs. Bake at 350°F for about 50 minutes, until the moussaka is golden brown and puffed around the edges. Let it cool for 15 minutes before serving to give it time to set up.
Preparing the Eggplant for Moussaka
I prefer to use a larger eggplant like Black Beauty for large slices, but thinner eggplants can also work. You will need more than 3 eggplants if you opt for smaller varieties, so go by weight instead of quantity. (You need 1.4 kg or about 3 lbs of eggplant.) The two key steps for preparing eggplant for moussaka are slicing it correctly and salting the slices.
Slicing: Use a vegetable peeler to remove the eggplant’s outer tough skin, which will get rubbery during baking if you leave it on. Slice off the stem end, then cut lengthwise down the eggplant to get long, oval-shaped slices that are 1/2-inch thick.
Salting: Salting is a very important step as it encourages the eggplant to release moisture so the slices brown well and do not become soggy. Salting also helps reduce any bitterness in flavor.
Can I Use Potatoes?
While I prefer all eggplant, some moussaka recipes call for roasted potatoes. You can swap half or all of the eggplant for thinly sliced Yukon gold potatoes (¼-inch-thick). Either roast the potato slices in the oven until they are almost tender or sear them in the skillet for a few minutes longer per side than the eggplant. If you use both, alternate between them for layers of potatoes and layers of eggplant throughout.
Can I Make this Without Beef?
Instead of ground beef, you can use ground lamb, which yields an incredibly rich, flavorful moussaka meat sauce. Alternatively, you can leave out the red meat entirely and opt for ground chicken or ground turkey. If using poultry, you will need to brown the meat with 2 tablespoons of olive oil since it’s very lean and will be too dry otherwise. For vegetarian moussaka, use a plant-based meat substitute of your choice.
What to Serve with Moussaka
Moussaka is a hearty meal on its own and doesn’t need much to go along with it. I like serving it with a fresh side like Greek salad or cucumber tomato salad for a light option or crusty artisan bread if I want a more substantial side.
Serve a Greek dessert like baklava or bougatsa to finish the meal. I love doing this when I make moussaka for a dinner party. It’s a really delicious way to fully celebrate my Greek heritage!
Make-Ahead and Reheating Instructions
There are 2 ways to make moussaka in advance. You can assemble the dish and chill it unbaked. Let it cool to room temperature, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate the casserole for up to 2 days. Set it out on your counter for about an hour before you want to bake it, then uncover and bake as directed from step 9. The bechamel may settle into the eggplant a bit, but it will still bake up deliciously!
You can also make each element up to 2 days in advance and refrigerate them before assembly. When storing the bechamel sauce, cover the surface of the sauce with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming. Assemble and bake the moussaka when you’re ready.
Pro Tips For Making This Recipe
- Drain off excess fat: To keep the sauce from being greasy, drain any excess fat from the skillet after browning the meat.
- What baking dish to use: You can make this eggplant moussaka recipe in a 3½-quart baking dish of any shape. I prefer using a ceramic or glass dish to keep the edges of the casserole from getting too crispy.
- Use freshly grated parmesan cheese. Pre-shredded cheese contains anti-clumping agents that limit how well the cheese will melt.
- For a browner top, broil the moussaka for 2 to 3 minutes after baking. Keep an eye on it because the bechamel will darken quickly.
Frequently Asked Questions
Store leftover moussaka in an airtight container for up to 5 days. Reheat individual servings in the microwave for a quick option, or transfer leftovers to an oven-safe dish and reheat at 350°F for about 30 minutes.
Yes, you can freeze eggplant moussaka for up to 3 months. You can freeze individual servings in freezer containers or freeze the whole casserole before or after baking. Assemble it in a freezer-safe casserole dish, then wrap the whole dish tightly with plastic wrap and aluminum foil and freeze. Thaw it overnight in the refrigerator, remove any coverings, and bake as directed or reheat leftovers at 350°F for about 30 minutes.
Yes, you can use them as an eggplant substitute, but keep in mind that the texture will be a bit different as they are not quite the same as eggplant. You can skip peeling them as they have a thin, edible skin, but follow the same salting and cooking instructions as the eggplant.
If you love this recipe try these out!
If you’ve tried this moussaka recipe, then don’t forget to rate it and let me know how you got on in the comments below. I love hearing from you!
Moussaka Recipe
Ingredients
For the Eggplant:
- 3 large eggplant peeled and cut lengthwise into ½-inch-thick slices (1.4kg)
- 2 teaspoons salt
- ¼ cup olive oil divided (60mL)
For the Filling:
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 large yellow onion diced (360g)
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 1 pound ground beef or ground lamb (450g)
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 bay leaf
- ½ cup red wine (120mL)
- 1 (15-ounce/ 425g) can tomato sauce
For the Bechamel Sauce:
- ½ cup unsalted butter (113g)
- ⅔ cup all-purpose flour (80g)
- 4 cups whole milk room temperature (960mL)
- 1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese (80g)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ⅛ teaspoon ground white pepper
- 3 large egg yolks
For the Assembly:
- ¾ cup panko breadcrumbs (45g)
Instructions
For the Eggplant:
- Lay paper towels on a work surface. Lightly salt both sides of the eggplant slices and place them in a single layer on the paper towels. Let them stand for 30 minutes, turning each over after 15 minutes. Pat the slices dry.
- In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of oil over medium-high heat. Add one-quarter of the eggplant to the skillet and cook until golden brown, about 2 minutes per side. Repeat cooking the eggplant slices in 3 more batches, adding 1 additional tablespoon of oil to the skillet for each batch.
For the Filling:
- Heat the oil in the same skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the meat and cook, breaking it up into small pieces with a wooden spoon, for about 6 minutes, until browned.
- Drain any excess grease from the skillet. Stir in the oregano, sugar, cinnamon, salt, pepper, and bay leaf. Add the wine to deglaze the pan, scraping up any browned bits. Stir in the tomato sauce and bring the mixture to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer until it thickens, about 25 minutes. Remove the bay leaf.
For the Bechamel:
- Place the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Once it has melted, add the flour and cook for 3 more minutes, whisking constantly, until it’s lightly golden. Gradually pour in the milk while constantly whisking. Cook, whisking frequently, for about 7 minutes, until the mixture thickens.
- Add the cheese, salt, nutmeg, and white pepper and whisk until fully combined. Remove from the heat and let the sauce cool for 5 minutes. Whisk in the egg yolks.
For the Assembly:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9×13-inch baking dish.
- Cover the bottom of the baking dish with half of the eggplant slices, overlapping slightly. Sprinkle the eggplant with ¼ cup of the breadcrumbs. Spread one half of the meat mixture over the eggplant. Repeat with the remaining eggplant slices, ¼ cup of breadcrumbs, and the remaining meat mixture. Pour the bechamel sauce over top and sprinkle with the remaining ¼ cup of breadcrumbs.
- Bake for about 50 minutes, until the moussaka is golden brown and puffed above the edges.
- Let it cool for 15 minutes before serving.
Notes
- Drain off excess fat: To keep the sauce from being greasy, drain any excess fat from the skillet after browning the meat.
- What baking dish to use: You can make this eggplant moussaka recipe in a 3½-quart baking dish of any shape. I prefer using a ceramic or glass dish to keep the edges of the casserole from getting too crispy.
- Use freshly grated parmesan cheese. Pre-shredded cheese contains anti-clumping agents that limit how well the cheese will melt.
- For a browner top, broil the moussaka for 2 to 3 minutes after baking. Keep an eye on it because the bechamel will darken quickly.
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