Moussaka Recipe

A hand holds a fork over a slice of moussaka on a white plate, with layers of meat, vegetables, and creamy sauce. The dish sits on a rustic table with patterned tablecloth and salad in the background.

This Moussaka Recipe layers baked eggplant, potatoes, spiced beef, and creamy béchamel into a classic Greek comfort dish that's rich, hearty, and perfect for sharing.

Course Main

Cuisine Greek

Keyword moussaka, eggplant

Prep Time 40

Cook Time 1 30

Resting time 1

Total Time 3 10

Servings large pieces

Calories 464kcal

Author Maria Koutsogiannis

Ingredients

For the eggplant and potatoes

For the meat sauce

For the bechamel

2 large eggs
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
⅔ cup all-purpose flour
6 cups whole milk, room temperature
1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon ground or freshly grated nutmeg
½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (or mizithra cheese)

Instructions

Prepare the eggplant and potatoes

Preheat the oven to 375F. Generously grease 2 large non stick sheet pans with olive oil. Set aside.
Prepare the eggplant: Slice the eggplant into 1/3 inch slices. Put the slices in a large bowl with a big pinch of salt and let sit for 10 minutes.
While the eggplant sits, prepare the potatoes. Peel and then cut the potatoes into 1/4 inch slices. Place the potato slices on one of the prepared sheet pans (or two if needed) and only slightly overlap them. Drizzle generously with olive oil and and an even layer of salt and pepper. Place in the oven for 15 minutes.
Once the eggplant slices have sat in the water for 10 minutes, drain and gently pat dry. Add the eggplant slices to the other oiled sheet pan, the slices can just overlap. Drizzle generously with olive oil and and an even layer of salt and pepper. Once the potatoes have been in the oven for 15 minutes, add the eggplant to the oven and bake everything for 35-40 more minutes until the eggplant is golden brown.
Remove the potatoes and eggplant from the oven and set aside.

Make the meat sauce

While the potatoes and eggplant are baking, make the meat sauce.
Add the olive oil to a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the diced onions, beef and garlic. Break up the beef with a spoon into small pieces and cook with the lid on, stirring every 3 minutes, until there are no juices left, about 12-15 minutes.
Pour in the red wine to deglaze. Cook for a few minutes with the lid off until most of the wine has evaporated.
Stir in the spices and bay leaves. Stir in the diced or whole tomatoes (if using whole tomatoes crush them up a bit when added to the pot), sugar, tomato paste and water and bring to a boil over high heat. Once simmering, turn to medium low and simmer with the lid on until the sauce has cooked down and most of the liquid has evaporated. Remove the bay leaves and set aside.

Make the bechamel

While the meat sauce simmers, whisk the eggs well in a medium bowl.
Melt the butter in a medium skillet or pot over medium-low heat. Add the flour and whisk constantly for 2 minutes. Continue to whisk as you stream in the milk, then add the salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Increase the heat to medium and bring the mixture to a simmer. Cook, whisking often, until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat, add the cheese, and whisk until the sauce is uniform and creamy, 2 to 3 minutes.
Transfer 1 cup of the béchamel sauce to a second medium bowl. Gradually whisk the eggs into the sauce in the bowl, then gradually whisk that mixture back into the sauce in the pot. Return the sauce to low heat and continue to cook, whisking occasionally, until it is even thicker and creamier, about 5 minutes.

Assemble the moussaka

Preheat the oven to 375F. Grease an 9x13 baking dish with olive oil.
Layer all of the cooked potato slices on the bottom of the baking dish, overlapping as you go until you have used all of the potato slices.
Next layer all of the cooked eggplant slices, overlapping as you go until you have used all of the eggplant. Sprinkle 2 tbsp parmesan cheese over the eggplant layer.
Pour in all of the meat sauce and spread evenly.
Pour the bechamel on top of the meat sauce and spread is into an even layer.
Drizzle the top with olive oil and bake in the middle of the oven until the top turns golden brown, about 40-45 minutes. Start checking around the 35 minute mark as all ovens cook differently.
Remove from the oven and let cool at least an hour until it's just warm, this will allow the bechamel layer to be fully set and stay together when you cut through the moussaka.

Video

[adthrive-in-post-video-player video-id="wzjItJEL" upload-date="2024-04-03T00:00:00.000Z" name="Greek Moussaka" description="This delicious Greek Moussaka recipe has layers of meat sauce and eggplant, with creamy bechamel. It's a traditional meal that you won't be able to get enough of."]

Notes

Soaking the eggplant in water with salt removes some of the bitterness of the eggplant so don't skip that step.
Our meat sauce starts with 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil but in traditional Greek moussaka recipes the meat sauce can start with up to 1/2 cup olive oil so feel free to start the recipe with more olive oil if you prefer.
For the meat sauce, if you don’t want to use red wine, you can try substituting with alcohol-free red wine or beef broth.
If you love this recipe you're sure to enjoy our Traditional Greek Pastitsio Recipe (Greek Lasagna)

Nutrition