Greek
Vegan Greek Moussaka
Prep
20 minutes
Cook
1 hour 20 minutes
Yield
8 -10
Some of my favourite things to cook are traditional Greek dishes with a vegan or plant based spin. This Vegan Moussaka is no exception; it’s filled with potatoes, zucchini, eggplant, and lots of delicious olive oil. I love making casseroles this time of year, they are so warm and rich, the ultimate in comfort food!
The greatness of olive oil
I’m sure you know that all olive oil is not created equal. But did you know currently there is a major issue with some olive oil being labeled a specific quality and even coming from a specific location and it just isn’t true! Olive oil not only tastes great but has a lot of health benefits, that is when it comes from a high quality producer. That is why I love using Keros Olive Oil from Ancient Foods. They focus on quality and sustainability, and that’s something I can get behind! Back to those benefits of cooking with olive oil:
- The fatty acid in olive oil is a monounsaturated fat called oleic acid, making up 73% of the total oil content. Studies suggest that oleic acid reduces inflammation!
- Monounsaturated fats like this olive oil can withstand high heat without turning bitter or overpowering the dish- it is also amazing as a finishing oil.
- Olive oil contains high levels of vitamin E and K
- The trees in Greece where KEROS Olive Oil comes from are significantly older (and majestic) than most olive groves – many are over 1000 years old. Older trees produce oil that has more of the healthy components in olive oil, like phenols and antioxidants.
Eggplant: more than an emoji
Did you know when you Google search eggplant, eggplant emoji is the second most searched word. There is so much more to this fruit than its social media following, so it’s no wonder we had to showcase it in this vegan moussaka. Eggplants are so good for you, one cup of raw eggplant contains:
- Fiber: 3 grams
- Protein: 1 gram
- Manganese: 10% of the RDI
- Folate: 5% of the RDI
- Potassium: 5% of the RDI
- Vitamin K: 4% of the RDI
- Vitamin C: 3% of the RDI
Vegan casseroles
Like I mentioned above, casseroles are perfect this time of year. They can be prepared in advance which is a huge time saver at dinner time and usually make enough for leftovers. If you like this recipe be sure to check out some of my other plant based casseroles:
- Lentil Phyllo Dough Crusted Casserole
- Crunchy Green Bean Casserole
- Rustic Squash Casserole
- Zucchini and Butternut Squash Casserole
Give this plant based Greek moussaka a try and let me know what you think!
Vegan Moussaka
Your Greek mommy that is. 😍 Step into my kitchen to learn how to make yummy Greek food. 🍽️💃
Ingredients
For the Vegetables:
- 3 large white russet potatoes peeled and cut into 1/2-1/4 inch slices
- 1 large eggplant cut into 1/2- 1/4 inch slices
- 2 large zucchini cut into 1/2-1/4 inch slices
- 4-5 tbsp Keros olive oil
- season to taste
- 2 tbsp dry oregano
For the Lentil Meat Sauce:
- 3 tbsp. Keros olive oil
- 1 large white onion finely chopped
- 3 cloves of garlic finely chopped
- Season
- 2 tbsp. dry basil
- 1 tbsp. dry oregano
- 1 tsp vegetable stock paste
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp cloves
- 2 400 ml can of brown lentils strained and drained
- 1 400 ml can of black beans strained and drained
- 600 ml crushed Roma tomatoes
- 1 tbsp. Coconut sugar or white sugar is fine too
For the Oat Milk Béchamel:
- 4 tbsp. vegan butter
- 4 tbsp. all purpose flour
- 3 -4 cups oat milk
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp cloves
- season to taste
- dash of lemon
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400F and line three baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Cut your peeled potatoes, zucchini and eggplant and evenly coat with Kero olive oil, seasoning and oregano. Cook potatoes till soft, eggplant till tender and golden brown and zucchini till most of it's liquid has evaporated. The reason we're pre cooking them is so there is no moisture in the baking dish for the moussaka. You want this to be a mix of perfectly crispy and creamy, not watery!
- To prepare your "meat" sauce all you will need in one deep pot. Start by pre-heating your Keros olive oil and adding your onions. Cook them down on medium-low heat for around 5 minutes or until soft. Add in your garlic, salt + pepper, basil, oregano, stock paste, cinnamon and cloves and give your mixture a good stir. Cook for 3 or so more minute on medium-low heat. At this point your home should smell fabulous. Add in your lentils, black bean, tomatoes and sugar. Give it all a good stir before turning heat to low and popping on a lid and reducing for around 20 minutes. You want the sauce to reduce enough that it's thick but not stew like! Once cooked set aside.
- For the bechamel, add the butter to a pot on the stove and heat it at medium to low heat. As the butter melts, sift the flour and add to the pan stirring vigorously, don’t stop. Keep stirring and let it cook for a bit. Don’t let it burn and if it sticks to the pan then turn down the heat. Begin adding the milk, cup by cup, and stir using a whisk. Your heat should still be on medium-low and continue to add milk as it gradually thickens. Add milk till you get to the right thickness (you will probably notice bubbles developing).
- Once you’ve reach your desired thickness, remove from heat and stir in nutritional yeast, cinnamon, cloves, salt + pepper and your lemon! Give it a taste for seasoning before setting aside.
- To assemble your Moussaka grab a deep casserole dish and lightly grease with olive oil. Begin layers by adding your potatoes, then zucchini, then eggplant. Then add a generous layer of "meat" sauce and top with your bechamel. Cover with tin foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove tin foil and bake for another 10-15 minutes. You will know it's ready when the bechamel is more firm and less giggly when you shake the dish. Finish on broil (keep your eyes on this) for around 2-3 minutes to get that nice brown finish. Top with fresh thyme for serving!
- Moussaka goes great with Greek Salad and feta (there are so many amazing plant based versions).
Notes
Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by Ancient Foods
Oh m gee! So good! Does not need any dairy! for real to die for! I didn’t use the black beans but was still so perfect! I added vegan feta & parsley on top! Top notch recipe!
thank you so much, casey! I love this dish so much too! I am glad you loved it!
This turned out absolutely beautiful! Thank you so much for sharing the recipe
You’re so welcome, thank you so much for the love!
AMAZING! Made this for our quarantine supper tonight and absolutely love it! Any idea if this will freeze well?
Thank you so much, Nancy! It should freeze perfectly fine! Next time, if you want, you can make it and then instead of baking it just put in the freezer and them cook for longer in the oven. It’s a make-ahead dinner meal game changer!!
Many thanks Maria, all clear now
You’re welcome. Please let us know how it goes.
Maria, the recipe looks gorgeous and I’ll try it this weekend.
When you say “cook” potatoes, do you mean boiling them or cooking them on a pan or oven?
Thanks
The preheated oven is for all the veggies for you! So first bake them as instructed and then assemble the moussaka with the remaining ingredient/levels and then bake again as instructed! I hope that helps!
Fantastic I made this for my Vegan daughter for Greek Easter and it was delicious 😋!
Thank you so much, Lisa! Means alot!
Hi Maria,
do you use whole cloves or ground cloves in this recipe?
Thanks!
Use what you have but I used ground!
It was delish! Thank you for the recipe
Thank you so much for the love, Laurie!
This vegan moussaka recipe is divine!! I’ve tried many other recipes and they did not turn out and it discouraged me from trying to make it again. Well this recipe turned out perfectly. Followed the receipt to a tee and used cashew milk instead of oat cause that’s all I had and it was incredible. I’ve been trying to recreate a moussaka ever since I had it in Greece! Thank you Maria for being a culinary genius in vegan cuisine! This recipe is perfect to make ahead and eat throughout the week and the left overs store in the freezer well too
Hey Laura! This is such a lovely comment, thank you so much for the support and trusting my recipe enough to give it a go!! Please let us know what you make next!!!
Hi Maria, I am coeliac, and cannot have flour. Can I replace the all purpose flour with GF flour? Thanks in advance.
You can try and use a 1:1 GF flour, should work fine but please note I did not test the bechamel like that!
Thank you for this recipe, we are loving it SO MUCH. Mine wasn’t completely vegan because we had ghee in the house that we used, but will definitely make it vegan next time. We have made it with both oat milk and almond milk and both were delicious.
It is wonderful the first day, but we found second day leftovers to be even better as all the flavors had melded beautifully.
I am looking forward to making many more of your creations – but this one is a winner and will be loved by all the vegans and omnivores I know. Thank you Maria – Happy Holidays!
Hey, beauty!!! Thanks so much for the love, this means so so much to us! Please let us know what you make next time!