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This Rustic Eggplant Moussaka takes a little bit of time and effort to make- but despite this, I wholeheartedly encourage you to give it a go, at least one time this fall because when it is all said and done, it is worth every drop of energy you put into it.
It is that good. It is very special to my heart, one of my all-time favorite recipes on the blog!
Comforting, hearty and flavorful this authentic Eggplant Moussaka Recipe ticks all the boxes for me and honestly, I just can’t wait for you to try it because I know you will love it. It is also easily made vegetarian and vegan!
Make this on a day where you have ample time and are not rushed. Or make it in stages!
For other delicious ways to cook eggplant, take a peek at our 20+ Best Eggplant Recipes.
Eggplant Moussaka Video
What is Eggplant Moussaka?
Eggplant Moussaka originates from the Mediterranean region of the globe, but most commonly hails from Greece. Succulent, roasted (or grilled) eggplant is layered with a rich meaty tomato sauce made with ground lamb (or ground beef) and a hint of cinnamon. This version is vegetarian-adaptable!
It is topped with a wobbly béchamel sauce infused with fresh nutmeg, then placed in a hot oven to bake and meld. It smells divine.
The creamy white béchamel turns a lovely golden brown and infuses your home with goodness. Every time I make this I find myself wishing I would have made a double batch, freezing one for another time.
Can Eggplant Moussaka be made Vegetarian?
Yes! This recipe can easily be made vegetarian and gluten-free. If you are vegetarian, use a ground meat substitute, like Gimme Lean or St Ives Meatless Ground, instead of lamb.
Tips:
- Always roast or grill the eggplant first. There are many recipes out there on how to do a quicker version. Numerous ways to cut corners. And while I am all for efficiency, I have never been happy with these results when it comes to Moussaka. Whatever you do, please do not layer the eggplant without roasting (or grilling) it first!
- Make this in stages if pressed for time. The eggplant can be roasted or grilled ahead and refrigerated. Same with the tomato- meat sauce. Same with the Bechamel! Then just assemble and bake.
- Bake this ahead. The Eggplant Moussaka tastes even better the next day, so feel free to make and bake and ahead, and reheat before serving!
- Salting the eggplant reduces bitterness.
Moussaka Variations:
Benefits of Salting the eggplant:
- Salting the eggplant ahead helps remove some of the bitterness, especially found in larger eggplants that have a lot of seeds (where most of the bitterness is) by drawing out the bitter moisture.
- It helps reduce the amount of oil the eggplant will absorb, resulting in a lighter, healthier, less oily dish.
- It improves the eggplant’s overall texture, keeping it from getting too mushy.
- Even though most of the salt is rinsed off, it seasons the eggplant nicely.
How to salt Eggplant:
- Cut eggplant into ⅓ -1/4 inch disks (no thinner).
- Sprinkle salt on the eggplant and place in a bowl or colander to sit for one hour.
- As you will see, the eggplant will release moisture.
- Rinse and pat dry.
Make sure to rinse this off well (this is a bitter liquid).
Place the eggplant on a clean kitchen towel ( or paper towels) and place another towel over top, pressing down to dry the eggplant as much as possible.
Roast the eggplant!
- Place the eggplant slices on greased baking sheets and either brush lightly with olive oil, or spray with cooking spray.
- Roast in a 400F oven until golden, 20-30 minutes, rotating pan halfway through, careful not to blacken.
- If need be, remove any slices that are thinner which will have cooked faster. The eggplant will continue to cook once assembled, so at this point, don’t worry if they don’t seem completely done. Just make sure they are golden in color. You can also broil them, to bring up the color.
Grilling vs. roasting the Eggplant for Moussaka:
- In summer, I really prefer grilling the eggplant. It saves on having to clean up an extra sheet pan
- and keep the kitchen cool. Plus grilling adds more flavor!
- If grilling, brush with oil, give a good deep sear on each side and wrap up in foil for 10 minutes so it cooks through and gets soft.
Eggplant Moussaka’s Two Signature Sauces:
- A meaty tomato sauce with a hint of cinnamon (vegetarian adaptable) similar to Bolognese typically made with ground lamb ( or beef).
- A creamy bechamel sauce with a hint of nutmeg.
Expert Tip:
If you are tempted to substitute ground beef, because you are not sure you like lamb, this is the perfect recipe to give the lamb a try. The robust flavors of lamb are at home with the cinnamon and nutmeg and give this dish that extra “something”. The flavors really compliment each other, without tasting too lamb-y. Ground lamb truly elevates here!
Start with the tomato meat sauce, because it takes longer to cook. And like I said before, feel free to make this 1-2 days ahead!
The last step in making the bechamel is adding a lightly beaten egg.
Assemeble the Moussaka
In a greased, ovenproof baking dish, or dutch oven, layer the first layer of eggplant, on the bottom.
Add half of the meat sauce and then add another layer of eggplant.
Add the rest of the meat sauce, and add the third and final layer of eggplant.
By this time, you will have dirtied many dishes, but the smell wafting from the oven will reward you as you begin cleaning up. 🙂
When the Rustic Eggplant Moussaka is done, it will be a lovely golden brown. Let it rest a few minutes before diving into it.
Any leftovers you have will be doubly good the next day.
Other recipes you may like:
Rustic Eggplant Moussaka
- Prep Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 2 hours
- Total Time: 3 hours
- Yield: 8 1x
- Category: Main, lamb, Entree, vegetarain
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: Greek
Description
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.
Ingredients
Tomato Meat Sauce:
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large onion, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, rough chopped
- 2 lbs ground lamb, ground beef (or use vegetarian ground meat substitute -Gimme Lean or St Ives Meatless Ground.) I prefer lamb.
- 1 1/2 cups diced tomatoes, with juices (or 14-ounce can, with juices)
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1/2 cup white wine (optional, sub 1/4 cup water)
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 3/4 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cracked pepper
- 2–3 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley
Bechamel Sauce:
- 3 tablespoons butter or olive oil
- 4 tablespoons flour
- 2 cups milk
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg (use fresh grated if possible)
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
- 1/8 tsp pepper or white pepper
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan, Pecorino or Kefalotiri Cheese ( plus an additional 1/4 cup for the top-optional)
- 1 egg, room temp, lightly beaten
Instructions
- 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.
Notes
- Notes: You can make this ahead and refrigerate for a couple days before baking. You can also freeze this after baking.
- An easy way to approach this is to make this in stages. For example, roast or grill the eggplant a couple days ahead, make the meat sauce the next day, make the béchamel the last day and assemble the day of baking.
- My personal preferences here are to grill the eggplant if possible and to use ground lamb (or a mix of beef and lamb). Soooo good!
- VEGAN: You could make this vegan by using vegetarian meat – then olive oil, nut milk and vegan cheese in the bechamel. It can be done. Just make sure both the red sauce and white sauce are flavorful, tasting and seasoning 🙂
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 564
- Sugar: 12.6 g
- Sodium: 411.8 mg
- Fat: 40.7 g
- Saturated Fat: 14.1 g
- Carbohydrates: 23.5 g
- Fiber: 6.6 g
- Protein: 25.7 g
- Cholesterol: 109.2 mg
Keywords: moussaka, best moussaka recipe, eggplant moussaka, moussaka recipe, authentic moussaka, vegetarian moussaka, eggplant moussaka recipe, vegetarian moussaka
I am cooking this in stages over the next couple of days. I don’t want to mess up the flavors, so I’m wondering – will canned, diced tomatoes work, or should I buy some fresh and dice them myself? Thanks ahead of time. Really looking forward to making this for my wife!
Canned tomatoes will work fine. 🙂
Wow! This one was so amazing! Felt like took a trip to Greece.
I made with dried soy mince (tvp) instead of meat. My BF said he would not have guessed it was vegetarian. This is a economic option. I soaked the dried mince with soysous, oystersous, tomato pure, oil, vinegar, onion powder, garlic powder and water, to get the rich umami flavours.
It took all afternoon to make this, but really worth it.
Only adjustment i would do next timr is use a couple more aubergins.
★★★★★
Love it!
I made this last week. I had too much lamb and not enough eggplant! I will change the proportions next time. Makes enough for several meals!
★★★★★
So delicious! Wish I had made more.
★★★★★
First time I’m making ground lamb in tomatoes…first time making eggplant!! I tasted eggplant after grilling yummy…normally dont like eggplant.. this recipe is delicious!! Thank you for sharing recipe and Iwill definately make this again!
★★★★★
I like this one too- so happy you liked it!
This was delicious! Thanks for the recipe! I saw another one that required more steps and ingredients so admittedly chose yours to minimize my effort. I’m glad it turned out great. Now I have no desire to try a more complicated recipe! Hubby and I loved it’
★★★★★
Can this be frozen after bake
Yes, it should freeze fine, after baking. 😉
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!
★★★★★
Thanks Bonnie!
does it matter which eggplant you use? it’s winter now so eggplants aren’t in season.
Right but the thinner longer style will work best here- Japanese eggplant if you can find?
A family favourite that’s absolutely scrumptious! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!!!!
★★★★★
HI, I’m confused about the amount of cheese used. The Bechamel sauce calls for 1/4 cup grated Parmesan, Pecorino or Kefalotiri Cheese. Later the recipe states to “Sprinkle with the remaining cheese and place in a 350F oven.” Please clarify the amount of cheese is each step. Sorry if I missed it1
!?! I’m looking forward to making this for my vegetarian daughter who can no longer find it at her local restaurant! Thank you!
Optional 1/4 cup for the topping. 1/4 cup in the bechamel sauce. 1/2 cup total.
Delicious thank you Sylvia! I did forget to drain the lamb fat. Must remember next time but otherwise it was perfect. Pinning to my favourites.
★★★★★
how do you reheat this recipe if you baked it a day early?
Let it come to room temp, baked covered for 20-25 minutes or until warmed all the way through at 350 or 375F. If top needs more browing, remove the foil for a bit.
It’s great reheated in the microwave too.
Today is the second time making your recipe. It was so excellent the first time, about a month ago, that now I’m making it for company. We thought it got better each time we had “leftovers”, that I am making it a day ahead for this dinner for friends. I will follow the advise you gave someone else about how to reheat. Thanks so much for sharing this wonderful recipe!!
★★★★★
I always thought that moussaka had a layer of mashed potatoes on top, in addition to the bechamel. Apparently, not authentic! I noticed someone’s comment about the Greek restaurant where she worked, adding sliced potatoes between the layers. I did this, and it’s fabulous. Great recipe. Thanks.
★★★★★
When I had this (repeatedly) in Greece, they never had the potatoes but we were in the Southern region, during the summer. I wonder if it is a regional thing- or perhaps a seasonal thing- in the Northern regions or cooler months? It sounds good to me, but I really like how this version keeps it a bit lighter. Do as you like. 🙂
I’m looking for ways to use the remaining eggplant in my garden, and this recipe looks delicious.
If I omit the egg in the béchamel to make it vegan, will the consistency of the béchamel be too thin?
Do you have any suggestions for an alternative to using egg?
Hi Carol, you can leave the egg out. It might be a tiny bit thinner but I don’t think it will affect the dish too much. Will you use vegan cheese?
I use some vegan products because of some food sensitivities that I have, but will probably use Parmesan as I can manage it in small quantities. Thanks for the advice regarding the egg in the sauce.
★★★★★
Perfect!
Is it OK to use low fat or non-fat milk in this recipe?
I think low fat would be fine!
Made this with Turkey meat and came out great. Very addicting! I needed some advice on how to freeze properly as I’ve never made something to eat for another time and I think this would be a treat to pop in the oven. Do you have a certain casserole dish with a freezer lid? Do you transfer to a freezer safe dish? Sounds silly to ask but wouldn’t want to mess this up as it does require some time preparing. Thank you so much for tips.
Awesome Maureen. What if you baked in a pyrex? Then froze that? Not silly! Or freeze in smaller portions, maybe even ziplocks?
Delicious!
I grew up in the Detroit area where there are a number of Greek restaurants (‘Greek Town’ is an area in downtown Detroit). I have eaten moussaka in many of these establishments. This recipe is spot on for authentic flavor.
I recommend that you do not cut the eggplant less than 1/2″ thick. It tends to shrink when baking so this is a good starting point. Ensure that you use enough salt to ‘sweat’ the eggplant slices effectively. Let them sit for at least 50-60 minutes to ensure they release enough of their water so your casserole is not ‘wet’. Also, make sure your meat sauce is cooked down so it is essentially crumbled meat. This will also ensure you do not end up with too much moisture in the baking dish.
★★★★★
thanks for the tips!
Absolutely delicious
Also freezes well In individual servings
It’s a real treat and worth the time
★★★★★
Yay!!! Thanks so much Marsha glad it worked for you! 🙌
Haven’t cooked this yet, but it seems if you’re splitting this up over multiple days, do the meat sauce first, eggplant second and bechamel day of. Like stews and soups the meat sauce should benefit from the extra day to meld and deepen the flavours.
Love it George, thanks!
This was really nice. Used lamb and it was delicious. Gets better every day after you make it! Thank you.
★★★★★
Thanks so much Aaron! Glad you enjoyed this.
Wow, what a mammoth task, but I do it once or twice a year! Thanks.
★★★★★
Same here. Labor of love. Grilling the eggplant the day before makes it easier I find!
This was my first time to cook moussake and I had lots of recipes to choose from. In the end I went for this one – what a great choice! It was so delicious and thankfully enough to do us tonight again. Roasting the eggplants really worked and the bechamel sauce was amazing. Yes I will definitely cook this again and again and again!!
★★★★★
Thanks so much Rosemary, great to hear you liked it! 🙌
Thank you! Still in the oven. Looking for forward to tasting it. First time I’ve made Mousaka! Whoo hoo! 🍮🍲🍜🍠🍜🍲🍮
Yay! I hope you like it!