🍆 Moussaka

Name: Moussaka
Total time: 120 min
Yield: 6
Cuisine: Greece
Ingredients: 2 large eggplants, sliced 1 cm thick; 3 potatoes, sliced; 500 g ground lamb; 1 onion, chopped, and 2 garlic cloves; 400 g chopped tomatoes; 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp allspice; 3 tbsp olive oil, salt, pepper; 600 ml thick béchamel sauce

Origin: Greece

700kcal

per serving · 350 g

200kcal

per 100 g

35 gProtein10 g / 100 g

42 gFat12 g / 100 g

42 gCarbs12 g / 100 g

Moussaka is a baked casserole of sliced eggplant and potato layered with a lamb and tomato sauce and topped with a thick layer of béchamel. Baked until golden, it slices into rich, creamy layers with a warmly spiced meat filling. It is served in squares, warm rather than piping hot, often with a simple salad.

Diets

✓

No porkfor halal, the meat must be halal-slaughtered

Not vegetarianbecause of: ground lamb

Not veganbecause of: ground lamb, béchamel sauce

Contains glutenbecause of: béchamel sauce

Contains dairybecause of: béchamel sauce

Not keto12 g carbs per 100 g

Allergens

Contains (in a typical recipe):

⚠ Gluten ⚠ Eggs ⚠ Milk

What it is made of

eggplantground lambtomatobéchamel saucepotato

Recipe

6 servings120 min

Ingredients

2 large eggplants, sliced 1 cm thick
3 potatoes, sliced
500 g ground lamb
1 onion, chopped, and 2 garlic cloves
400 g chopped tomatoes
1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp allspice
3 tbsp olive oil, salt, pepper
600 ml thick béchamel sauce

Method

Brush the eggplant and potato slices with oil and roast at 200 °C for 20–25 minutes until soft.
Fry the onion and garlic, add the lamb and brown it, then add tomatoes, spices, salt and pepper and simmer for 25 minutes until thick.
Layer the potatoes in a baking dish, then half the eggplant, the meat sauce and the remaining eggplant.
Spread the béchamel evenly over the top.
Bake at 180 °C for 45 minutes until golden, then rest for 20 minutes before slicing.

How to make it lighter

Roast the eggplant instead of frying it — eggplant soaks up a lot of oil, and 1 tbsp oil ≈ 120 kcal.
Use a thinner layer of béchamel and lean lamb, draining off the fat after browning.
Serve a modest square with a large green salad.

History

Dishes called moussaka exist across the Balkans and the eastern Mediterranean, but the Greek version with a béchamel topping is usually credited to the chef Nikolaos Tselementes, who popularised it in the 1920s. Today it is one of the best-known dishes of Greek cuisine.

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Values are estimates per 100 g for a typical recipe; home and restaurant versions vary. Diets and allergens are worked out from the ingredients of a typical recipe — always check with whoever cooked the dish. Not medical advice. Nutrition data: Me Nutrition dish database v13. How we count →