Moussaka Recipe

Superb! I live in Greek Cyprus and this recipe is exactly what I was looking for. I wanted to cut out the extra cup of fat from the olive oil and butter so I broiled the eggplant until browned with olive oil sprayed on top & bottom of thin slices. Diminished the cinnamon & nutmeg to 1/8 tsp ea., (did use oregano, basil & thyme)and left the nutmeg out of the bachamel. I used only 2T butter in the meat sauce. It was fabulous! I'm glad it makes so much--can't wait for the leftovers!

Fantastic! with a few modifications as follows. don't fry the eggplant: brush a little bit of olive oil & cook them in a oven at 450 till moderately soft...you don't want mush... bechamel sauce: I don't get why everyone is saying this makes too much sauce?! It doesn't, trust me. You want at least an inch high layer of this when it's done cooking, so use the ingredients as written. I do agree with adding the extra eggs. I made the sauce as directed, then as it cooled I added two eggs yolks one at a time, blended that, then I added the 2 egg whites (which I had first beaten till stiff with a mixer). Next time I might try the 3rd egg as some recommend for even more firmness. meat sauce: save calories, don't brown the beef in butter! Increase garlic to at 2-3 cloves. I used italian seasoning for "fine herbs". Add a big pinch of sugar to cut the acidity. I used about 1/2 tsp of salt, and 1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper. I made the meat sauce one day ahead (to save time on the big day & to allow the flavors to come out). mysterious olive oil: I don't know where that 1/4 cup of olive oil is supposed to come in? I never used it. Certainly didn't miss it. construction: Use a big/deep lasgane pan. The 9 X 13 glass pan isn't big enough. To be more authentic you can add a thin layer of potato in the bottom. Peel two potatoes, slice them about 1/4 in or less slices, brush with small amount of olive oil, roast in 450 oven for about 15 minutes.

Having parents who lived in Greece for years, we had many variations of this dish. The best one is using sliced potatoes as well as eggplant. If you add 3 egg yolks to the white sauce, then beat the whites to a stiff peak and fold them in your crust will puff up beautifully. It is wonderful. Even my 3 year old loves it. Mirrisa, San Angelo TX

This turned out great! Tasted just as good as any Moussaka I've ever had in Greek restaurants. I did do some things suggested in others' comments: (1) I broiled the sliced eggplant after spraying it with olive oil and seasoning with salt and pepper. (2) I didn't use butter to cook the ground beef. I used non-stick olive oil spray. Then drained the fat once the beef was fully cooked. (3) For the bechamel sauce, I whipped 3 egg whites with an electric hand mixer until they formed stiff peaks. Then I added them to the bechamel sauce as the final step before pouring it over the other layers. This made the consistency of the sauce a bit thicker. The recipe yielded the exact amount of sauce needed to cover the whole dish. No overflow. (4) I used sliced potatoes as the first layer, approximately 1/4" thick. Then the meat mixture and a light sprinkling of shredded parmesan. Then the eggplant. And finally the bechamel sauce and another light sprinkling of shredded parmesan. The recipe turned out wonderfully! I served it with a Greek Salad for a "fresh" component since Moussaka is a rich dish.

This is a great recipe, well organized in the steps. I followed a Greek recipe for the bechamel, because Mousaka usually has this kind of light, fluffy topping. That uses eggs, yolks go into the meat, and I whipped the whites and folded them into the bechamel before baking. The flavors are comparable to what I've had in Greek restaurants. Thanks.

I have an old Betty Crocker International Cookbook recipe for moussaka that I sort of drew on to adjust this recipe. I used ground lamb and added 2/3 cup of grated parmesan and 1/3 cup of bread crumbs to the meat mixture as well as the beaten egg. As others have commented, the bechamel was very thin - not like I'm used to seeing - (ratio for bechamel has always been 1/2 cup butter to 1/2 cup flour), so I tempered an egg and added that to the sauce as well as 1/3 cup of parmesan and it thickened up nicely. I fried up the eggplant and some potato slices, lined the baking dish with the potatoes and then followed the layering of the recipe. It's in the oven now, smells great and I'm sure will taste great - it's a casserole and you really can't ruin a casserole - Greek diners serve moussaka that is either good or meh so with good ingredients a homemade version is bound to be better.

Talk about comfort food! Such a great recipe, I sliced the eggplant really thin with my mandoline, used a few more sprinkles of nutmeg, and because I have some gluten free family members, I used 3 tablespoons of corn starch instead of flour for bechemel , those were the only changes. It is a wonderful recipe and will definitely make again!

This turned out so good! I moved 6hrs away from my fave Greek restaurant and we have no green food here so I’ve been trying to find a recipe for Moussaka bc it’s my fave!! This was so yum! It’s not 100% like the Greek restaurant but very similar for a 1st attempt on my part! I did take the suggestions bc Moussaka does have potatoes on the bottom, I also added the 3 egg yolks and whipped the eggs whites and folded them into the béchamel sauce, bc the topping is super fluffy on traditional Moussaka! Thank you so much for this recipe! I will be making it again !

Wonderful! great even cold the next day. I've made this several times, last time I didn't use butter or ¼ cup olive oil. I used a little spray olive oil and roasted egg plant in oven. turned out less greasy and just as delicious. For time management I put it together and refrigerated the main part, making béchamel approximately 30 min. before baking about 15 min longer. let it set 20 min before serving.

I used ground lamb just because I thought it was the right meat for moussaka. Based on reading the reviews I went with 2 regular eggplant and broiled in oven (but not long enough to make the slices mushy) after brushing with olive oil on top side. Used 2 eggs: beat the yolks and add to the meat sauce after it had cooled for about 10 minutes and beaten whites folded into béchamel sauce both after it had cooled to some degree. I found an hour and a half prep (but I had the eggplant prepared for broiling in advance). All in all it was a great looking meal but I did find it could have used a little more salt (I tried to be cautious with it) and the béchamel didn’t set so I put it back in the oven for an extra half hour. I did use skim milk and think I could have cut back by half a cup to a cup and obtained a better consistency. Also, the eggplant was still fairly firm which wasn't necessarily a bad thing but I think because I sliced it a bit too thick in some cases. This is my daughter's favourite meal.

I used ground lamb just because I thought it was the right meat for moussaka. Based on reading the reviews I went with 2 regular eggplant and broiled in oven (but not long enough to make the slices mushy) after brushing with olive oil on top side. Used 2 eggs: beat the yolks and add to the meat sauce after it had cooled for about 10 minutes and beaten whites folded into béchamel sauce both after it had cooled to some degree. I found an hour and a half prep (but I had the eggplant prepared for broiling in advance). All in all it was a great looking meal but I did find it could have used a little more salt (I tried to be cautious with it) and the béchamel didn’t set so I put it back in the oven for an extra half hour. I did use skim milk and think I could have cut back by half a cup to a cup and obtained a better consistency. Also, the eggplant was still fairly firm which wasn't necessarily a bad thing but I think because I sliced it a bit too thick in some cases. This is my daughter's favourite meal.

Delicious. However you cannot put a quarter of a cup of olive oil in a frying pan and expect to fry all of that eggplant up. Eggplants are like sponges and the first three slices you put in there will soak up a quarter of a cup. What I do as I lightly paint them with a brush on both sides. Might need a teaspoon or two more. Browned them but only cook them halfway.I also use large onions and a rounded teaspoon of fines herbs.You must cook up the flour and the butter for a minute or two maybe three minutes to cook the flour a bit.And keep whisking after you put in the milk until it becomes thick many people I suspect are not cooking at long enough. Also leave it uncovered when you let it sit for an hour before eating. Used a slightly larger pan.Great basic recipe

Mostly my errors……lots of timing.

Made it for lunch, and it was perfect.

Judge the size of the eggplants carefully = I only needed two as they were quite large. Also suggest letting the dish 'rest' for about 15 min after taking from oven. Much like a lasagna that is cut into too soon, this dish needs a little time to set up for slicing.

Appreciated the tips from SWblend. Added the potatoes and would recommend this be added to the recipe. Such a satisfying dish and worth the effort.

I followed many of the tweaks that WSBLEND suggested. For sure, do the baked/roasted eggplant. Less mess, less grease. Having lived in Greece for a few years, I was happy with the flavour of this. We devoured it. It was a fair bit of effort, but it was enjoyable to make on a day when I had time to putter in the kitchen.

This recipe was delicious. I wouldn't change anything.

The directions didn't mention to place only one half of the eggplant on the bottom and the remaining one half later. Being this was my first time making this recipe I didn't realize that there should be two layers of eggplant.

Many people like myself add zucchini and potatoes to the layers. I e never heard of eggs in the meat. Not really that authentic. Bechamel 6 tablespoons butter 6 tablespoons flour 2 cups milk Salt Parmesan Nutmeg White pepper, black will do too. Melt butter, add flour until combined add HOT, but not boiling milk. Whisk together until smooth and add grated Parmesan, a couple sprinkles of nutmeg, Kaseri, Kefalotyri or any hard yellow cheese until desired texture. Add a bit of pepper and adjust for salt. I pour on top and sprinkle cheese all over top instead of eggs.