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Classic Moussaka

Hearty and delicious—a Mediterranean dinner for the whole family! This classic Greek casserole with the lovely name moussaka is one of those dishes I always enjoy making. Besides potatoes, you can add other vegetables to the eggplant, tomatoes, and ground meat. The result is always fantastic. Give it a try!

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Moussaka classic
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Composition / ingredients

Servings:
Translation table of volumetric measures
Nutrients and energy value of the composition of the recipe
By weight of the composition:
Proteins 29 % 6 g
Fats 38 % 8 g
Carbohydrates 33 % 7 g
129 kcal
GI: 88 / 0 / 13

Cooking method

  1. Step 1:

    Step 1

    How do you make classic moussaka? Gather the ingredients. The ground meat can be beef, veal, lamb, or any other you like.

  2. Step 2:

    Step 2

    Peel the onion and cut it into small dice.

  3. Step 3:

    Step 3

    Wash, dry, and finely chop the parsley.

  4. Step 4:

    Step 4

    Drop the tomatoes into boiling water for 1 minute to loosen the skins, then peel them. Grate the tomatoes into a purée.

  5. Step 5:

    Step 5

    Sauté the onion in a skillet with a little vegetable oil until partly cooked.

  6. Step 6:

    Step 6

    Add the ground meat to the skillet. Cook it until it changes color, stirring often and breaking up the lumps. Add the tomato purée and wine and stir. Simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Instead of wine you can use plain water or meat broth (note the flavor will change a little).

  7. Step 7:

    Step 7

    Add the parsley, cinnamon, ground black pepper, and salt, and stir.

  8. Step 8:

    Step 8

    Simmer until the liquid has completely evaporated.

  9. Step 9:

    Step 9

    Wash and dry the eggplant, slice it into planks, and salt it. Leave it for 20 minutes to draw out the bitterness, then rinse and pat dry with paper towels.

  10. Step 10:

    Step 10

    In a skillet with vegetable oil, fry the eggplant on both sides until browned.

  11. Step 11:

    Step 11

    Peel the potatoes and cut them into thin rounds.

  12. Step 12:

    Step 12

    Lay the potato rounds in a baking dish and salt them. My dish is about 11 x 7 inches (27 x 17 cm).

  13. Step 13:

    Step 13

    Add a layer of eggplant.

  14. Step 14:

    Step 14

    Spread the ground meat over the eggplant and press it down a little.

  15. Step 15:

    Step 15

    Arrange the rest of the eggplant on top.

  16. Step 16:

    Step 16

    Gather the ingredients for the sauce.

  17. Step 17:

    Step 17

    Finely grate the cheese.

  18. Step 18:

    Step 18

    Beat the eggs until smooth.

  19. Step 19:

    Step 19

    Melt the butter in a skillet, add the flour, and stir well.

  20. Step 20:

    Step 20

    Cook the flour, stirring constantly, until golden.

  21. Step 21:

    Step 21

    Take it off the heat and gradually pour in the warm milk in a thin stream, stirring vigorously so no lumps of flour form.

  22. Step 22:

    Step 22

    Stir the sauce until completely smooth.

  23. Step 23:

    Step 23

    Bring the sauce to a boil over low heat. Add the nutmeg and salt and stir. When salting, keep in mind how salty the cheese is.

  24. Step 24:

    Step 24

    Add the grated cheese and stir. Warm the sauce until the cheese melts completely and it thickens slightly. Let the sauce cool until warm—to speed this up, you can pour it into another container.

  25. Step 25:

    Step 25

    Add the beaten eggs to the sauce and mix well.

  26. Step 26:

    Step 26

    Pour the prepared sauce over the stacked layers.

  27. Step 27:

    Step 27

    Bake the moussaka in an oven preheated to 350°F (180°C) for 40 minutes. If the top browns too soon, cover the moussaka with foil. The time and temperature are approximate—go by your own oven.

  28. Step 28:

    Step 28

    Cut the finished casserole into pieces, garnish with fresh herbs, and serve. Enjoy!

  • Traditionally moussaka is made with ground lamb, but you can use beef or veal. You can add finely chopped garlic to the meat. Alternatively, make a classic béchamel sauce to pour over the casserole and sprinkle the cheese both inside and on top. The recipe uses dry white wine; even though the alcohol cooks off, a hint of its flavor remains, which not everyone will enjoy—you can leave the wine out (which is what I'd do). All in all, the moussaka turned out delicious and quite filling.
  • Keep in mind that ovens vary. The temperature and cooking time may differ from those in the recipe. To make any baked dish a success, read up on how ovens behave!
  • Important! The wrong pan can ruin even the best recipe. For all the details on choosing the perfect pan for different dishes, see here.
  • Any cheese works for this dish—hard, semi-hard, or soft like mozzarella. The main thing is that it's tasty, good quality, free of milk-fat substitutes, and melts well.

Caloric content of the products possible in the composition of the dish

  • Ripe potatoes - 80  kcal/100g
  • Baked potatoes - 70  kcal/100g
  • Mashed potatoes - 380  kcal/100g
  • Boiled potatoes - 82  kcal/100g
  • Potatoes in uniform - 74  kcal/100g
  • Fried potatoes - 192  kcal/100g
  • Tomatoes - 23  kcal/100g
  • Whole cow's milk - 68  kcal/100g
  • Milk 3.5% fat content - 64  kcal/100g
  • Milk 3.2% fat content - 60  kcal/100g
  • Milk 1.5% fat content - 47  kcal/100g
  • Concentrated milk 7.5% fat content - 140  kcal/100g
  • Milk 2.5% fat content - 54  kcal/100g
  • Chicken egg - 157  kcal/100g
  • Egg white - 45  kcal/100g
  • Egg powder - 542  kcal/100g
  • Egg yolk - 352  kcal/100g
  • Ostrich egg - 118  kcal/100g
  • Eggplant - 24  kcal/100g
  • Dutch cheese - 352  kcal/100g
  • Swiss cheese - 335  kcal/100g
  • Russian cheese - 366  kcal/100g
  • Kostroma cheese - 345  kcal/100g
  • Yaroslavsky cheese - 361  kcal/100g
  • Altai cheese 50% fat content - 356  kcal/100g
  • Cheese 'Soviet' - 400  kcal/100g
  • Cheese 'steppe' - 362  kcal/100g
  • Uglichsky cheese - 347  kcal/100g
  • Poshekhonsky cheese - 350  kcal/100g
  • Lambert cheese - 377  kcal/100g
  • Appnzeller cheese with 50% fat content - 400  kcal/100g
  • Chester cheese with 50% fat content - 363  kcal/100g
  • Edamer cheese with 40% fat content - 340  kcal/100g
  • Cheese with mushrooms of 50% fat content - 395  kcal/100g
  • Emmental cheese with 45% fat content - 420  kcal/100g
  • Gouda cheese with 45% fat content - 356  kcal/100g
  • Aiadeus cheese - 364  kcal/100g
  • Dom blanc cheese (semi-hard) - 360  kcal/100g
  • Lo spalmino cheese - 61  kcal/100g
  • Cheese 'etorki' (sheep, hard) - 401  kcal/100g
  • White cheese - 100  kcal/100g
  • Fat yellow cheese - 260  kcal/100g
  • Altai cheese - 355  kcal/100g
  • Kaunas cheese - 355  kcal/100g
  • Latvian cheese - 316  kcal/100g
  • Limburger cheese - 327  kcal/100g
  • Lithuanian cheese - 250  kcal/100g
  • Lake cheese - 350  kcal/100g
  • Gruyere cheese - 396  kcal/100g
  • Ground black pepper - 255  kcal/100g
  • Parsley greens - 45  kcal/100g
  • White wine - 78  kcal/100g
  • Butter 82% - 734  kcal/100g
  • Amateur unsalted butter - 709  kcal/100g
  • Unsalted peasant butter - 661  kcal/100g
  • Peasant salted butter - 652  kcal/100g
  • Melted butter - 869  kcal/100g
  • Vegetable oil - 873  kcal/100g
  • Salt - 0  kcal/100g
  • Onion - 41  kcal/100g
  • Wheat flour - 325  kcal/100g
  • Nutmeg - 556  kcal/100g
  • Ground cinnamon - 247  kcal/100g
  • Ground beef - 254  kcal/100g

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