Active Time
1 hour
Total Time
1 hour 30 minutes plus cooling
When Rick Martinez set out to develop this moussaka recipe, he opted to use eggplant, lamb, and tomatoes. His then fellow senior food editor Chris Morocco wasn’t convinced. Chris’s platonic ideal of the dish is tomato-free, relying on layers of potato, eggplant, and ground beef. So it goes with comfort food in every culture, says Rick; everyone has their own version. In Turkish kitchens, zucchini can stand in for eggplant slices. Other versions feature toasted breadcrumbs or creamy lentils.
Greek moussaka, like this one, with its pillowy top of creamy béchamel sauce, is the best-known version in the US. Like lasagna Bolognese, this is a project recipe best reserved for a weekend, but none of the techniques are complicated. Instead of frying the ½-inch thick slices of eggplant in tedious batches, Rick saves you time (and paper towels) by baking them. If you’d like to break the prep up over a few days, the ground meat and tomato sauce can be cooled and refrigerated for up to three days, and the white sauce or béchamel (technically a mornay since there’s cheese) for up to two. Once assembled and baked, the golden brown moussaka is a stunner, so choose a baking dish you won’t mind bringing straight to the table for everyone to see.
While it’s cooling, make this Greek salad. Its crunchy green pepper and cucumbers are just the things to balance out the meal.
Ingredients
8 servings
Eggplant and Lamb
8
½
2
2
3
2½
½
2
2
1
2
1
1
¾
1
Béchamel and Assembly
6
½
2½
¾
4
2
3
Preparation
Eggplant and Lamb
Step 1
Place a rack in middle of oven; preheat to 475°. Whisk half of the garlic, ½ cup oil, 1 Tbsp. mint, and 1 Tbsp. oregano in a small bowl. Brush both sides of eggplant rounds with herb oil, making sure to get all the herbs and garlic onto eggplant; season with salt and pepper. Transfer eggplant to a rimmed baking sheet (it’s okay to pile the rounds on top of each other) and roast until tender and browned, 35–45 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 400°.
Step 2
Meanwhile, heat remaining 2 Tbsp. oil in a large wide pot over high. Cook lamb, breaking up with a spoon, until browned on all sides and cooked through and liquid from meat is evaporated (there will be a lot of rendered fat), 12–16 minutes. Strain fat through a fine-mesh sieve into a clean small bowl and transfer lamb to a medium bowl. Reserve 3 Tbsp. lamb fat; discard remaining fat.
Step 3
Heat 2 Tbsp. lamb fat in same pot over medium-high (reserve remaining 1 Tbsp. lamb fat for assembling the moussaka). Add onion, cinnamon, 2½ tsp. salt, and ½ tsp. pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is tender and translucent, 8–10 minutes. Add chiles and remaining garlic and cook, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot, until onion is golden brown, about 5 minutes. Add paprika and tomato paste and cook until brick red in color, about 1 minute. Add wine and cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly reduced and no longer smells of alcohol, about 3 minutes. Add tomatoes and break up with a wooden spoon into small pieces (the seeds will shoot out at you if you’re too aggressive, so start slowly—puncture the tomato, then get your smash and break on!). Add lamb and remaining 1 Tbsp. mint and 1 Tbsp. oregano and cook, stirring occasionally, until most of the liquid is evaporated and mixture looks like a thick meat sauce, 5–7 minutes. Pluck out and discard cinnamon stick.
Béchamel and Assembly
Step 4
Heat butter in a medium saucepan over medium until foaming. Add flour and cook, whisking constantly, until combined, about 1 minute. Whisk in warm milk and bring sauce to a boil. Cook béchamel, whisking often, until very thick (it should have the consistency of pudding), about 5 minutes; stir in salt. Remove from heat and whisk in farmer cheese and half of the Pecorino. Let sit 10 minutes for cheese to melt, then add egg yolks and vigorously whisk until combined and béchamel is golden yellow.
Step 5
Brush a 13x9" baking pan with remaining 1 Tbsp. lamb fat. Layer half of eggplant in pan, covering the bottom entirely. Spread half of lamb mixture over eggplant in an even layer. Repeat with remaining eggplant and lamb to make another layer of each. Top with béchamel and smooth surface; sprinkle with remaining Pecorino.
Step 6
Bake moussaka until bubbling vigorously and béchamel is browned in spots, 30–45 minutes. Let cool 30 minutes before serving.
Do Ahead: Moussaka can be baked 1 day ahead. Let cool, then cover and chill, or freeze up to 3 months. Thaw before reheating in a 250° oven until warmed through, about 1 hour.
Editor’s note: This recipe was originally published in September 2017. Head this way for more of our favorite casserole dishes →
Leave a Review
Reviews (46)
Back to TopMade this for my book club and everyone devoured it. Perfect consistency on the bechamel and the spice level on the lamb with the added Fresno Chile was great. I did grate a small amount of fresh nutmeg into the bechamel before baking and added a pinch of cinnamon to the lamb. It did indeed take about 3 hours start to finish so keep that in mind. But worth it. Thankfully :)
RC
Brooklyn NY
11/15/2023
Subbed the lamb for Redefine Meat lamb kebab and added a storebought au gratin potatoes. So, so good!
Sascha
Netherlands
9/21/2023
This was a really disappointing recipe. There’s just not enough done to the lamb. If you’re looking for an alternative with more depth, I’d recommend Michal Symon’s Moussaka recipe.
Anonymous
3/8/2023
As everyone has said, this takes time, but the steps are clear and the results were totally worth it. Only change I had to make was to use jalapenos instead of fresno chiles. My ONE critique would be that this was a tad salty in taste, so I'd probably see where I could cut down on any of the actual added salt.
Anonymous
1/9/2023
Labor intensive but oh so worth it. Made exactly as written a turned out perfect - yiayia would be proud!
Anonymous
Toronto
11/14/2022
This recipe is pretty much perfect as is. Highly recommend.
Anonymous
9/7/2022
I make this once a month for lunch and it is always delicious! It freezes wonderfully and tastes great right out of the fridge.
Plank
Richmond
8/17/2022
This is my go-to recipe for Moussaka. Perfect in every way. I do not change anything.
Jan
Alpharetta, Georgia
8/10/2022
I followed this recipe exactly, except I used fresh tomatoes from my garden, so I cooked the sauce much longer until it thickened enough to be the right consistency. It is perfect. It took me 1.75 hours of hands on time--which doesn't count how long I let the sauce reduce, because that was unattended--and I've worked as a chef. This is completely worth the trouble.
Michele
Chicago
8/25/2021
Adore this recipe. I have made it twice now. The only additions I've found myself making are adding citrus to taste whilst the sauce is cooking. I am sensitive to too much cheese so both times I've made a classic bechamel instead and it is truly to die for!
Anonymous
Australia
7/15/2021
I made mashed potatoes, eggplant, lamb with crushed tomatoes, not whole. I am using a bechamel, with kasseri cheese and parm. Reggiano. I used 3 different recipes and combined. Most called for red wine, but I used white, pinot grigio. My friend who is Bolshevik made for me and she used mashed potatoes, it was divine.
Anonymous
Phoenix
5/2/2021
This recipe is fantastic. If you wanted to you could probably have this done in around two hours (if you roast the eggplant, cook the sauce, and make the béchamel at the same time), but I took my time and did it in 3. Modifications I made to the recipe were using a mix of ground beef and pork instead of lamb, using 3/4 teaspoon (plus some more to taste) of cinnamon instead of the stick, and replacing farmer's cheese with ricotta. I initially followed the recipe's eggplant roasting instructions (preheating to 475 and then turning down to 400), but I actually found that the eggplant wasn't roasting fast enough at the end of 35 minutes, since I had to have three layers. After another 10 minutes at 425 they were perfect. If you have anything more that 2 layers on the sheet I would recommend preheating to 475 and then turning down to 425 instead, then just checking on them often to prevent burning. Overall, this recipe is worth the couple hours involved, and I'll definitely be making it again.
Ryan Wells
Victoria, BC
2/18/2021
This is my go to Moussaka recipe, as good as my fav Greek restaurant. I used dried mint and oregano and probably get the same result, I also swapped a tsp of paprika for that and a tsp of hot smoked paprika, also I add some toasted pine nuts.
Ben
Dubai, UAE
12/10/2020
This was amazing. I would pit it against my favorite mom and pop Greek restaurant down the road. I pretty much followed the recipe, except substituting strained cottages cheese for the farmer's cheese, which is hard to find. I've made simpler moussaka recipes before but this was absolutely worth the time and effort. Even two out of three picky teenagers cleaned their plates!
Steph S
Denver, CO
11/17/2020
I made this for 8 people and had clean plates all around. The only change I made because I didn’t have a stick of cinnamon was 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon and 1/2 teaspoon of allspice. Other than that made to recipe. Really good!
Camiejo
Playa del Rey , CA
11/15/2020