This vegan moussaka recipe is hands down the best one you'll ever have! It's 100% authentic based off of my Greek mom's recipe and will knock the socks off all your guests.
While Greek moussaka can take some effort, much like a lasagna, it is possible to make it easier the day you put it together following all my tips and tricks.
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Ralphs. The opinions and text are all mine.
This post was originally published on 11/14/16
Taking my mom's Greek recipes from her childhood back in Greece and making them vegan is my super power. My vegan spanakopita is one of my huge successes, but my vegan pastitsio is a close second!
Ingredients
Traditionally, moussaka is made of cream and meat. Two things that are not part of a plant based diet. But I knew that with some experimenting, I could make it happen and I nailed this one.
Obviously we need eggplant for one of the layers.
Here is what you need for the ' meaty' filling (a similar filling to my Vegan Shepherd’s Pie):
- Onion
- Garlic
- Chickpeas
- Lentils
- Walnuts
- Broth
- Tomatoes
- Parsley
- Tomato sauce
- Wine
- Breadcrumbs
- Vegan Parmesan Cheese
- Salt and Pepper
I used the Ralphs Private Selection and Simple Truth Organic brand beans and spices for this recipe. I love how they are easily accessible and have great prices!
The béchamel layer is actually pretty simple, and so amazingly delicious. Here is all I needed:
- Cashews
- Broth
- Potato
- Salt and pepper (I used white pepper for color but black works too)
How to Make Moussaka
This one definitely takes some time and effort. But the end result is SO good! You can also check out my tips on how to prep ahead to make this easier.
Prepare the eggplant:
- Slice the eggplant into evenly thick pieces.
- Drain the excess moisture by placing the slices in a colander or on a paper towel and sprinkle with salt. Allow them to sit 10 minutes, then wipe off any excess water with a paper towel.
- Arrange the eggplant slices on a parchment lined cookie sheet and brush with oil.
- Broil in the oven.
Make the béchamel and filling
- Blend all of the sauce ingredients until thick and creamy, set aside.
- Sauté the "meaty" layer ingredients until cooked.
- Pulse the chickpeas and walnuts then add to the filling in the pan. You can also wait to pulse everything together for that perfect crumble.
Assemble the layers and bake
- Start by sprinkling in the breadcrumbs.
- Next layer the roasted eggplant slices.
- Top with the "meaty" layer and some Parmesan.
- Add the béchamel sauce on top, with some more Parmesan.
- Then bake and serve!
Preparation suggestions
One good thing about recipes like this, is that there's so much going on it's easy to make adjustments! Here are some tips that should help you along the way:
- I found the canned cooked chickpeas gave a slightly better texture. You can also use dried chickpeas, but make sure to soak them overnight.
- If you prefer not to use wine, then add veggie broth in place of it, although the red wine gives it a great flavor.
- You can make breadcrumbs if you prefer homemade. Toast 2 pieces of bread until crisp, then blend in a food processor.
- If you are not using a high speed blender you can either soak the cashews overnight or grind them into a fine powder using a coffee grinder.
- You can use regular black pepper in place of white pepper in both parts of this recipe, the white allows the béchamel to look smooth without any black spots in it.
- If you hate eggplant, you could also sub potatoes for the eggplant, or even zucchini. Just make sure to cut the zucchini thick and salt it as it has a lot of water.
What to Serve with Moussaka
When it comes to moussaka, you don't really need to serve it with anything because it's an all encompassing recipe. You have protein, and grains and veggies so one and done!
But, if you wanted to make something a bit extra, I suggest serving it with a salad, greens or veggies of some sort. Here are some of our favorite sides for vegan moussaka:
- Vegan Greek Farro Salad
- Traditional Vegan Greek Salad
- Mediterranean Orzo Salad
- Fasolakia (Greek Green Beans)
- Roasted Greek Lemon Potatoes
- Creamy Vegan Mashed Potatoes
- Peas with Scallions and Dill
- Sautéed Spinach
- Lemon Kale Salad
- Vegan Spanakopita
Tips for Preparing in Advance
Moussaka is a love hate kind of recipe. It is SO good but takes some work. However I have a few tips on how you can prep this recipe so that is isn't so hard the day you need it.
- Make the meaty filling, blend the béchamel, and prep the eggplant.
- Store all of these in the fridge in separate containers until ready to use. I would suggest that you make these no more than 2-3 days ahead of time.
- You can also make the meaty filling and béchamel and freeze them until ready.
- The moussaka itself can be assembled the day before you want to serve it if you don't have time the day of.
- Once assembled, half bake it.
- When you're ready to serve bake it the rest of the way the day of.
- Make sure to check to see if you need to add some broth to the dish so it doesn't dry out when baking.
- If it starts to get too dry and burn at the bottom, then just drizzle a little broth along the sides so it sinks to the bottom of the dish.
Tips for freezing and storage
You can also make this vegan moussaka completely ahead of time and freeze until ready to eat it. Nothing is as good as it is fresh, but this recipe freezes pretty well. Make sure it has cooled completely before you attempt to freeze it. Here is how I do it:
- Make the moussaka. Cool completely.
- Wrap the top in plastic, with the plastic layer touching the top to help with freezer burn.
- Wrap the top in foil.
- Freeze.
- You can also follow this process with individual servings by wrapping the cut pieces in plastic, then foil.
- When you are ready to eat it, defrost it on the counter.
- Then you can heat in the microwave or reheat in the oven adding a drizzle of broth if it starts to get dry or burn.
Common Questions
While the two dishes are similar, the main difference between lasagna and moussaka is that lasagna uses pasta to separate layers, and moussaka uses eggplant.
I like to cut the eggplant into circles about ½ inch thick for moussaka.
Yes you can! You can prepare the layers ahead of time and assemble just before baking. Or, make it completely and freeze until you're ready to enjoy!
Vegan moussaka is one of those all in one meals, so really it can stand alone. But if you want to serve with a little something extra, vegetables go wonderfully. I like Peas with scallions and dill, Sautéed spinach, or Maple roasted carrots.
More Vegan Greek Recipes
My heart is made full from Greek food, and how could it not be? It's part of my family's history, and it just tastes so darn delicious! I've loved recreating traditional recipes to be plant based including this vegan moussaka, here are some more of my favorites:
- Greek Farro Salad
- Fasolakia (Greek Green Beans)
- Roasted Greek Lemon Potatoes
- Vegan Spanakopita
- Greek Vegan Baklava
The Best Vegan Moussaka Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 pounds eggplant (about 2 large)
- 2 teaspoons sea salt , divided
- 1 cup sweet onion , chopped
- 2 cloves garlic , chopped
- 1 ½ cups cooked chickpeas , rinsed and drained (or use ½ cup soaked dried chickpeas, see note)
- ½ cup dried green lentils
- ¼ cup chopped walnuts
- 2 cups veggie broth , low sodium if needed (may need more depending on beans used)
- 1 pound tomatoes , chopped (about 4 medium)
- ½ cup chopped parsley
- ¼ cup tomato sauce
- ¼ cup red wine
- ⅛ teaspoon white pepper (see note)
- Your favorite cooking oil or more veggie broth to sauté and coat eggplant
- 9 tablespoons breadcrumbs , gluten free if needed (½ cup plus 1 tablespoon)
- 1 cup Vegan Parmesan Cheese , divided into 4 parts (about 1 whole recipe if using my homemade version)
Béchamel Sauce:
- 1 ½ cups raw cashews (see note)
- 2 cups cooked potato (about 2 medium)
- 1 ½ cups veggie broth , low sodium if needed
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon white pepper (see note)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F (175 C)
Prep the eggplant:
- Slice the eggplant into thick pieces, about ½ inch. Place them on a paper towel and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of the salt. Allow them to sit for about 10 minutes while preparing other parts of the recipe. This will help bring out some of the water.
- After about 10 minutes, take eggplant pieces and wipe off any excess water with a paper towel. Place on a parchment lined cookie sheet and brush with oil or broth.
- Put eggplant in the oven and broil. Start with 5 minutes on each side, keep checking and leave until golden brown. Mine was 8 minutes on the first side, and 5 on the second.
Make béchamel:
- Make béchamel sauce by placing all ingredients into a blender and blending until nice and smooth.
Make “meat” sauce:
- Sauté onion and garlic with the rest of the salt (1 teaspoon) and oil or splash of broth until brown.
- You can choose to chop the cooked chickpeas and walnuts now instead of chopping the whole mixture after. Simple pulse in a food processor.
- Add chickpeas, lentils and walnuts, sauté 1-2 minutes.
- Add broth, fresh chopped tomatoes and parsley.
- Cook partially covered for 20 minutes until the liquid is almost gone and beans are al dente. Then add the tomato sauce, wine and pepper. Stir and cook partially covered for another 5 minutes until most of the liquid is gone. Add more broth if needed.
- Allow it to cool a bit, then if you haven't pulsed the chickpeas and walnuts already, put the whole mixture into a food processor and pulse to make it a chunky ground meat like texture. This is optional, if you prefer to leave it whole, that’s fine too. Just take note that if you don’t pulse the mixture a bit the texture will not be as meaty.
Put the moussaka together:
- Brush bottom of a 9 x 12 dish with a drizzle of oil or broth.
- Put ¼ cup breadcrumbs on the bottom to coat it and help prevent burning.
- Line the dish with half of the eggplant pieces.
- Sprinkle with ¼ of the parmesan.
- Top with the “meat” mixture.
- Sprinkle ¼ cup breadcrumbs on top.
- Sprinkle with ¼ of the parmesan.
- Place half of the eggplant pieces on top.
- Sprinkle with ¼ of the parmesan.
- Pour the béchamel over it.
- Sprinkle with the remaining 1 tablespoon of breadcrumbs.
- Sprinkle the top with the last ¼ of the parmesan.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes until the top is brown. Make sure not to overbake or it will dry out. Allow it to cool so it can thicken and settle.
- Devour your hard work!
Notes
- You can also use dried chickpeas, make sure to soak them overnight. I found the canned cooked chickpeas gave a slightly better texture.
- If you prefer not to use wine, then add veggie broth in place of it, although the red wine gives it a great flavor.
- You can make breadcrumbs if you prefer homemade. Toast 2 pieces of bread until crisp, then blend in a food processor.
- If you are not using a high speed blender you can either soak the cashews overnight or grind them into a fine powder using a coffee grinder.
- You can use regular black pepper in place of white pepper in both parts of this recipe, the white allows the béchamel to look smooth without any black spots in it.
- If you hate eggplant, you could also sub potatoes for the eggplant, or even zucchini. Just make sure to cut the zucchini thick and salt it as it has a lot of water.
- Soak chickpeas if using dried. You can make the “meat” mixture, béchamel and parmesan before the day you put it together to make it go must faster day of.
- Great baby and toddler food. Make sure you pulse the “meat” mixture well so that there are no large pieces of walnuts left. You may also want to skin the eggplant as the skin can sometimes be tough for young ones to eat.
Recipe by Veggies Don’t Bite, visit our site for more great plant-based recipes.
Nutrition
Nutrition and metric information should be considered an estimate.
Sarah
Made this one yesterday....it was sooooo good! Since I eat grainfree, I Made myself Some cassava breadcrumbs (I accidentaly bought Some wrong cassava flour a few months ago, it’s more of a fine fiber than it is actually flour...but I discovered it is just perfect to give my baked airfryer potatoes Some crunch, so yesterday I put it to the test and put an oven dish filled with the cassava “flour”, Some avocado oil and Some salt and pepper in the airfryer, and it became the perfect substitute for breadcrumb!!). This moussaka was soooo full of flavour and texture....you just cannot believe it is Made from Nothing but wholesome ingredients!! You are soooo good at making comfort food everybody loves with only healthy ingredients!! Your recipes make me so happy!!
veggiesdontbite
Wow Sarah! Thank you so so much for the amazing review and kind words! I am so happy you enjoyed this. And my other recipes!!
KJ smith
This was AMAZING! Also time consuming so make it on a rainy weekend when you want to be in the kitchen. It is a absolutely delicious. Creamy bechamel, flavorful ‘“meat” sauce, everyone loved it.
Tiny time saver—I used an immersion blender on the meat sauce instead of transferring to a Cuisinart.
Definitely going on the Special Vegan Meals list!
veggiesdontbite
I am so happy you liked it!! Yes, it is definitely a time consuming recipe, but well worth it when you have the time! You can also make the different sections in parts one day at a time and put it together day of! Thanks so much for the great review.
Hashmanis
I love moussaka but never tried a vegan version before, looks delicious! hashmanis
veggiesdontbite
Thanks! It's so good you won't miss the meat!
Jamie
Hi Sophia, I'm a WFPB person, and I just want to say, I love your website. When transitioning to a WFPB lifestyle around 2 years ago, "cheese" was the toughest thing for my son and husband to accept. Your "hamburger helper" was the first "cheese" dish I made where they actually ate all of it, didn't complain, and asked for more. I made your moussaka recipe this weekend, and while I must say, it did take a bit of time, it was completely worth it! So so good. Thank you for the great recipes!
veggiesdontbite
What a sweet message to get!! Thank you so much for being here and your support. The moussaka is definitely one that takes time and effort, as most lasagna type dishes do, but man it is definitely worth it!! Now I am craving it again!!
JD
This sure does take a while to make but man is it delicious! So close to the traditional recipe!
Sarah
This looks amazing! I can't wait to try it. When you say use tomato sauce - what herbs would you use to make it please? As I make my own tomato sauce, one with sage and another with basil, oregano and parsley.
veggiesdontbite
Thank you Sarah!! it's so good, you're in for a treat. It takes some work and effort to make but it's so worth it! When I say tomato sauce I mean the plain sauce in a can, such as this: https://www.amazon.com/Muir-Glen-Organic-Tomato-15-Ounce/dp/B000LKXG64/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1508532295&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=tomato+sauce&psc=1
Sarah
Fab thanks Sophia! Here in Wales I would probably use Pasata. Would that be ok?
veggiesdontbite
I am not familiar with pasata but as long as it is simply tomatoes then it should be fine!
Tammy
Hi! Thank you for this recipe!! It sounds amazing and I can't wait to try it!! So, I am not gluten free (yet -lol) but I have some family that is. This recipe calls for bread crumbs. Do you just buy gluten free bread for that like some kind of rice bread? If so, is there a specific kind to look for or does it not really matter? Thank you!!
veggiesdontbite
Thank you!! Yes, you can find gluten free breadcrumbs at the grocery store. Any kind works! If you can't find it, you can always make your own by toasting gluten free bread and blending. Let me know how it goes!
Bessie
I just put it together and in the oven. I am just like a kid licking the spoon and pan of the meat sauce. Also the wine I used was hob nob pinot noir. Oh the smell was grand. Can't wait to devour.
veggiesdontbite
Ooooh! I can't wait to hear how it turned out! I love licking the pan for both the béchamel and meat sauce too! LOL!
Carmen
Thanks for the great recipe. Sounds great, will have to try it this weekend. Thanks so much, finally found gf and vegan option!
veggiesdontbite
Thank you! It's so good I know you'll love it!!
HeatherMarie
Wow! I'm so excited to try this! I love Moussaka & since going vegan I have been craving it!! My Yiayia used to make this and pastitsio all the time but I hated the meat part of it. I was never a fan! Every time I go to dinner and have Greek options I get moussaka! It's def the best dish EVER! Thanks so much for this recipe! Its def a lot of work but I know it's worth it!
veggiesdontbite
Oh that's awesome! Yes, it isn't an easy one but you can make the parts ahead of time so when you put it together it's quite fast. Let me know how it goes!
Erin
I made this for a family gathering over the weeekend and everyone loved it even though they do not follow a WFPB or vegan diet. I substituted sunflower seeds for the walnuts, due to an allergy, and the flavours were still amazing. I would definitely make this again.
veggiesdontbite
That's awesome! I'm so happy to hear that! Made my night!
Nisha @ Honey What's Cooking
Ooooh this looks really good. Vegan Moussaka... wow! I love vegetarian moussaka so this would be nice too. Very nice blog you have here.
veggiesdontbite
Thanks so much!! It's a family recipe I made vegan and even my mom approves!
Helen @ Fuss Free Flavours
That looks amazingly good, and the chickpeas and walnuts look amazingly tasty, as well as very realistically meaty. The Ralphs products looks really good.
veggiesdontbite
Thanks Helen!
Platter Talk
We love/adore moussaka. Beautiful photos and recipe.
veggiesdontbite
Thank you so much!
Kristen
Moussaka is my favorite- I can't wait to try this version!
veggiesdontbite
Thanks Kristen! My Greek mom approves!