What should be served with moussaka?

What to serve with lamb moussaka A Greek salad of cucumber, tomatoes and olives with a Greek herb dressing. A fresh green salad with a tomato and herb dressing. A freshly grated carrot, lentil and parsley salad. A chickpea, garlic and mint salad.

What is Greek moussaka made of?

Moussaka is a traditional Greek eggplant casserole made with baked or pan fried eggplants (aubergines) and potatoes, a rich, tomatoey beef or lamb mince sauce and topped off with a deliciously creamy bechamel sauce . In other words, the ultimate comfort food.

Moussaka (/muːˈsɑːkə/, UK also /ˌmuːsəˈkɑː/, US also /ˌmuːsɑːˈkɑː/) is an eggplant (aubergine)- or potato-based dish, often including ground meat, which is common in the Balkans and the Middle East, with many local and regional variations.

What is the top layer of moussaka made of?

Moussaka is to the Greek what Lasagna is to Italians. A rich tomato meat sauce layered with eggplant instead of pasta sheets, and topped with a thick layer of béchamel sauce , this traditional Greek recipe takes time to assemble – but it's well worth the effort!

What is moussaka in English?

noun. mous·sa·ka mü-ˈsä-kə ˌmü-sä-ˈkä variants or less commonly mousaka. : a Middle Eastern dish of ground meat (such as lamb or beef) and sliced eggplant often topped with a seasoned sauce .

Which country invented moussaka?

Although moussaka is famous as a Greek national dish, it was not invented in that country. A mediaeval book titled 'A Baghdad Cookery book' suggests that moussaka originated in the Levant . It contains a musakhkhan recipe similar to that of moussaka. The cookbook was published around the 13th century.

What's the difference between Greek lasagna and moussaka?

Many wonder what the difference is between moussaka and lasagna, and it's quite simple! Lasagna is made with layers of pasta, while moussaka is made with layers of vegetables . There are variations of eggplant moussaka, some use potatoes or even zucchini squash.

What is Greece's national dish?

And every restaurant featured their version of moussaka , which some might say is the national dish of Greece. Moussaka is an iconic eggplant casserole featuring layers of eggplant, potatoes and a rich tomato meat sauce.

Why is my moussaka watery?

Sweating the eggplant is very important when baking it in a casserole because it holds a lot of water, which can ultimately ruin the moussaka . To prevent the moussaka from being watery, make sure to lay the eggplant on a paper towel, sprinkle lightly with salt and let it sit for 30 minutes.

What is an interesting fact about moussaka?

History of Moussaka: Moussaka has an interesting history. Its origins are traced back to the Middle East, and the dish was likely brought to Greece during the Ottoman Empire . The modern Greek version, which includes layers of eggplant and bechamel sauce, was created by Nikolaos Tselementes, a Greek chef, in the 1920s.

Is moussaka served with red or white wine?

When looking for a wine to pair with moussaka, dry, dark-fruit greek reds are a good place to start. Savoury and rich wine styles will also be a good match.

Can moussaka be made a day ahead?

Moussaka is an ideal dish to make ahead of time. You can assemble the pie the day in advance and bake just before serving . It's also easy to freeze smaller cooked portions to serve on busy weeknights with a Super Caesar salad on the side.

What wine goes well with moussaka?

A Greek or Rhone red will be perfect to accompany a moussaka. However, a red wine with aromas that are too assertive or woody from aging cannot accommodate this recipe wonderfully. Conversely, dry red wines are excellent to accompany your meal.

Slow Cooker Moussaka Recipe - What the Redhead said (2024)

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I recently cooked lasagne in the slow cooker and and since then I have tried a whole host of traditional main course oven dishes in the slow cooker. We cook a lot of slow cooker chicken but never really lamb mince. But this slow cooker moussaka was so good that I just had to share it. So here’s our traditional moussaka recipe.

I’m looking forward to creating many more traditional oven dishes in the slow cooker and this Greek dish was a great place to start. So watch this space for more slow cooker recipes. I’m looking forward to recreating many authentic dishes from around the world in my slow cooker at home.

Slow Cooker Moussaka Recipe - What the Redhead said (1)

What is Moussaka? How to make moussaka?

Moussaka is an aubergine or potato based dish that originates from Greece and Turkey. There they use really thin potato and aubergine slices – or eggplant! There are now so many variations of the dish with some areas eating it hot, some cold and some serve it at room temperature.

Can you really cook a good moussaka in the slow cooker?

When cooking the Crock Pot Moussaka, make sure that you drain the fat well from the mince after the browning stage. Otherwise this slow cooker lamb moussaka recipe will be too wet and won’t bind as well as it should.

Can you use beef mince for this moussaka slow cooker recipe?

You can use any mince you like for this Greek moussaka recipe but for an authentic moussaka you should use lamb. If you use beef, pork or even turkey mince it will still be lovely but it won’t really be a moussaka!

At the end this easy moussaka recipe should come out of the slow cooker pot almost in slices rather than being too wet. It should be golden brown around the edges and looks delicious! Feel free to make your own béchamel sauce although I have never been able to make a white sauce as well as a ready made one. I happily use a jar in this recipe to save time when preparing the meal.

This slow cooked moussaka is a great one pot meal. We usually just serve the slow cooker moussaka with a simple salad. Although if you love your meals to be carb heavy you could serve it with chips or wedges. Equally you may find that the slow cooker moussaka is filling enough on its own.

This isn’t the most healthy moussaka recipe but it’s definitely easy moussaka and it tastes great too. You can add a layer of grated cheddar cheese orparmesan cheese on top if you like or make the sauce richer with a tomato paste added.

Can you make this moussaka lamb moussaka recipe vegetarian?

This would be a much more healthy meal if you wanted to make a slow cooker moussaka vegetarian version. To do this you would just make a Quorn alternative for the meat mixture or just increase the amount of aubergines and potatoes used, leaving the meat out completely and having just a tomato sauce between the layers. This would actually make a really lovely potato and aubergine moussaka so it’s worth a try if you’d like a slow cooker vegetarian moussaka recipe.

If you’re looking for more meal time inspiration why not try out Slow Cooker Chicken and Lentil Curry, Slow Cooker Chicken Gumbo or Slow Cooker Sweet and Sour Chicken. You can see all our recipes to date here.

What equipment do you need to make a slow cooker moussaka?

For this recipe you will probably have everything you need at home already but I thought it might be useful to show you what we use when putting this recipe together:

If you don’t have a mandolin already then they really are a fantastic investment for this kind of dish as well as slicing onions for whatever meals you’re making.

Here’s our Slow Cooker recipe for Moussaka with lamb:

Ingredients

400glamb mince
1onionfinely chopped
2cloves garliccrushed
0.5tspground allspice
1tin chopped tomatoes
0.5teaspoonoregano
400gpotatoesthinly sliced
1auberginesliced – or eggplant slices if you’re American!
1 jar white bechamel sauce

Instructions

Fry the ground lamb mince, onion, garlic and allspice for a few minutes over medium heat until browned and drain the excess fat. Use a splash of olive oil if your pans need it.
Stir in the tomatoes and oregano and season with salt and pepper if you like. This completes the moussaka meat sauce.
Put the potato slices in a layer on the bottom of the slow cooker pot and around the edges. Top with half the meat mixture lamb sauce.
Layer the aubergine slices on top and then add the rest of the lamb mix.
Pour over the white sauce and cook on low for 8-10 hours.

And if you would like to print or pin this recipe for later you can do so at the bottom of the page. Enjoy!

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