If you've ever been to Greece, then you must have had a perfect traditional moussaka at some point. What if we told you that it's not that hard to make? Luckily for you, here's our quick and easy moussaka recipe!

Moussaka is a remarkably versatile and delicious dish, easily made to be vegetarian (and, arguably, better made vegetarian) and the perfect thing for a lazy Sunday night in with the family. If you want to bring a little bit of Greece into your home, get yourself some ouzo and make a beautiful, fresh dinner.

How do you make moussaka so that it is rich, creamy, and delicious? If you're a fan of Greek food, then this moussaka recipe will do you good. Get the family together, spend a few hours cooking, and bring the love!

Moussaka is an eggplant or potato-based dish that hails from the Balkans and Middle East. The most widely-known variant, and the one that we will be making today, is the Greek version, which is a lasagna-like dish made up of a meat sauce, eggplant and zucchini (and often potatoes), béchamel sauce and cheese.

To many, moussaka is the ultimate version of lasagna, with big slices of eggplant and zucchini replacing the pasta sheets you would get in the famous Italian dish. What makes it so wonderful is that these traditionally Mediterranean and Middle-Eastern ingredients combine to create a rich, salty, and cheesy meal.

It will take a little while to put together a good, hearty moussaka, but it won't be particularly hard. If you have the right equipment, good knife skills, and have a few hours, it's a rather straight-forward recipe to make. The trick is to be patient, listen to some music, and make it a fun Sunday afternoon activity.

Here's what you'll need to make homemade moussaka:

• Lasagna dish for baking
• Ladle
• Sharp knife
• Chopping board
• One giant pot
• One medium pot
• Spatula
• Cheese grater
• Whisk

The equipment you need to make moussaka is found in most kitchens. In fact, it is identical to what you'll when making lasagna. As we said, this moussaka recipe is very approachable and doesn't require anything fancy.

You're not going to need anything fancy or complicated when making moussaka. It is a simple and homely dish, not something that you necessarily need to spend a lot of money on. Of course, the better quality ingredients you buy the better the dish will be, but there's no need for anything crazy.

Moussaka Ingredients: Sauce

• Beef mince (pre-soaked), 1lb
• 1 big carrot
• 1 big onion
• 2 big sticks of celery
• 5 cloves of garlic
• 2 tomatoes
• Tomato passata, 2 cups
• Beef stock, 1 cup
• Red wine, 1 cup
• Cinnamon, 1tbsp
• Olive oil
• Salt
• Pepper

Moussaka Ingredients: Béchamel (adjust proportions as necessary)

• Unsalted butter, 1 knob
• Flour, 3-5 oz
  
• Milk, 2–3 cups
• Parmesan cheese, 1 oz

Moussaka Ingredients: Construction

• 4 zucchinis
• 3 eggplants
• Parmesan cheese, 9-10 oz

It's time to settle in for the long-haul, as this is a process that will likely take you a few hours. Drink a nice cup of coffee, get the kids involved, listen to some music or your favorite podcast, and dive into this relaxing and delicious moussaka recipe. Let's get on with things!

Here's how to make traditional Greek moussaka

Step 1: Start by chopping everything up. You need your carrots, celery and onions to be finely diced as they will go into your soffritto (the base of your sauce). Meanwhile, the zucchini and eggplant should be cut into a few large slices. The garlic needs to be crushed, the tomatoes diced up separately, and the cheese grated.

Step 2: Add a healthy amount of olive oil to the bottom of your large bot and bring up to a high heat. Add your carrots, celery, and onion and make sure that the olive oil is healthily coating them all. Sauté on high until translucent and slightly sludgy, about 5–10 minutes.

Step 3: Mix in your garlic at about the 5-minute mark and cook until fragrant. Season the soffritto with pepper, a bit of salt, and the cinnamon. Now add your tomatoes and cook until they have dissolved.

Step 4: Add your meat and break it all up, mixing thoroughly with the soffritto (another option is to brown your meat in a frying pan and then add it afterward). You want to salt it to release its liquid and reduce until the mixture is dry but a bit oily.

Step 5: Now add your liquids, so the stock, the passata, and the wine, mixing thoroughly and bringing up to the boil. Add a little more olive oil and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Step 6: Cook your sauce for at least an hour at a simmer, stirring regularly to keep it from sticking. If the liquid reduces too much add a little bit of water. In the end, you want it to be relatively thick and gloppy. If you have the time, your sauce will be even better if you let it simmer for 2–3 hours.

Step 7: Cover your oven tray in baking paper and lay out all of your zucchini and eggplant. Season them thoroughly with olive oil, as well as salt and pepper, and then bake them at about 356°F for twenty minutes or until slightly caramelized.

Step 8: Now you need to make the béchamel. This might seem a little scary, but trust me, it's easy-as-heck! Simply make a rout out of the butter and flour, but first melting the butter slowly in the smaller pot and then whisking in the flour.

Step 9: We know it's going to go all clumped up when you mix the butter and flour together, but this is when you need to start slowly adding your milk. Pour it in a little bit at a time, whisking thoroughly and watching the thickness of the sauce.

Step 10: Once all the milk is added, mix in the cheese and whisk thoroughly. You want it to be creamy and thick, but for there to also be plenty of sauce. Add more flour if you need it to be thicker, or more milk if it has become too dense. Season with salt and pepper.

Step 11: It's time to construct your moussaka. Grease your lasagna dish to avoid sticking and start by adding a splash of the sauce at the bottom. Now add a layer of eggplant and zucchini, like you would lasagna sheets. After this, do a layer of sauce, a layer of cheese, and then another layer of vegetables. Repeat this until the dish is almost full.

Step 12: Once your lasagna dish has around a quarter-inch left at the top, finish with another layer of sauce and then your béchamel. Cover the top with plenty of cheese.

Step 13: Bake at about 356°F in a preheated oven for 45 minutes (or an hour if you are making this with potatoes). You want it to be a golden brown color on the top, and the béchamel to have completely set.

Now it's time to eat! Serve with a lovely glass of red wine and a nice, fresh Greek salad. This is a dish to impress loved-ones with, or to enjoy with friends.

Vegetarian moussaka is more or less the same as your standard version of this dish, but with the meat replaced with either lentils or chickpeas. We recommend the former, as lentils are better suited to the Greek flavor you want from a good moussaka. They are also smaller and therefore better suited for the structure of this dish.

Vegetarian moussaka recipe | Ingredients

• Brown lentils (pre-soaked), 1lb
• 1 big carrot
• 1 big onion
• 2 big sticks of celery
• 5 cloves of garlic
• 2 tomatoes
• Tomato passata, 2 cups
• Vegetable stock, 1 cup
• Red wine, 1 cup
• Cinnamon, 1tbsp
• Olive oil
• Salt
• Pepper

Vegetarian moussaka recipe | Instructions

The sauce we are making for this vegetarian moussaka works exactly the same way as with the meat-based version. Follow the same steps, sautéing the soffritto, adding the garlic, followed by the lentils (instead of meat) and tomatoes, and then seasoning with the cinnamon, salt and pepper. Add your liquids, mix thoroughly, and simmer for at least an hour but preferably two.

Vegan moussaka is very much possible, though a little harder to achieve. You want to replace any animal-based products with vegan alternatives. That means vegan butter and plant-based milk in the béchamel, vegetable stock instead of beef stock, and vegan cheese. Other than that, follow the same recipe and method as with vegetarian moussaka.

If you ever travel through Greece, you'll find that moussaka is one of the hidden highlights of your experience. This beautiful lasagna-like dish brings together all that is good in Mediterranean cooking and, while the dish isn't healthy, it is the perfect treat for a cold (or warm) night in with the family.

Moussaka is also the perfect thing to cook for vegetarians and vegans, as it is easily converted and in many ways even better when using lentils instead of meat. Moussaka is pretty delicious, so check it out!