Meet the low carb Greek lasagna! This wonderful Eggplant Beef Moussaka is low in carbs but high in taste and satisfaction, a sure winner!

Comfort food at its best!

Do you know what I absolutely love? it’s when I’m able to cook a meal knowing our whole family will eat it including my everchanging 16-month-old toddler. Yes, I sound like a broken record as I have mentioned this multiple times before. If you’re the cook and have young children I’m sure you can relate, feeding everyone on one meal is an achievement, right?

My toddler, Kai loves lasagna right now, with emphasis on ‘right now’ because it seems, Kai’s preference for food changes way faster than his nappy changes. I was nervous feeding Moussaka to Kai as I had a feeling he would be put off by the eggplants. Thankfully I was so wrong because he loved it!

No child or adult would be able to resist Greek Moussaka. It’s family-friendly, delicious, incredibly satisfying and low in carbs!. Moussaka is a meal that warms the heart and will put smiles across everyone’s faces around the dinner table.

My Moussaka is made with eggplants, beef mince and béchamel sauce….. I know I know… you didn’t have to tell me! There’ll be arguments that traditional Greek Moussaka uses lamb and not beef. This may be true and I truly respect that, however, I don’t eat lamb! I’ll revisit this topic later below, but for now, let’s just enjoy the wonderful Moussaka!

This Moussaka slice above was cut out as soon as I took it out of the oven. I was meant to rest it for 15 minutes or longer but I couldn’t help myself, I had this urge to greedily smash it in my face!

Once rested and cooled to warm, the béchamel sauce will thicken and hold its shape and the meat sauce will be less runny.

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How I first met Moussaka

I was in my late twenties and just got my degree in Bachelor of Commerce Accounting. Whilst trying to get my foot into the finance world I worked two casual jobs, one of them was at the kitchen hand at a university campus. I made sandwiches and served lunch to uni students.

This was where I met and worked with Linda and chef Larry, who were both were in their late fifties. Linda was lovely and Larry hardly spoke.

Larry was employed at the Uni cafe for over a decade, every day he would proudly wear his chef attire to work. He spent his lunch breaks with a ciggie hanging out of the side of his mouth whilst staring into the sky, always deep in thought.

Linda told me Larry was broken since his ex-wife left him. Apparently, she made great efforts to make sure he was miserable. She took him to the cleaners and made it hard for him to have a relationship with his son. I was also told that Larry was once a very successful chef working in lush hotels, but sadly that all went away when he gave up on life. The funny thing was when Larry did speak, he never badmouthed his ex at all.

I’m pretty sure Larry found me annoying at first as I was always in his face asking him questions about the meals he was cooking. After a while, my charm won him, Larry couldn’t help but chuckle at my silliness whilst shaking his head.

It was Larry that taught me how to make Moussaka, prior to this I had no idea what Moussaka was and when I asked what it was, Linda and Larry answered in unison ‘It’s Greek lasagna!’

Larry’s Beef Moussaka

Larry wasn’t Greek so I can’t say if this recipe is traditional but I can say it’s super delicious! Larry used beef mince as it was cheaper than using lamb, he did this to please our budget strict dragon boss lady.

This was fortunate for me because if it was lamb I wouldn’t have tried his Mousakka.

I don’t know what it is about lamb but it doesn’t agree with my senses. To me, the smell and taste of lamb being cooked is offputting! I’ve tried eating lamb in several dishes but can’t stomach it. My sister is the same, we both can’t eat lamb! One of my exes loved eating lamb and its brains, he had a theory as to why I couldn’t eat lamb, he said it’s because lambs are baby sheep and I didn’t want to eat babies…. Hahahaha!

Larry made his Moussaka beef sauce in large pots over the stove and grilled the eggplant slices on the hotplate. He told me that eggplants need a light sprinkle of salt to help get rid of their bitter taste.

I have pretty much stuck with Larry’s recipe but I left out red wine as I wanted my Moussaka to be toddler friendly. If you prefer that wine taste in the sauce just add half a cup of red wine in and reduce the stock by the same amount.

Homemade Moussaka requires a few steps but it’s not very complicated. The prep may take you awhile on your first go but it’ll be easier each time you make it and trust me, you’ll make it again and again!

Ingredients for Beef Moussaka

For the beef sauce filling

Eggplants – Slices of eggplants is used to layer the bottom and the top of the beef sauce filing. You’ll need two fairly large eggplants weighing 1 to 1.2 kg (2.65 lb) in total. The slices of eggplants are lightly oiled, salted and pan-grilled before baking to remove their bitterness.

Beef mince (Ground beef) – I prefer to use lean beef as I find regular beef secrete too much oil when cooked. If you wish to use regular beef, lessen the oil to just 1 teaspoon.

Beef stock – I prefer to use salt-reduced beef stock as I like to have control of how much salt goes into my dish. It’s better to have an underseasoned dish than a very salty dish as it’s easier to fix whilst cooking.

Allspice (grounded pimento) – You can use ‘mixed spice’ or just add a little more cinnamon.

For the cheese topping (Béchamel sauce)

Plain flour is also known as ‘all-purpose’ flour, it has no leavening agent added.

Cheese – I used Tasty cheddar cheese but you may use your favourite variety of cheese, just as long as it melts nicely when heated. Parmesan, gruyère and all cheddar types are great choices!

How to make Beef Moussaka

Step by step guide with photos

Prepare the precook the eggplants

Slice the eggplants approximately 0.5cm thick and spray both sides with olive oil and lightly sprinkle it with salt, leave to rest for 5 minutes. Using a paper towel, gently wipe any excess salt off the eggplants.

Heat up a large frypan on high heat, place in the eggplant slices and cook each side for 3 minutes or until it’s a little brown and wilts. Transfer the cooked eggplant slices onto a plate and cook the remaining eggplants and leave aside.

Make the beef sauce filling

In a large pan or pot heat up the oil on medium to high heat, add in the garlic and onion. Stir for a minute or until fragrant but do not let it burn. Add in the beef, using a wooden spoon break up the mince, add in allspice and cinnamon, cook until beef is brown. Pour in the stock, crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, sugar and oregano and stir to combine. Bring the sauce to a boil then immediately reduce the heat and let it simmer for 15 to 20 minutes or until the sauce reduces and thickens. Taste the sauce and if needed add salt and pepper to taste.

For the cheese topping (Béchamel sauce)

Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) or for fan-forced ovens 160°C (300°F). 

Melt butter in a pan on medium heat, add in the flour and quickly stir for a minute until foamy. Pour in the milk slowly and continue to stir. The mixture will look lumpy but it’ll smooth out, just continue to stir quickly. Add in a 1/4 cup of cheese, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Stir until the cheese has melted and the mixture has combined. Remove the Béchamel sauce off the stove and quickly stir in the egg until the mixture is smooth.

Assemble and cook the Beef Moussaka

Lay half of the cooked eggplants slices in a baking dish that measures approximately 30Lx22Wx7H cm (12×8.5×3 inches). Place the beef sauce filling on top of the eggplants and place the remaining eggplants on top. Pour the cheese sauce over the eggplant and use the back of a wooden spoon to smooth it out. Sprinkle a cup of cheese on top and bake in the oven for 30 minutes. Leave the moussaka to stand for 15 minutes or longer before serving.

Moussaka goes great with Greek salad and some crusty bread. Leftovers will keep in the fridge in a sealed container for up to 3 to 4 days, it can also be frozen for up to 2 months.

This moussaka is low in carbs but sometimes we do need a hit of carbs so why not try out my zesty SMOKED SALMON SPAGHETTI  or my quick and easy FETTUCCINE BOSCAIOLA

Cooking measurements are in Australian standard spoon and cup measurements.

A Third-Party Application calculated the calories and nutritional information. Please use this as an approximate guide only.

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Cheers (I’ll drink to that) – Cat Tre