Gluten-Free Greek Moussaka

Homemade Greek Moussaka Recipe

Greek moussaka was not something I ever thought to make at home. Until I went to the Austin Food Blogger Alliance Christmas party hosted by MezzeMe Turkish Kitchen. One of the seasonal dishes they offered us was an individual Greek moussaka.

But I couldn’t try it because it is made with a béchamel sauce using flour that isn’t gluten-free. Plus the dairy is cow milk based, which I can’t tolerate. And I was really bummed because I LOVE Greek moussaka.

When I was in graduate school, I got to spend a few weeks in Greece at a special summer school for scientists specializing in my line of research. We went out to eat every night and I always ordered the moussaka and fries. This was way before all my dietary issues were triggered.

So I really had to try to make it at home. Greek moussaka is very similar to lasagna in many ways, using eggplant instead of pasta noodles and a few different spices in the meat sauce. It’s so good.

I found a recipe for Greek moussaka that sounded the easiest with very simple ingredients. And made my adjustments.

I choose substitute ingredients that fit within my dietary restrictions (gluten-free and A2 casein found goat, sheep and buffalo milk products).  You could likely take it further and make it dairy-free as we did in this King Ranch Chicken Casserole, but I haven’t tried any dairy-free substitutes in this particular recipe.

I tried it to scale the first time but didn’t like the ratio of eggplant to other ingredients so I adjusted the recipe as well. It serves two large portions and some leftovers for lunch the next day.

Making Gluten-Free Greek Moussaka

Meat Sauce

So the first thing I did was to get the meat sauce going. You want it to cook for about 20 to 30 minutes before adding to the assembled moussaka dish. The sauce is basically onion, garlic, meat, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, oregano, cinnamon, and all-spice.

Eggplant

Then I prepped the eggplant a little differently than the original recipe I followed. I used the same broiler method we also use to make Eggplant Chicken Parmesan. Slice the eggplant about 1/4-inch thick and spread out on a baking sheet covered in parchment paper.

Then spray with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place under the broiler in the oven until nice and browned, about 5 minutes on each side. I used three eggplants and two large baking sheets for all of the eggplant slices.

Update: I recently made it using larger eggplants with the salting method described in the original recipe and it turned out quite nice as well.

Cheese

For whatever reason, I can tolerate Parmesan cheese. Which is a huge blessing when you cook all the time, and love dishes like Pasta Carbonara and Caesar Salad.

And we found this brand of goat cheese from Sierra Nevada Cheese that is semi-soft. It grates and melts wonderfully. Plus it doesn’t have a sharp goat tang. So I pretty much use it as mozzarella or in any recipe that calls for a melty cheese.

Béchamel

Next we make the béchamel sauce that we pour over the top of our gluten-free Greek moussaka. We are going to use goat butter, gluten-free flour (Bob’s Red Mill all purpose in the red bag), So Delicious coconut milk creamer diluted with water, an egg, and grated Parmesan.

Assembly

So now that we have all the component for our gluten-free Greek moussaka, it is super easy to assemble. First we start with a layer of eggplant. I like this smaller size but deep dish for making scaled down casserole dishes.

Then add a layer of the meat sauce. Sprinkle with a little of the semi-soft goat cheese. Half of the cheese will be in the layers of the moussaka and half will go on top. So keeping adding and layer of eggplant, meat and cheese. Repeat until you run out of ingredients.

Then we pour the béchamel sauce over the top. Layer with the remaining cheese and then bake it! It’s also a good idea to let it all set when you take it out of the oven before cutting and serving it.

I absolutely loved the way it turned out! Brett loved it, too. 🙂

Want More Casserole Recipes?

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• healthified spinach artichoke dip
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• smoked goat gouda broccoli cheese rice
• gluten-free Philly cheesesteak casserole
• beef scalloped potatoes

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Gluten-Free Greek Moussaka

Homemade gluten-free Greek moussaka made with eggplants, spiced meat sauce, semi-soft goat cheese, and a goat butter, GF flour, coconut milk creamer based béchamel sauce.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Mediterranean

Keyword gluten-free casserole, goat milk cheese, greek moussaka

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour 10 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes

Servings 3

Author Deana Larkin Evans

Ingredients

• 2 to 3 large eggplants
• olive oil
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

Greek Moussaka Recipe Meat Sauce

• olive oil
• 1 small onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 10 oz ground beef
• 1 1/4 cup organic diced tomatoes
• 1 tbsp organic tomato paste
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp allspice
• salt and pepper, to taste

Bechamel Sauce Ingredients

• 2 tbsp goat butter
• 1 tbsp gluten-free flour
• 1/2 cup coconut milk creamer
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan
• 1/2 cup semi-soft goat cheese, divided
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Start by making the meat sauce. Add some oil and the onions into a Dutch oven or large sauce pan. Cook the onions for about 7 minutes. Then add the chopped garlic and cook for 1 more minute. Add beef and cook until the meat has browned.

2. Now add the tomatoes, tomato paste, and spices. Let the sauce simmer, stirring occassionally for about 20-30 minutes while you prepare everything else.

3. Turn the oven broiler to "hi".

4. Cut the eggplants into slices about 1/4-inch thick. Place a sheet of parchment paper onto a large baking sheet. Place the slices in a single layer on the baking sheet, then spray or brush with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and freshly ground pepper. Place under the broiler for about 5 minutes, or until lightly browned, on each side. Repeat if you have more slices than will fit on a single baking sheet. Set aside.

5. Next make the béchamel sauce. Over medium heat, melt the goat butter in a small saucepan. Add in gluten-free flour (I prefer bob's red mill all-purpose in the red bag). Whisk well for about 1-2 minutes. Mix together the coconut milk creamer and water. Then whisk into the sauce and cook until the mixture thickens.

6. Lightly beat the egg in a small bowl or measuring cup. Then ladle some of the sauce into the egg. Mix until it is well combined then add back to the sauce. Stir in the parmesan and remove from heat. Next adjust seasoning with salt and pepper to taste.

7. Gather the eggplant slices, meat sauce, and béchamel in order to assemble the moussaka. Add a layer of eggplant to a small baking dish. Spoon some of the meat sauce over the eggplant. Sprinkle some of the semi-soft goat cheese on top of the meat (reserving 1/4 cup for the top). Repeat. Pour the béchamel sauce over the casserole. And cover with the remaining semi-soft goat cheese.

8. Cook at 350 degrees F for about 38-40 minutes. Then let the moussaka rest a bit to set before serving.