Traditional Old School Eggplant Moussaka
Igor Gjozinski
4/29/2026
Updated on
5/7/2026
Public
Cooking Video
Classification
Category:
Main Dish
Cuisine:
Macedonian
Difficulty:
Hard
Servings:
4
Total Weight:
1524g
Meal Role:
Main Dish
Fit & Sate:
Heavy Artillery
Time Breakdown
Preparation
30m
Cooking
1h 25m
Resting
15m
Total Time
2h 10m
Meal Prep Info
Portable
Batch-Friendly
Needs Reheating
Nutrition
4
444
Calories
4
35 g
Protein
4
17 g
Carbs
4
26.7 g
Fat
Sugar:
7.1 g
Fiber:
7.7 g
Saturated Fat:
8.4 g
Unsaturated Fat:
9.2 g
Trans Fat:
0 g
Cholesterol:
111.3 mg
Sodium:
890 mg
Calcium:
6.6 mg
Iron:
0.1mg
Potassium:
933.5mg
Salt:
0g
Ingredients 9
Servings:
Eggplant
800
Gram
192.0
8.1g
45.6g
1.5g
Ground Beef
500
Gram
1240.0
128.5g
0.0g
76.8g
Extra virgin olive oil
30
Milliliter
247.2
0.0g
0.0g
27.5g
Onion
60
Gram
27.0
0.6g
6.6g
0.0g
Carrots
30
Gram
12.3
0.3g
2.9g
0.1g
Tomato Sauce
30
Gram
12.9
0.5g
2.6g
0.0g
Red Bell Pepper
60
Gram
16.8
0.6g
4.0g
0.1g
Sweet Ground Red Paprika (spice)
10
Gram
28.7
1.5g
6.3g
0.9g
Salt
4
Gram
0.0
0.0g
0.0g
0.0g
Cooking Instructions
Traditional Old-School Eggplant Moussaka
A rustic, authentic take on a classic. No heavy béchamel or modern fillers—just the rich, natural flavors of fresh vegetables and seasoned meat.
Preparation
1. Prepare the Vegetables
Prep: Wash the pepper and carrot. Peel the onion and carrot.
Cut: Dice the onion and pepper finely and shred the carrot.
2. Sauté the Aromatics
In a sauté pot, heat 2 tbsp of olive oil.
Sauté the onion for 3–4 minutes.
Add the diced pepper and sauté for another 3–4 minutes.
Incorporate the shredded carrot and cook for a final 3–4 minutes.
Stir in 1 tbsp of sweet red pepper flakes and 1 minced garlic clove. Sauté for 30–40 seconds until fragrant.
3. Brown the Meat
Add the ground meat (a 70:30 beef-to-pork ratio is recommended).
Use a meat masher or fork to break up any lumps. Sauté the mixture until the meat is browned and no longer pink.
4. Season the Filling
Stir in 150 mil of tomato sauce.
Add 1 tbsp sweet ground paprika (smoked if you have), 2/3 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp black pepper, 1/3 of tsp ground cumin, 1 tsp dried basil and 1/2 tsp oregano.
Add 1 tsp soy sauce and 5 gr. of dried (crashed and soaked in water in very small bowl) porcini mushrooms.
Mix for 1 minute, then remove the pot from the heat and set aside.
5. Prep and Pre-Fry the Eggplant
Eggplant: Wash and slice the eggplant into 5–7 mm thick pieces (rounds or long slices). Place on a plate, season lightly with salt, and cover with paper towels for 15–20 minutes to draw out moisture.
Pre-Fry: Pat the eggplant slices dry. Separate the eggplant pieces in two parts. One part for the bottom of the baking pot and second for the upper layer. Brush all eggplant pieces with olive oil. Put a nonstick skilet on the stove on medium heat. Fry the eggplant pieces for 4-5 min. until they got brown with little bit of charred black spots. While this batch is frying sprinkle some flower over the second batch of eggplant pieces. ( Very thin layer of flower on both sides). Fry this batch over medium high heat until golden brown.
Arrange the first batch of eggplant slice as a bottom layer. Spread the filling and cover it with the second batch of fried eggplant pieces.
7. Prepare the Topping & Broth
The Sauce: To the pot used for the meat, add 1 glass of water 100 mil tbsp tomato sauce, 1/2 tsp black pepper, 1/3 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp dried oregano, 1/3 tsp ground cumin a splash of olive oil. bring it to boil and cook for additional 2 min. Pour this evenly over the top layer of eggplant spreading with spoon over the all eggplant pieces and meat.
8. Bake and Grill
Bake at 180°C for 35 minutes.
Switch the oven to the Grill (broil) setting. Keep the dish on the middle rack and grill for 6–7 minutes until the potatoes are golden and crisp.
9. Rest and Serve
Allow the moussaka to rest for 10–15 minutes. This is crucial for the flavors to meld and the layers to set before "devouring."
Bon Appétit!
The video for this recipe shows the preparation of a traditional moussaka with a potato top layer. The principle is the same, but be sure to follow the written instructions for preparing the eggplants. In our opinion, pan-frying the eggplant makes it much tastier than simply baking it. The extra time spent frying is well worth it for the much deeper and more distinct flavor you'll achieve