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For a special occasion, this vegan moussaka is the ultimate hearty meatless entree. Free of meat and dairy yet full of flavor, it features layers of flavorful roasted vegetables, a lentil-mushroom filling, and a delectable baked hummus topping. No processed meat substitutes here! This all natural, healthy and flavorful casserole is sure to impress.
Lately I have been working on developing meatless, dairy-free entrees that can be served for holidays and other big occasions. We are big fans of Greek food in my home, and moussaka is one of our all time favorite dishes. This baked vegan moussaka is my latest experiment, and it turned out better than I ever could have anticipated.
When developing vegan recipes, I refuse to sacrifice on flavor, especially when it comes to the holidays. However, it can be more difficult to capture a savory, hearty flavor using only plant-based ingredients. But not in this recipe! I have served this vegan moussaka to numerous meat eaters and received raves all around. Time to share!
The biggest challenge here was how to capture that top layer of baked béchamel sauce. Most creamy vegan bechamel sauce recipes I tried left me unimpressed. I decided to go in a completely different direction by making a sort of hummus-béchamel hybrid topping. It worked out better than I ever could have dreamed!
My vegan moussaka works as a meatless entree; it also doubles as a hearty and impressive side dish. Additionally, it makes a tasty holiday dish. It really feels like a special occasion kind of dish.
PLEASE NOTE – this recipes takes a lot of time and effort to make, and is not the greatest choice for a newbie in the kitchen. Plan ahead, measure out your ingredients first, and consider making the majority of this dish ahead of time to save you from scrambling on the day you serve. Good news – this dish tastes even better when you assemble the majority of it a day or two ahead!
Looking for a vegetarian version of this recipe with cheese and a traditional béchamel topping? Try my Roasted Vegetable Moussaka.
Vegan Moussaka
A crave-worthy vegan casserole with layers of flavorful roasted vegetables, a lentil-mushroom filling, and a delectable baked hummus topping.
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Email Me RecipesServings: 12 servings
Ingredients
Layered Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds zucchini (about 3 medium) sliced thin
- 1 1/2 pounds russet potatoes (about 3 large) peeled and sliced thin
- 3 pounds small to medium sized eggplants
- 3 cloves garlic, peeled
- 2 cups diced onion
- 8 ounces sliced mushrooms
- 1 1/2 cups cooked or steamed lentils
- 1 roasted red bell pepper, seeded, peeled and sliced thin
- 3 cups diced ripe red tomatoes OR 2 cans (15 oz. each) diced tomatoes – I like using fire roasted!
- 3 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (if you prefer a spicy kick you can use 1/2 tsp)
- 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 9 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, more or less to taste
- 1 teaspoon pepper, more or less to taste
Topping Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups chickpeas (garbanzo beans), cooked and drained or canned and drained
- 3 cups unsweetened almond milk, or your favorite dairy-free unsweetened milk (soy, etc.)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, or more to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, or more to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup onion, finely minced
- 1 teaspoon garlic, finely minced
- 3 tablespoons flour, or use gluten free cup-for-cup flour substitute
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 tablespoon fresh chopped parsley, for garnish
NOTES
You will also need: Medium saucepan, 2 baking sheets, medium bowl, sauté pan, blender, whisk, large deep 2 quart baking dish or pan (deep 9×13 dish)
TIME SAVING/MAKE AHEAD NOTES: This vegan moussaka takes quite a bit of time to prepare, but you can cut down the prep time substantially with a few simple modifications. Buy jarred roasted peppers so you don’t need to roast them yourself and buy pre-steamed or canned lentils. Prep all of your vegetables in advance and have all of your items ready to assemble for both the moussaka and the sauce; pausing to hunt for or measure an ingredient every few minutes will increase your cooking time quite a bit. The better you are organized from the beginning, the faster the process will be!
I also highly recommend making this dish a day or two ahead, roasting the vegetables and assembling everything before the hummus topping. Cover the assembled vegetables and refrigerate for up to two days ahead. It’s best to make the topping when you are ready to bake.
Nutrition Note: if watching sodium intake, you can cut the sprinkle of salt on the roasted vegetables, though I do recommend it for flavor. I have calculated about 3/4 tsp of salt total for all of the roasted vegetables, so cutting this will bring the sodium down quite a bit.
Instructions
To Make Layered Moussaka Casserole
- Place racks on the upper and lower thirds of your oven. Preheat oven to 500 degrees F. Grease two baking sheets with 1 1/2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil each. Spread out the zucchini on one sheet, the potatoes on another, and add the 3 garlic cloves to one of the sheets. The vegetables may overlap in a few places, which is fine. Brush veggies lightly with a little more olive oil and sprinkle lightly with salt and black pepper.
- Place baking sheet with potatoes on the upper rack of the oven. Place sheet with zucchini on the lower half. Roast veggies for 10 minutes. Remove sheets from oven and place them back in the oven, switching racks (zucchini and garlic on top, potatoes on bottom). Do not flip the vegetables themselves. Roast for about 5 more minutes, until veggies are tender and turning golden brown (check the bottoms of the veggies for browning).
- While potatoes and zucchini are roasting, remove the stem ends from the eggplants. Peel strips from the eggplants so that they have thin stripes of peel remaining down the sides (they will be half-peeled).
- Cut the eggplants into slices a little thicker than 1/4 inch.
- When potatoes and zucchini are done roasting, remove them from the oven and scoop veggies into a bowl using a slotted spatula. Take the 3 roasted garlic cloves and chop them, reserve.
- Re-grease the baking sheets with 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil each. Spread eggplant slices into a single layer across the two baking sheets. Sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. Place the baking sheets in the oven and roast for 10-15 minutes, switching the baking sheets on upper and lower thirds halfway through cooking, until the slices are tender and lightly golden (check the bottom edges of slices for browning).
- While eggplant is roasting, place a sauté pan or skillet with high sides on the stovetop. Warm up 2 tbsp olive oil in the pan over medium high heat. Add the mushroom slices and turn heat up to high. Let the mushrooms sear for 2-3 minutes without moving them.
- Begin to stir after 2-3 minutes, when the bottoms of the mushrooms turn golden. Sauté for another minute or so. Remove the mushrooms from the pan and reserve.
- Reduce pan heat to medium and add another 2 tbsp olive oil to the pan. Sauté diced onion until softened and translucent.
- Add roasted bell pepper slices and chopped roasted garlic, saute for another 2 minutes.
- Add cooked lentils, reserved mushrooms, diced tomatoes, fresh dill, oregano, cinnamon, smoked paprika, cayenne pepper and 3/4 tsp salt to the pan; stir well. Reduce heat to medium and let mixture cook for about 5 more minutes until warmed through. If using fresh tomatoes, let the mixture cook for 10 minutes until tomatoes are soft. Add salt or pepper to taste if desired.When eggplant is done roasting, remove it from the oven. If you plan to continue baking the full moussaka now, reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees F. If making ahead, you can turn the oven off at this point. Use a slotted spatula to scoop up the eggplant slices and place in a bowl.
- Lightly grease your baking dish or pan. Place a single layer of half of the roasted eggplant slices on the bottom of your dish.
- On top of that, place a layer of half the potatoes and half the zucchini.
- Spread the lentil mixture evenly in a single layer across the surface.
- Place the rest of the potatoes and zucchini in another layer on top of the filling.
- Finish with a layer of the remaining roasted eggplant slices. If you are making ahead, at this point you can cover the baking dish tightly with plastic wrap or wax paper. Place in the refrigerator for 1-2 days prior to cooking. If you are cooking the moussaka now, place it in the oven without the topping for 20 minutes to bake at 375 degrees F. Meanwhile, while the moussaka is baking, make the hummus topping.
To Make Hummus Topping
- Blend together the cooked chickpeas, almond milk (or other dairy-free milk), salt, pepper and nutmeg for 1-2 minutes until very smooth. Reserve.Heat up 2 tbsp olive oil in a medium saucepan. Cooked the minced onion for several minutes over medium/medium high heat, until the onion is very soft, translucent, and starting to turn golden. Add the minced garlic and sauté for 1-2 minutes longer until fragrant.
- Whisk in your flour or gluten free flour substitute. It will clump together a bit.
- Add the blended chickpea mixture to the saucepan and whisk over medium high heat, stirring frequently, until smooth. Continue whisking frequently until it boils around the edges and thickens. Remove from heat. Add additional salt or pepper to taste if desired.
Bake Assembled Moussaka
- Note: The moussaka should be baked without a topping for 20 minutes at 375 degrees F before adding the hummus topping. If you have made your moussaka ahead, take it out of the fridge, uncover it, and bake it for 20 minutes prior to adding the topping.Remove the moussaka from the oven. Pour hummus topping evenly over the top of the moussaka. Your 2 quart dish may seem quite full, but that is what makes for hearty slices. The topping will not puff up much during baking so it shouldn't overflow unless you fill the dish to the very top. Only use as much of the hummus topping as you need. Sprinkle with 1 tsp paprika.
- Put moussaka back in the oven. Cook for another 30 minutes until the moussaka is cooked through and the edges are bubbly. If the top isn’t evenly browned, you can turn on the broiler and broil it for a minute or two– keep a close eye on it to make sure it doesn’t burn. Don’t broil if using a glass baking dish.
- Garnish with fresh chopped parsley. Serve warm.
- It will slice more cleanly and pieces will hold together better after it has cooled off a bit. Enjoy!
Nutrition
Nutrition Facts
Vegan Moussaka
Amount Per Serving
Calories 328
Calories from Fat 135
% Daily Value*
Fat 15g23%
Saturated Fat 2g13%
Sodium 528mg23%
Potassium 1038mg30%
Carbohydrates 40g13%
Fiber 10g42%
Sugar 10g11%
Protein 10g20%
Vitamin A 640IU13%
Vitamin C 26.6mg32%
Calcium 138mg14%
Iron 3.3mg18%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Do the pans have to be rotated if you are using a convection oven? TIA.
Just keep an eye on them – if it seems that one side is browning faster than the other, it’s a good idea to rotate. Also convection will cook faster.
Made this great recipe. Mine did not come out as pretty as yours and I used a 9X13 pan since I had too much veg. I will have to look at it again to downsize. We loved it none the less.
what a fantastic comfort dinner, love this recipe! Especially that it’s so thorough which makes it very easy to follow.
Hi, Tori-
Love your recipes! Are you sure about the amount of Almond milk in the hummus? Seems like a lot for a hummus – how
Much do you reduce it by?
Thank you,
Karen
Hi Karen – it’s correct, remember it’s also thickened with flour or gluten free flour. As it says above, add the blended chickpea mixture to the saucepan and whisk over medium high heat, stirring frequently, until smooth. Continue whisking frequently until it boils around the edges and thickens. You can see in the pictures the thickness you should look for. It should be like a thick rich béchamel sauce. Hope that helps!
As you forewarned, this took lots of effort and time but it was worth it and delicious! Thank you! Any ideas for how to use the leftover hummus topping (without making another moussaka, haha)
Way too much time – did not taste as good as promised. NY Times Vegan Lasange is a better bang for your time and energy.
Sorry to hear that Jenn! Better luck next time.
Question: could one use store bought hummus if time was an issue?
I do not recommend it for this recipe.
HI,
This looks fantastic and I am planning on serving this for the holidays next week. Would it be possible to make the topping an hour ahead? or must it be done immediately prior to baking?
Thank you!
Thanks for posting this delicious wholesome recipe. I modified mine to use steamed vegetables, oil-free chickpea hummus, and no oil. 🙂
(p.s. the web form for the stars rating is broken for chrome browsers.)
Thank you for the heads up on the stars rating issue! Your comment came through with 5 stars, hope that is what you meant to leave. 🙂 Glad you enjoyed it!
Can this dish be made completely ahead of time, refrigerated, and then warmed for serving purposes?
Yes, however I prefer prepping everything up until the topping stage, then adding the topping and baking fresh before serving. It will taste best that way. But you can make the whole thing ahead if you’re really short on time.