Hearty lentils, roasted eggplant, spinach and a creamy custard topping make this lentil moussaka utterly delicious! This veggie moussaka recipe is perfect for Sunday supper, a special occasion meal or when entertaining friends and family.

Close-up of lentil moussaka in a baking dish garnished with oregano.

Hi friends!

Today I’m sharing a totally comforting lentil moussaka recipe.

Though making this veggie moussaka does take time to prepare, there’s nothing complicated here (much like my meat lasagna or veggie lasagna recipes).

It’s totally a labour of love, but it’s so worth it!

The lentils are flavoured with warming spices, like cinnamon, nutmeg, and a touch of cloves, as well as savoury oregano and spicy chili flakes.

Plus, there’s roasted eggplant, spinach and a creamy custard topping with crumbly salty feta. Serve with a side of pesto pasta salad and you have yourself one belly satisfying meal!

Sounds good, right?

What Is Moussaka?

Moussaka is a traditional Greek recipe, typically made with lamb.

I like to describe moussaka as a Greek lasagna.

It’s essentially a big dish of comfort food with multiple layers.

Today, though, I’m sharing a lentil moussaka recipe. It has all the delicious flavours of a traditional moussaka, but it’s made with lentils instead of lamb.

How To Make Lentil Moussaka

Full details on how to make moussaka are in the recipe card below, but here are the basics:

Roast eggplant

Cut the ends of your eggplants and discard (I find it’s easier to peel once the ends are cut off). Then peel the eggplants (you don’t have to get every last bit of peel off, some left is okay).
Cut into ½-inch rounds.
Place onto parchment paper-lined sheet pans, brush with avocado oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Roast, flipping once. When the eggplant is cooked, carefully remove and set aside.

Collage of steps to make roasted eggplant rounds.

Cook spinach

Add baby spinach, ground nutmeg and a tiny splash of water to a pan.
Simply cook the spinach until it’s wilted.
Remove the spinach from the pan and place it in a fine-mesh sieve. Push down on the spinach with a spoon to squeeze out excess moisture. We don’t want the spinach too wet because it will water down the moussaka. Note: The spinach isn’t actually going through the sieve (only water).
Chop and set aside.

Make the lentil sauce

In a pan, cook some onion and garlic in a little olive oil.
Add minced mushrooms and cook those down.
Stir in tomato paste and seasonings and cook for a just a bit.
Add tomatoes, broth and bay leaves and cook until the sauce has thickened. Season with salt and remove and discard bay leaves.
Add the cooked lentils.
Stir in. There ya have it, a flavour-packed sauce ready for moussaka!

Collage of steps to make lentil sauce for moussaka.

Make the custard topping

Melt butter in a saucepan.
Whisk in flour to form a paste and cook for a few minutes to cook out the flour taste.
Slowly add warmed milk (half cup at a time) and cook until thickened before adding more milk (basically, you’re adding the milk in increments and cooking until all the milk has been used). Once done, the mixture should nicely coat the back of a spoon.
Add salt, pepper and nutmeg. Turn off heat and let cool for a little bit, stirring occasionally. This is important because you don’t want to scramble the eggs when you add them shortly.
Whisk in egg and egg yolks.
The custard should be thick, creamy and ready to be used in moussaka.

Collage of steps to make custard sauce for moussaka.

Layer the lentil moussaka and bake

Grease a baking dish and spread a layer of potatoes over the bottom. Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper.
Sprinkle over some bread crumbs.
Layer half of your roasted eggplant on top.
Next layer half of your lentil sauce.
Then layer on half of your cooked spinach. Repeat one more time, starting with eggplant.
Pour custard topping over top. If some seeps down the side, don’t worry about it.
Sprinkle crumbled feta over top.
Bake and garnish with some fresh oregano.

Collage of steps to assemble a lentil moussaka recipe.

Yum! Talk about delicious!

Lentil moussaka in a baking dish garnished with oregano.

What Type of Lentils Should I Use?

Use dried green lentils.

There’s no need to soak these.

Simply pick over and discard any foreign objects, like rocks, and any imperfect lentils. Then rinse, drain and cook.

Rinse and drain lentils again after they’ve cooked before adding to the tomato sauce.

Lentil moussaka in a baking dish with a knife resting on top.

What To Serve With Moussaka

If you want to add some sides, any of these are delicious with moussaka:

Greek pasta salad
Green salad
Garlic bread
Olives
Greek lemon potatoes

Spatula removing a portion of moussaka from a baking dish.

Tips and Variations

The eggplant was cut into rounds and distributed over top. You could cut length-wise into longer pieces if you like. I just find it easier to cut into rounds.
A small sweet potato was used as the base of this lentil moussaka recipe. You could use a regular potato instead if that’s what you have on hand.
Don’t have spinach on hand? Try some cooked kale instead.

A portion of lentil moussaka resting on a spatula.

If you make this lentil moussaka recipe, be sure to leave a comment below!

Lentil Moussaka Recipe

Dawn | Girl Heart Food

Print Recipe Save Recipe

Prep Time 45

Cook Time 2 15

Resting Time 30

Total Time 3 30

Course Main Course

Servings 6 servings

Ingredients

Roasted Eggplant

3 to 4 eggplants, peeled and cut into ½-inch rounds/slices (about 3 to 3.5 pounds)
⅓ cup avocado oil, approximately
½ teaspoon salt, divided
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided

Spinach Layer

10 ounces baby spinach
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

Lentil Sauce

1 cup dried green lentils, picked over (remove an discard any foreign objects, like rocks, and imperfect lentils), rinsed, drained and cooked according to package instructions (about 2.5 to 3 cups cooked). Rinse and drain again after cooking.
1.5 tablespoons olive oil
1 yellow or white onion, peeled and diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
8 ounces baby bella (cremini) mushrooms, minced (about 227 grams)
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon dried oregano
¾ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
pinch ground cloves
1 (28-ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes, tomatoes blended with an immersion blender or roughly broken up with a potato masher before using
½ cup no salt added vegetable broth
2 bay leaves

Custard

¼ cup unsalted butter
⅓ cup all-purpose flour
3 cups whole milk, warmed
1.5 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
¾ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 large egg
3 large egg yolks (yolks only)

Other Moussaka Ingredients

Cooking spray, to grease baking dish
1 medium sweet potato, yellow potato, or Russet potato, thinly sliced
pinch salt
pinch freshly ground black pepper
2 to 3 tablespoons unseasoned panko bread crumbs
¾ to 1 cup crumbled feta cheese, depending on how much feta you want

Garnish (optional)

Chopped fresh oregano leaves

Instructions

Roasted Eggplant

Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Line two sheet pans with aluminum foil or parchment paper.
Note: If using aluminum foil, lightly grease it with cooking spray or a little avocado oil. If using parchment paper, ensure that it is oven-safe up to at least 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
Spread the slices of eggplant in a single layer onto the prepared sheet pans. Brush the eggplant with avocado oil and sprinkle with salt and black pepper. Bake for 30 minutes, flipping the eggplant halfway through cooking. Once done, carefully remove and set aside.
Note: While the eggplant is roasting, you can start preparing some of the other moussaka components (like the spinach, lentils and sauce).

Spinach Layer

Place spinach, nutmeg and a tiny splash of water (about 1 to 2 tablespoons) in a 12-inch heavy-bottomed sauté (or deep) pan (one that comes with a lid) over medium heat (you can use the same pan later to make the sauce). Cover and cook on the stovetop until just wilted (stir occasionally; this should only take a few minutes). Place the spinach in a fine mesh sieve to squeeze out excess moisture. To do this, I like to press the spinach against the sieve with a spoon, allowing the excess water to flow out. Chop the spinach.
Note: You're not pressing the spinach through the sieve, just using it to get rid of that extra water.
Note: If you'd rather, you can use a clean tea towel instead of a fine mesh sieve to remove excess moisture from the spinach. To do this, after cooking the spinach, allow it to cool for a bit until it's cool enough to handle. Then, place it in a clean tea towel and squeeze out the excess moisture.

Lentil Sauce

Cook lentils in a separate pot on the stovetop according to package instructions.
Note: For this recipe, 1 cup of lentils was used and 3 cups of water. Pick over lentils and discard any foreign objects, like rocks, and imperfect lentils. Rinse and drain. Add lentils to a saucepan with water, bring to a boil over high heat, reduce the heat (to about medium-low) to maintain a simmer, cover and cook for 20 to 30 minutes until tender. Don't overcook. Rinse and drain. Set aside.
Note: While the lentils are cooking, prepare the sauce.
For making the sauce, you can use the same pan you cooked the spinach in. Wipe out pan of any excess moisture. Heat olive oil in the pan over medium heat on the stovetop. Add onion and garlic and cook, stirring often, until onion has softened, about 5 minutes.
Stir in mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in tomato paste, cinnamon, oregano, salt, black pepper, crushed red pepper flakes, nutmeg and cloves. Cook for 1 minute.
Pour in tomatoes and vegetable broth, and then add bay leaves. Stir. Increase the heat to high and bring to a boil. Then reduce the heat (to about medium-low) to maintain a simmer and cook, uncovered, for 15 to 20 minutes (stir occasionally).
Remove bay leaves and discard.
Once the lentils are cooked, add them to the sauce. You're looking for a consistency similar to a meat sauce. Set aside.

Custard

Melt butter in a saucepan on the stovetop over medium-low heat. Whisk in flour to form a paste and cook for about 3 minutes.
Slowly (about ½ cup at a time), whisk in warmed milk. Once milk is added, cook for a few minutes, whisking, until thickened before adding more milk. Continue doing this until all the milk has been used and the mixture nicely coats the back of a spoon. This could take about 10 to 15 minutes.
Once the milk has been used and the sauce is thick, stir in black pepper, salt and nutmeg. Turn off heat and let cool for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring every so often to allow it to cool a bit (as to not scramble the eggs once added to a hot liquid).
Very slowly whisk in egg and egg yolks until it's combined and smooth. Set aside.

Assemble and Bake Moussaka

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Spray a 9-inch x 13-inch deep baking or casserole dish with cooking spray or grease with cooking oil.
Layer potato slices on bottom of dish. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt, black pepper and bread crumbs.
Layer half of the eggplant on top. Next layer half of the spinach. Then, half of the lentil sauce, spreading out to have an even layer filling the dish. Repeat, starting with eggplant.
Pour custard over top (if some seeps down the sides of the casserole, that's okay). Sprinkle with feta cheese.
Place dish on a baking sheet (to catch any spills) and bake for 65 to 70 minutes.
Carefully remove from the oven and allow to rest for 20 to 30 minutes before serving (don't skip this step).
Garnish to taste (if desired) with fresh oregano. Serve and enjoy! Recipe serves 6 to 8.

A note on times provided: appliances vary, any prep and/or cook times provided are estimates only.

Keyword lentil moussaka, meatless moussaka, moussaka with lentils

Tried this recipe?

If you do make this recipe, thank you!! It would mean so much if you could leave a comment below. Love to know how you enjoyed it, and it helps other readers too!

What Is Moussaka?