This delicious low carb moussaka is always a hit in my house! Gluten free and LCHF comfort food recipe.
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Classic entrees like lasagna and moussaka are wonderful when you need some comfort food, and there's no reason why you should miss out when there are great low carb recipes like this around. A regular moussaka usually has layers of potato as well as eggplant, and a white sauce made from milk and flour - but there are ways of getting around this!
Serve this comforting dish with a Greek salad for a taste of the Mediterranean!
How to Make Low Carb Moussaka
First, make the meat sauce. Warm some olive oil in a large pan and add some ground lamb. Cook until the meat has browned all over. Add garlic, red wine, onion powder, dried oregano and tomato sauce (the kind from a can - not ketchup!). Bring to a boil then simmer for 30 minutes. Taste for seasoning and add salt and black pepper as necessary.
Prepare the topping by mixing together ricotta, shredded Parmesan and an egg, then set it aside. Prepare the eggplant by peeling and slicing it thinly. Peeling is optional but it's how we prefer it in my house - I think the eggplant "relaxes" more without the skin, and melds with the other ingredients better.
Once the sauce has cooked, spritz some non-stick spray into the base of a large baking dish, add a spoonful of the sauce and spread it around. Add a layer of eggplant, then spread some sauce over, and sprinkle on some shredded cheese. Repeat until all the eggplant and sauce have been used, finishing with the sauce.
Spread the topping mixture over everything, making sure all the eggplant is covered by either the sauce or topping. Add extra cheese if you like!
Bake in a preheated oven for 30 minutes. Serve with salad.
📖 Recipe
Low Carb Moussaka
Ingredients
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375F.
- To make the meat sauce, heat the oil in a large pan then add the ground lamb. Cook until browned.
- Add the other meat sauce ingredients, bring to a boil, then let simmer for 30 minutes.
- Spray a baking dish with non-stick baking spray and add a little of the meat sauce to the base.
- Layer the eggplant slices with the meat sauce, adding some shredded cheese to each layer. Finish with the meat sauce.
- To make the topping, combine the three topping ingredients together in a bowl. Spread over the meat and eggplant.
- Bake for 30 minutes.
Nutrition
Notes
Tried this recipe?
Let us know how it was!Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is my best approximation. Net carbs are calculated as the total grams carbs minus the total grams of fiber.
Cheryl says
Do you need to soak and salt the eggplant to get rid of the bitterness?
Georgina says
No - I don't find that necessary these days - I think we must get a variety that doesn't need it!
Sheri says
what sized baking dish do you use?
Georgina says
It's an oval dish, roughly 10-12". I hope that helps!
Donna Jacob says
How does 1 8oz. can of tomato sauce and 1/4c. red wine make enough sauce?
Georgina says
I always keep the tomato sauce quantities much lower than traditional recipes to keep the carb count down. With all that topping the final result isn't dry at all!
Cathy Rhodes says
Simmering the meat sauce with a stick of cinnamon is THE classic Greek meat sauce and is crucial flavoring. Make sure you use sugar free tomato sauce to keep the carb count as low as possible. Salting the eggplant helps remove excess moisture so you don't end up with a "wet" Moussaka.
Sylvia says
I followed your recipe exactly using a good size eggplant that I sliced 1/4” thick or less & in smaller pieces than rounds. The eggplant is only half cooked, chewy, so not very pleasant. Flavor is good generally. Do you use the small Japanese eggplants? This didn’t turn out right for what I was expecting.
Georgina says
Weird, I definitely use regular eggplant. Did you peel it? Maybe it just needs longer in your oven than in mine.
Ann says
Quick, easy and tasty for a mid week dinner. Love it. A non keto friend enjoyed it too.