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I recently cooked lasagne in the slow cooker and and since then I have tried a whole host of traditional main course oven dishes in the slow cooker. We cook a lot of slow cooker chicken but never really lamb mince. But this slow cooker moussaka was so good that I just had to share it. So here’s our traditional moussaka recipe.
I’m looking forward to creating many more traditional oven dishes in the slow cooker and this Greek dish was a great place to start. So watch this space for more slow cooker recipes. I’m looking forward to recreating many authentic dishes from around the world in my slow cooker at home.
What is Moussaka? How to make moussaka?
Moussaka is an aubergine or potato based dish that originates from Greece and Turkey. There they use really thin potato and aubergine slices – or eggplant! There are now so many variations of the dish with some areas eating it hot, some cold and some serve it at room temperature.
Can you really cook a good moussaka in the slow cooker?
When cooking the Crock Pot Moussaka, make sure that you drain the fat well from the mince after the browning stage. Otherwise this slow cooker lamb moussaka recipe will be too wet and won’t bind as well as it should.
Can you use beef mince for this moussaka slow cooker recipe?
You can use any mince you like for this Greek moussaka recipe but for an authentic moussaka you should use lamb. If you use beef, pork or even turkey mince it will still be lovely but it won’t really be a moussaka!
At the end this easy moussaka recipe should come out of the slow cooker pot almost in slices rather than being too wet. It should be golden brown around the edges and looks delicious! Feel free to make your own béchamel sauce although I have never been able to make a white sauce as well as a ready made one. I happily use a jar in this recipe to save time when preparing the meal.
This slow cooked moussaka is a great one pot meal. We usually just serve the slow cooker moussaka with a simple salad. Although if you love your meals to be carb heavy you could serve it with chips or wedges. Equally you may find that the slow cooker moussaka is filling enough on its own.
This isn’t the most healthy moussaka recipe but it’s definitely easy moussaka and it tastes great too. You can add a layer of grated cheddar cheese orparmesan cheese on top if you like or make the sauce richer with a tomato paste added.
Can you make this moussaka lamb moussaka recipe vegetarian?
This would be a much more healthy meal if you wanted to make a slow cooker moussaka vegetarian version. To do this you would just make a Quorn alternative for the meat mixture or just increase the amount of aubergines and potatoes used, leaving the meat out completely and having just a tomato sauce between the layers. This would actually make a really lovely potato and aubergine moussaka so it’s worth a try if you’d like a slow cooker vegetarian moussaka recipe.
If you’re looking for more meal time inspiration why not try out Slow Cooker Chicken and Lentil Curry, Slow Cooker Chicken Gumbo or Slow Cooker Sweet and Sour Chicken. You can see all our recipes to date here.
What equipment do you need to make a slow cooker moussaka?
For this recipe you will probably have everything you need at home already but I thought it might be useful to show you what we use when putting this recipe together:
- Slow cooker
- Good quality kitchen knives
- A mandolin slicer
- A garlic press
- Measuring spoons
- Scales
- A frying pan
- A wooden spoon
If you don’t have a mandolin already then they really are a fantastic investment for this kind of dish as well as slicing onions for whatever meals you’re making.
Here’s our Slow Cooker recipe for Moussaka with lamb:
Ingredients
- 400glamb mince
- 1onionfinely chopped
- 2cloves garliccrushed
- 0.5tspground allspice
- 1tin chopped tomatoes
- 0.5teaspoonoregano
- 400gpotatoesthinly sliced
- 1auberginesliced – or eggplant slices if you’re American!
- 1 jar white bechamel sauce
Instructions
- Fry the ground lamb mince, onion, garlic and allspice for a few minutes over medium heat until browned and drain the excess fat. Use a splash of olive oil if your pans need it.
- Stir in the tomatoes and oregano and season with salt and pepper if you like. This completes the moussaka meat sauce.
- Put the potato slices in a layer on the bottom of the slow cooker pot and around the edges. Top with half the meat mixture lamb sauce.
- Layer the aubergine slices on top and then add the rest of the lamb mix.
- Pour over the white sauce and cook on low for 8-10 hours.
And if you would like to print or pin this recipe for later you can do so at the bottom of the page. Enjoy!
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Slow Cooker Moussaka
This is a great one pot meal and we usually just serve the slow cooker moussaka with a simple salad although if you love your meals to be carb heavy you could serve it with chips or wedges.
Course Main Course
Cuisine Greek
Keyword main course, slow cooker
Servings 4 servings
Ingredients
- 400 g lamb mince
- 1 onion chopped
- 2 garlic cloves crushed
- 0.5 tsp allspice
- 1 tin chopped tomatoes
- 0.5 tsp oregano
- 400 g potatoes thinly sliced
- 1 aubergine sliced
- 1 jar white sauce
Instructions
Fry the mince, onion, garlic and allspice until browned and drain the excess fat.
Stir in the tomatoes and oregano
Put the potato slices in a layer on the bottom of the slow cooker pot and around the edges. Top with half the lamb mix.
Layer the aubergine slices on top and then add the rest of the lamb mix.
Pour over the white sauce and cook on low for 8-10 hours.
*Note: Nutritional information is estimated, based on publicly available data. Nutrient values may vary from those published.
