This vegan moussaka is every bit as good as the 'real' thing - a rich lentil and red wine ragu, layered with roasted aubergine and topped with sliced potato and a creamy vegan béchamel.
🍴Why you will love this recipe
Moussaka is a totally luscious Greek dish, traditionally based on a slow-cooked lamb ragù, layered with aubergines, potato and a béchamel sauce. This vegan version is every bit as good, with a very rich lentil and red wine ragù, and a creamy vegan béchamel sauce.
This isn't the speediest recipe on the blog, with four individual elements to prepare (roasted aubergine, lentil ragù, sliced potato and béchamel sauce), but I promise it is absolutely worth every minute. Crowd-pleasing comfort food, perfect to serve to both vegans and non-vegans alike. So incredibly tasty and filling that no one will miss the meat!
You can prepare your vegan moussaka up to a day in advance if you're entertaining. Or if you're in the mood to batch-cook for the freezer you can freeze individual portions in foil trays for many delicious comfort-food dinners.
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📝 What you need
Tinned or cooked lentils You can use either a tin of green or brown lentils (the cheapest option and very tasty), or a pouch of pre-cooked lentils. These tend to be more expensive but have a bit more bite to them than tinned lentils, so an even better texture to the finished dish.
Red wine Never cook with a wine you wouldn't drink! A medium-bodied red will go well with the tomatoes - not too heavy but reasonably acidic. something like a pinot noir would be excellent.
Dairy-free milk Use an unsweetened plant milk for your béchamel sauce - I usually use soya, but oat or nut milks will work fine too, just avoid coconut as it has quite a strong flavour.
Dairy-free cheese My favourites for cooking are Applewood smoked vegan cheddar or Violife epic mature. But I often use half and half cheddar with vegan parmesan here too which is really good.
👩🏽🍳 How to make your Vegan Moussaka
For a full, printable recipe with ingredients and detailed instructions, scroll to the bottom of this page 👇🏼.
Slice the aubergines thickly, brush with oil and roast for 20-25 minutes until soft and golden brown.
Finely chop the onion and carrot and fry gently. Add chopped courgette and crushed garlic and continue to cook. Add lentils, red wine, cinnamon, oregano, tomato purée and vegetable stock. Simmer for 20 minutes until thick.
Meanwhile, thickly slice the potatoes and par-boil for 5 minutes. Make the vegan béchamel sauce and stir through vegan cheese.
Layer your vegan moussaka with half the roasted aubergines, half the lentil ragu, then the remaining aubergines and remaining ragu. Add the potato slices then cover with the béchamel sauce. Bae for 35 minutes until golden and bubbling.
⭐️ Reader Testimonials
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ "Absolutely delicious!! My husband loved it!! Thank you for such a tasty vegan version of the moussaka, which is “meaty”, creamy and full of flavour. I will be making again today. My husband is looking forward to it, as am I, of course. 😊 A great recipe!" Carole
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ "LOVE LOVE LOVE. Wow, teens devoured it. A total winner - going to make it for extended family and grandparents as I’m sure they won’t miss the meat. Took leftovers to work and ate it cold - just as delicious. Thank you so much for sharing. X" Jackie
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ "Honestly this recipe is dreams - can’t recommend more!! Please try this out, you won’t regret!!" @veganrie
🔪 Top Tips & FAQs
Remember to taste and adjust the seasoning of each individual element before layering the moussaka - once it is in the oven it is too late!
Adjust the consistency of the lentil ragù before layering the moussaka - add a splash of water if it is a little dry, and bubble for an extra minute or two if it is still too liquid.
This moussaka goes well with a crisp green salad or steamed green vegetables. For a special occasion I might also serve some vegan garlic bread or garlic dough balls - delicious!
This would freeze really well, and would be perfect for batch cooking as it would take very little extra effort to make up a double batch, then freeze in individual foil trays for lots of lovely weeknight suppers.
Just remove one from the freezer in the morning, then bake as below for 35-40 minutes until cooked through and golden brown on top.
Yes, you can make the moussaka up to 24 hours in advance, keep it covered in the fridge and then just pop it in the oven whenever you need to. Ideal for feeding a crowd without having to stress in the kitchen when your guests arrive!
🍽 If you liked that...
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📖 Recipe
Vegan Moussaka
Ingredients
For the aubergine layers:
- 2 aubergines
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
For the lentil layers:
- 1 onion
- 1 courgette
- 1 carrot
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic or garlic purée / ready-chopped garlic
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 2 tablespoon tomato purée
- 1 x 400g tin lentils or 250g cooked lentils from a pouch
- 150 ml red wine check it is vegan
- 150 ml water
- 1 teaspoon vegetable stock powder check it is vegan
For the potato & béchamel layer:
- 2 large potatoes
- 40 g dairy-free block margarine
- 60 g plain flour
- 500 ml dairy-free milk unsweetened
- 50 g dairy-free cheese
- grated nutmeg to your taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180ºC (fan) / 350ºF / Gas Mark 4.
- Slice the aubergines into rounds about ½cm thick. Brush with oil on both sides, season with salt and black pepper and lay on baking trays. Roast for 20 minutes or so, turning half way through cooking, until golden brown all over and soft.
- Meanwhile, finely chop the onion, carrot and courgette, and peel and crush the garlic cloves.
- Heat the olive oil in a large lidded casserole or frying pan, and gently cook the onion and carrot for 3-4 minutes until starting to soften.
- Add the courgette and garlic and continue to cook for a further 3-4 minutes.
- Add the cinnamon, oregano and tomato purée to the pan, stir well, then add the lentils and red wine. Turn up the heat to bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer.
- After 2-3 minutes, add the water and stock powder and season well with salt and black pepper. Cover and cook gently for 15 minutes until thick and glossy.
- Whilst the lentil mixture is cooking, bring a saucepan of water to the boil. Peel and thickly slice the potatoes, then add these to the pan and cook for 5 minutes until almost cooked through but not falling apart. Drain and set aside.
- Melt the margarine in the same saucepan, and add the flour. Cook gently, stirring constantly for 2-3 minutes, then add the milk a little at a time until you have a thick and glossy sauce. Season well with salt and black pepper. Remove from the heat and stir through the grated cheese and nutmeg.
- To layer up the moussaka, place half the aubergine slices in the bottom of an ovenproof dish, followed by half the lentil mixture. Top with the remaining aubergine slices, then the remaining lentil mixture, then the potato slices, and finally pour over the béchamel sauce.
- Bake in the oven for 30-35 minutes until the top is turning golden brown. Serve immediately with crusty bread and a crisp green salad.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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Stephen McAtamany says
Recipe was delicious apart from one thing, cinnamon! It just didn't taste right at all, everything else was really tasty, but next time I'm definitely omitting the cinnamon, no-one liked it. Apart from that, very nice indeed
Julie Gardner says
My go to recipe....to speed things up brush the aubergine slices with oil and grill them. The potatoes don't need peeling, just wash and slice. The ragu can be played with and use any vegetables available. I double it and freeze half for another time.
Kate Ford says
Great tips, thanks Julie!
Susan Ottwell says
Made this recipe twice, and love it. Then I started having digestion problems due to strong anti-cancer medication, and can no longer digest lentils nor tolerate tomato sauce. What to do? I subbed a nice roasted red pepper sauce with smoked paprika, and subbed sliced mushrooms and chopped baby spinach and some vegan mozerella cheese for the lentil filling. Still delicious, and now no problems enjoying it.
Jennifer King says
Cooked this yesterday, absolutely loved it. Made going vegan such an easy transition. I did substitue a jar of vegan betchamel sauce instead of making it from scratch and used Kedem which is a rich sweet red wine. I love the way you set everything up, I struggle with Functional Neurological Disorder which makes life very difficult so I am very grateful indeed.
Susan Ottwell says
Try sprouted lentils. The texture is much closer to ground meat.
Deb says
This looks delicious. Thinking of trying this recipe out for Christmas but have a couple questions. Can Vegetable bullion cubes be substituted for the vegetable stock powder and, if so, what adjustments would i need to make in this recipe? Also, what type of red wine do you recommend? Thank you.