Easy Greek Stuffed Eggplant (Papoutsakia Or ‘Little Shoes’!)

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This one’s for fans of moussaka! Papoutsakia, which means ‘little shoes’, are cute eggplant halves stuffed with a delicious meat sauce and topped with bechamel sauce. They taste just like moussaka, but they’re heavier on the eggplant, and easier to make!

A close up of a white plate of Greek stuffed eggplant or papoutsakia served with a green salad

Greek food at its cutest!

When I lived in Greece, I would never miss the chance to order either pastitsio (beef pasta bake) or moussaka. Or… these stuffed eggplant, also called papoutsakia or eggplant papoutsaki!

Now here’s the cute part. Papoutsakia (pap-out-sak-ia) means ‘little shoes’, or eggplant or aubergine slippers. I suppose they are shaped a bit like shoes or slippers. Have you heard a cuter name for a dish?

So here’s why you should give them a go:

  • They’re super cute and fun and will impress everyone you make them for. You’ll feel like a Greek god or goddess when all the compliments roll in 😉
  • They’re like a slightly easier but just-as-delicious version of moussaka. It’s quicker to prepare the eggplant and there’s only one layer of each component – eggplant/aubergine, meat filling, and bechamel sauce.
  • They’re a great meal to make for guests since they’re satisfying, comforting, and impressive! You can make the three components ahead (even the day before) and pop the stuffed eggplant in the oven just before eating.

What ingredients you need

To keep this recipe as easy as possible, I use almost the same recipe as I use to make my easy moussaka.

Here are the 3 components of this delicious Greek dish:

  • Eggplant/aubergine. I use 4, each sliced in half.
  • A simple meat filling made out of ground beef/beef mince and lots of yummy Greek flavours – cinnamon (trust me, it tastes great), oregano, red wine, garlic, onion, tomato paste, and fresh parsley if you like.
  • A traditional Greek bechamel sauce. You make this exactly like you’d make a bechamel sauce for a lasagna – with melted butter, flour, milk, and parmesan cheese -or the yummy hard Greek cheese called kefalotiri if you can find it. The only difference is that you add 2 whisked egg yolks into it so that it puffs up a bit during cooking – a bit like a souffle.

How to make them

Step 1: Prepare the eggplant! First slice them in half lengthwise. Then score around the edge, leaving about a 1cm border. Score deeply but without cutting into the skin on the bottom.

Score in a criss-cross pattern then brush all over with a bit of olive oil. There are some photos below if you’d like to ‘see’ how I do this. Or you can watch the video!

Step 2: Bake the eggplant and make the bolognese sauce. While they’re baking, make the delicious meat sauce on the stove top. It’s pretty easy and only takes about 30 minutes.

Start by softening the onions, then add the herbs and spices, meat, and finally the mixture of tomato paste and wine and water.

Simmer until fairly dry. At the end you can add some fresh parsley if you like.

Just like this:

A series of 6 images showing how to make Greek bolognese sauce for moussaka

Step 3: Make the Greek bechamel sauce. Melt butter and add flour. Cook for a minute or two. Slowly add milk and stir and heat until the sauce thickens. Add cheese and a bit of nutmeg.

Let cool, then whisk 2 eggs yolks in. Set aside to cool a little!

A series of 6 images shwowing how to make bechamel sauce for moussaka

Note: The photos above don’t show me adding the egg yolks. Just let the sauce cool a little (so that they don’t turn into scrambled eggs), then whisk them in quickly.

How to assemble papoutsakia

A collage of 8 photos showing how to make Greek stuffed eggplants or papoutsakia

Putting the dish together is very easy – and kind of fun.

Before you start, remember it doesn’t have to look perfect. Some of the meat sauce and bechamel will probably fall off into the baking dish, but that’s perfectly OK.

So here’s what you do:

  • Squash down the middle part of the eggplant with the back of a metal spoon. They should be nice and squishy now. This will make some space for the filling.
  • Fill each eggplant half with some of the meat filling. Don’t be shy!
  • Spoon some of the cooled bechamel sauce over the top. Sprinkle with a bit more cheese if you like.
  • Bake for about 30 minutes or until nice and browned on top. Sprinkle with some fresh parsley to serve.

This is what it looks like when it comes out of the oven. Mmmm!

A close up of a baking dish of Greek stuffed eggplant (papoutsakia)

How to serve stuffed eggplant

I usually serve this meal exactly like I would moussaka – with a big Greek salad, tzatziki (or just plain Greek yoghurt), and toasted bread with olive oil and salt.

It’s a perfect mini Greek feast, suitable to make for a family meal, or to impress guests.

Preparing ahead and freezing

The best part about making this for guests (or even for a family meal) is that you can prepare it ahead.

You can fully assemble the dish, and then just cover the baking dish with plastic wrap and pop it into the fridge.

Take it out of the fridge half an hour or so before you want to bake it to take the chill off. Then bake as normal.

You can even freeze it once it’s assembled! Just make sure it’s wrapped really well with plastic wrap and/or aluminium foil. You can freeze it for up to 3 months. Let it defrost in the fridge, then bake as normal.

Cooked leftovers freeze well too! Just let defrost then reheat for about 20 to 30 minutes at 160C/320/F or until well warmed through.

A dish of Greek stuffed eggplant from above with more in a baking dish in the background

Make the recipe your own

  • The most traditional way to make papoutsakia is with eggplant/aubergine. BUT you can also make them with zucchini/courgette, big tomatoes, or even peppers. I once made this recipe with big ball-shaped zucchini. Mr. Scrummy said they looked like a volcano with a bit of the meat sauce running down the side!
  • There’s also no reason why you can’t use chicken or turkey or pork mince instead of beef.
  • Or skip the meat and make a vegetarian version out of mushrooms, cubed sweet potato and maybe even black beans.
  • Make this recipe even easier by skipping the bechamel altogether. Instead, just serve with a good sprinkle of feta cheese and a big blog of Greek yoghurt. Your papoutsakia will still be super delicious served this way!
  • Use mini eggplant for an even cuter dinner!

So next time you think you’re in the mood for a Greek moussaka, why not make these ‘little shoes’ instead? You’ll impress everyone you make them for, including yourself 😉

If you love eggplant, you have to try this popular Greek baked eggplant with tomato and feta, too. It’s absolutely delicious either served by itself or with some simple meatballs!

Helen’s top tips

  • Want to skip a step to make this meal even easier? Swap the béchamel for ricotta cheese (just stir it well and add a handful of parmesan or feta cheese).
  • If you don’t have parmesan, pecorino or kefalotiri, use crumbled feta! You can also sprinkle a sneaky handful of crumbled feta on top of the finished dish if you like.
  • Freeze any leftover meat sauce and bechamel. I find there sometimes is some. You can make a smaller amount of stuffed eggplant another time!
  • Let the bechamel cool down a bit before you spread it on top of the stuffed aubergines. It’ll thicken a bit more which means it won’t all slide off into the dish.

More things to know (recipe FAQ)

How can I prepare this ahead?

Make the three components of this dish (eggplant, sauce and bechamel) ahead and freeze them until you want to make the dish. Or you could make double of everything and freeze half for another time.

You can freeze everything for up to 3 months before using it. This is especially useful when entertaining, right?

How can I make papoutsakia vegetarian?

Great question! This is totally possible. Just replace the meat sauce with a tomato and onion sauce like in this Greek baked fish recipe. Your papoutsakia will be just as delicious!

More favorite Greek dinners

Or if you’re just enjoying the whole Greek food vibe in this post, you might like to check out my Greek recipes archives!

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An overhead of a white dish of Greek stuffed eggplant or papoutsakia with a knife and fork
5 from 1 vote

Easy Greek Stuffed Eggplant (Papoutsakia Or ‘Little Shoes’!)

This easy version of traditional Greek stuffed eggplant or aubergine is sometimes called papoutsakia or 'little shoes'. Bake eggplant, stuff with a simple but delicious beef bolognese sauce, top with Greek bechamel sauce and cheese, and bake again. They're cute, they're easy to make ahead or freeze, and they're an easier but just as delicious version of moussaka. Give them a try!
Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 1 hour 15 minutes
Total: 1 hour 30 minutes
Servings: 8 (4-8)

Ingredients 
 

For the eggplant/aubergine

  • 4 eggplant, medium (UK/Australia aubergine)
  • olive oil, for brushing the eggplant

For the Greek bolognese sauce

  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 4 garlic cloves, crushed or chopped
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • teaspoons dried oregano
  • 1 pound ground beef, or lamb or chicken/turkey (ground beef = minced beef in UK/Australia)
  • 2 tablespoons tomato puree, / paste mixed with about ½ cup/125ml water
  • cup red wine
  • salt and pepper
  • 1 bunch fresh parsley, chopped

For the béchamel sauce

  • 2 ounces butter
  • 4 tablespoons plain flour
  • 2 cups milk, warmed slightly in the microwave or in a pan
  • ounces parmesan cheese, or Italian pecorino / Greek kefalotiri if you can find it!
  • ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
  • 2 egg yolks, lightly whisked (you can also use the whole eggs if you like)

Instructions 

Eggplant/Aubergine

  • Pre-heat the oven to 355F/180C. Slice each eggplant in half lengthwise. On the cut side, score around the edge of each, leaving around a 1cm border. Then on the inside, score in a criss-cross pattern. Go as deep as you can without slicing through the bottom of the eggplant. This isn't as tricky as it sounds!
  • Place the eggplant halves on a large baking tray lined with baking paper. Brush all over with olive oil. Turn them over so that the cut side is now down. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until the flesh of the eggplant is soft.

Meat sauce

  • Meanwhile, make your meat sauce. Heat a little olive oil in a large saucepan, then cook the onion for a few minutes. Add the garlic, cinnamon & oregano and cook for a minute longer.
  • Add the meat to the pan and brown while breaking up with a wooden spoon.
  • Add the tomato puree, water and wine. Simmer the sauce until it has thickened (about 30 minutes).
  • Stir in the parsley and salt and pepper to taste.

Béchamel

  • To make the béchamel, melt the butter in a medium saucepan, then stir in the flour until you have a paste.
  • Take off the heat, then stir in the milk little by little.
  • Put the pan back on the heat and stir until the sauce has thickened and is just bubbling. Add about three quarters of the cheese and all of the nutmeg.
  • Let cool for about five minutes, then whisk in the egg yolks (whole eggs are OK too).

Assembling & baking

  • Arrange the baked eggplant (cut side up) in a 12 x 9 inch baking dish.
  • Use a big metal spoon to squash down the eggplant inside the border you scored.
  • Spoon some of the meat sauce inside each eggplant. It's OK if it's piled up a bit.
  • Top each stuffed eggplant with a few spoonfuls of the cooled bechamel sauce. Sprinkle with the rest of the cheese.
  • Bake for 30 minutes or until the bechamel sauce is golden and bubbling. Serve with a Greek salad, toasted bread and tzatziki (or Greek yoghurt), or just a nice fresh green salad.

Video

Notes

Instructions for making this dish ahead

I sometimes like to make the three components of this dish (eggplant, sauce and bechamel) ahead. This way you can assemble it just before you cook, making for a very easy delicious dining experience!
This is especially useful when entertaining. You can even make the sauce way ahead (or make double) and freeze it until you want to use it. The same goes for the bechamel sauce, surprisingly!

Freezing instructions

You can either prepare the different components of this dish separately and freeze them until later. OR you can assemble the dish completely. After you’ve topped with the bechamel and cheese, let it cool then cover really well and freeze the whole dish.
It will freeze like this for up to 3 months (or even longer but I’d stick to 3 months for it to be at its best). 
When you want to eat your papoutsakia you can simply defrost the whole dish and bake as normal for 30 minutes until delicious and bubbling.
You’ll find there’s some bechamel sauce left over. I like to freeze this for the next time! 

Serving your papoutsakia

Serve with a Greek salad and toasted fresh bread! I also like to serve Greek yoghurt or tzatziki on the side. 
If you want to keep it really simple, just serve with a fresh green salad! 

Nutrition

Calories: 384kcal, Carbohydrates: 24g, Protein: 19g, Fat: 23g, Saturated Fat: 11g, Cholesterol: 116mg, Sodium: 270mg, Potassium: 884mg, Fiber: 8g, Sugar: 12g, Vitamin A: 1090IU, Vitamin C: 16mg, Calcium: 240mg, Iron: 3mg
Like this recipe? Rate and comment below!

About Helen Schofield

Don't expect to find anything fussy or complicated here. Just QUICK, EASY & (mostly!) HEALTHY recipes from the Mediterranean and beyond. ENJOY!

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78 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    Made thisfor dinner with my Mum and sister. It was delicious. Sorry I didn’t get a pic. Will definitely make it again. I served it with a few baked wedges with lemon and rosemary (done at the same time) and steamed green beans, Greek yogurt and fresh mint leaves. Lovely combination but would also enjoy it with salad and crusty bread as you suggest. I made a few deviations to your recipe: 1. salted and drained the sliced and scored aubergines for about an hour then rinced and dried them with paper towel; 2. for the meat filling I had some left over napolitana sauce I had used for Aubergine Parmigiana recently and used this instead of the tomato paste. It worked well and had a little liquid smoke in it! Thank you for an inspiring recipe.

    1. Hello Vikki! Thank you so much for giving this recipe a try. I’m so happy you liked it! It’s probably my all-time favourite Greek recipe. So cute and tasty! I love the sound of your changes. It’s wonderful to make a recipe your own, isn’t it? 🙂

  2. I know what you mean about how hard it is to find certain ingredients, in Barcelona too. When we do our ingredient challenges, I often have problems to find something or another. Which by the way you are free to join us whenever you feel like!
    Even though though moving is hectic, I’m glad to hear you seem happy to be back in England now and closer to our family.
    I love the name of this: little shoes. xx

    1. Thanks so much, Sofia … you are so sweet! It did feel great to be back home, but now it looks like we may be off to Perth again for a few more months. Still getting my head around it really! Thanks also for the invite to join your ingredient challenge, which always sounds so much fun. Maybe when I finally get settled! 😉

      1. Really, back to Perth? But just for a visit or to live??

      2. Well, for a few months. My husband has to be there for the launch of a new product. We only just found out. Can’t believe I’m going to be on the move again after I just wrote a post about being happy to settle. lol!

  3. This is so creative Helen! I would have never thought to make “little shoes” and go on stuffing an eggplant with this delicious filling! I’m super impressed! Hoping all this moving is going well for you and you can finally settle in and relax soon enough!

    1. Thanks so much, Chris. I actually have the Greeks to thank for naming these ‘little shoes’ … they are making me look good, aren’t they? 😉 It seems I may have spoken too soon about settling in and relaxing, but more about that as it happens …

  4. Welcome back to the UK Helen. I am a new convert to roasted aubergines (courtesy of Mr Ottolenghi). This is one I would love to try too.

    1. Thank you so much, Bintu. It’s great to be home and I can’t wait to buy Ottolenghi’s book (or books, more like) I’d love to check out his aubergine recipe!

  5. Welcome home from your holiday! I love Greek food so this would be just amazing I can tell 🙂 Love the photos!

    1. Thank you so much, Lilli! I actually haven’t been on holiday. I’ve been living in Greece for many years and am now coming back home – so it’s a big change! So glad you like the dish!

  6. Hi Helen! This recipe looks amazing and it’s also right up my street! Love Greek food, so I definitely need to try these out! They’d be great for a BBQ especially! 🙂

    1. Oh yes, they would go down well at a BBQ, Jess! So glad you like them and I really hope you do give them a go. 🙂

  7. Glad that you are getting settled. Being in temporary conditions is never fun. My husband is in the military so we have moved a lot and done temporary living a lot! You make the best of it, but I never truly feel “at home” or settled. I love these stuffed shoes 😀 Sounds absolutely delicious! Pinning!

    1. I honestly know how you feel, Cindy. Have you ever lived abroad? So glad you like the ‘shoes’! 🙂