This healthier Greek Pastitsio is my reduced fat, reduced calorie re-make of the full fat original. Made with a lower fat cheese sauce and packed with more protein. A quick healthy meal ready in one hour.
I love lasagne type dishes and this, my version of the alternative Greek lasagne, Pastitsio, has tons of flavour like the full original Pastitsio.
It's just that I've made a few tweaks and changes to the amount of pasta required and put in my own preferred lower in fat cheese sauce rather than the traditional full fat cheese béchamel sauce. Therefore it's healthier!
Pastitsio is normally always my first choice dish for mains if I'm out at a Greek restaurant.
Eating a full fat restuarant style Greek Pastitsio often wouldn't be good for my figure though.
So when I'm at home I'll cook this my healthier Greek Pastitsio version!
It's not about giving up things when you're following the 80/20 rule.
It's just about substituting for lower fat options and watching portion sizes as well as maintaining a regular exercise routine.
What is Pastitsio anyway? Well it's a Mediterranean style pasta dish made with minced lamb and a béchamel sauce.
This flavour packed baked pasta dish is extremely popular for entertaining.
The added benefit of this lower fat version is your guests won't even know it's been lightened up!
So I hope you enjoy this, my best Greek pastitsio recipe. As a Greek pasta bake it makes a great family meal.
And if you're wondering why I'm calling this a Greek lasagne recipe rather than a Greek lasagna recipe, well it's only really the spelling that differs.
You see "lasagna" is the American English spelling of the word whereas outside of North America we call it "lasagne"!
This healthier greek pastitsio recipe is great for entertaining. There's 6 - 8 servings here so plenty to go round!
Your guests will be asking for the recipe and how you managed to take a traditional pastitsio recipe and lighten it up so that it still has a creamy béchamel sauce!
Jump to:
Ingredients
- Lean Beef Mince
- Onion
- Carrot
- Garlic Cloves
- Tomato Puree
- Ground Cinnamon
- Dried Oregano
- Tinned Chopped Tomatoes
- Beef Stock Cube
- Salt & Freshly Grated Black Pepper
- Macaroni
- Skimmed Milk
- Corn Flour
- Low Fat Grated Cheese
- Nutmeg
See recipe card for quantities.
Substitutions
- Lean Beef Mince - I use extra lean ground beef but you can also use lean ground lamb mince instead.
- Onion
- Carrot
- Garlic Cloves
- Tomato Puree - you can use tomato paste instead.
- Ground Cinnamon
- Dried Oregano
- Tinned Chopped Tomatoes
- Beef Stock Cube - you can use a lamb stock cube instead.
- Salt & Freshly Grated Black Pepper
- Macaroni - you could use penne pasta instead.
- Skimmed Milk - Use skim milk rather than whole milk to make the lighter bechamel sauce.
- Corn Flour - you can use plain flour instead.
- Low Fat Grated Cheese
- Nutmeg - just a pinch of nutmeg, fresh or ground is required. Or leave it out altogether.
How To Make Greek Pastitsio
Detailed instructions for the recipe are in the recipe card below. Here is a quick step by step guide of how to make this lovely Greek comfort food:
- Over a medium heat cook and break down the mince in a large pan.
- Remove browned mince from saucepan to a small bowl using a slotted spoon leaving fat in pan.
- Saute chopped onions and carrot in beef fat. Add garlic, tomato puree, cinnamon, oregano and chopped tomatoes.
- Stir in ground meat. Add beef stock. Simmer until you have a thick pastitsio meat sauce.
- Pre-heat oven to 180 Degrees C Fan oven.
- Cook macaroni to al dente according to package instructions. Drain.
- Make cheese sauce in a small saucepan by whisking cold milk and corn flour together until thickenned over a low heat. Then whisk in cheese to hot milk mixture.
- Layer macaroni, meat sauce, macaroni and cheese sauce in a large casserole dish. Top with remainder grated cheese.
- Sprinkle with nutmeg (optional). Bake in oven until golden brown and cheese is bubbling.
- Remove from oven. Allow to stand for 15 - 20 minutes before serving.
FAQ's
Questions About This Healthier Greek Pastitsio
- What should I serve as a side dish? I like to serve my Pastitsio with a green salad of lettuce, cucumber and spring onions. But as it's pretty low calorie wise you could also serve it with some garlic bread and the green salad.
- Can Greek Pastitsio be baked in advance? Yes you can cook the different parts, the meat mixture and the béchamel sauce the day before then store them in the fridge. Just heat them up again when assembling and preparing the dish to go into the oven.
- Can you freeze Pastitsio? Yes. This is one of those meals that's great to freeze if made in bulk. Let it cool first before portioning it up into containers.
- How do I reheat this recipe from frozen? Simply take this out of the freezer in the morning; allow defrosting during the day, and then re-heating at 180C for 10 – 12 minutes at dinner time.
Equipment
For This Pastitsio Recipe You May Need….
The following links and any links in the recipe card below are affiliate links.
This means that if you click on it and then buy that product, I’ll get a small commission (at no extra cost to you of course).
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Equipment
- Stoneware serving dish
- Saucepans
- Chopping board
- Kitchen knives
- Measuring spoons
- Kitchen scale
- Measuring jug
- Wooden spoon
- Slotted spoon
- Whisk
- Garlic press
This is the large oven-proof baking dish I use.
It's a great low cost but good quality baking and roasting dish.
It's perfect for lasagne, side dishes and desserts. It's dishwasher, freezer and oven safe too.
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Other Popular Healthier Casserole Recipes You Might Also Like
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- Low-cost healthy lasagne is a healthier version of the classic Italian family favourite. Ready in under one hour, this recipe makes 4 – 6 portions, each one being only 351 calories per slice,
- Easy homemade Quorn lasagne is delicious. This vegetarian Quorn mince recipe serves up to six people. Making it a great meat free meal for entertaining.
Healthier Greek Pastitsio Recipe
The following links and any links in the recipe card below are affiliate links.
This means that if you click on it and then buy that product I’ll get a small commission (at no extra cost to you of course).
If you do click through then thanks for being a part of Neil’s Healthy Meals!
Equipment
Ingredients
- 500 g extra lean beef mince less than 5% fat
- 1 large onion , diced
- 1 medium carrot , diced
- 2 garlic cloves , crushed.
- 1 tablespoon tomato puree
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon oregano
- 400 g can chopped tomatoes
- 100 ml boiled water with a beef stock cube crumbed in
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
- 200 g Macaroni
- 300 ml cold milk
- 20 g corn flour mixed with 2 tbsp. cold water
- 150 g low fat grated cheese.
- Nutmeg (freshly grated to taste or ground from a jar)
Instructions
- Heat a large saucepan / casserole pot, and gradually add the mince breaking it down and stirring it round with a wooden spatula to brown it and release its fat.
- Once mince has been browned remove the mince from the saucepan / casserole pot with a slotted spoon and set it aside.
- Add the onions and carrots to the mince fat, saute for 2 - 3 minutes, stirring continually. Add the garlic, saute for a further 2 – 3 minutes then add the tomato puree, ground cinnamon, oregano and chopped tomatoes.
- Add the mince back to the saucepan / casserole pot, stir to mix everything together and then add the boiled water with the crumbed beef stock cube in. Bring mixture to a boil, season to taste and then reduce to a simmer. You want to cook this until most of the liquid has evaporated to leave a thick meat sauce.
- Pre-heat Oven to 180C Fan
- Meanwhile, whilst the sauce is cooking down, cook the 200g macaroni in boiling salted water for approximately 12 minutes. Drain the macaroni in a sieve.
- In a saucepan, with a low heat under, make the cheese sauce by whisking the cold milk and corn flour until they thicken, then add 75g of the cheese. Keep whisking together to remove all lumps. Season to taste with salt and pepper and remove from the heat.
- In an ovenproof dish layer firstly ½ of the cooked macaroni, then all of the meat sauce, then the rest of the macaroni and finally top with the cheese sauce.
- Sprinkle the top of the cheese sauce with the remaining 75g grated cheese and then grate fresh nutmeg over the top, or sprinkle ground nutmeg over. The amount here is a personal preference. Personally I do not like too much as it can completely over power the flavour of the dish.
- Cook the Pastitsio in the oven for 20 - 25 minutes until the cheese bubbles and the top browns.
- Remove from the oven and leave to sand for 15 – 20 minutes before serving.
Nutrition
Nutrition Label
Nutritional information provided below is calculated using paid for online tools and the exact ingredients and quantities used above.
Rate The Recipe
If you’ve made this Greek pastitsio recipe, or any other recipes on Neil's Healthy Meals, then please let me know.
I’d love to hear what you think of my recipe in the comments below and please do rate my recipe 5* if you like it! 🙂
Margaret James
Hi Neil. I'm wondering if I can make this recipe with lamb mince instead of beef mince. I've used beef mince before and its been great but wasn't sure if lamb mince would fit?
Neil
Hi Margaret, yes you can definitely use lamb mince instead of beef. I've updated the recipe to reflect that. Thanks for making and rating my recipe too!