Easy Sweet Potato Moussaka Skillet (Healthy Dinner)

Make this easy sweet potato moussaka skillet for a quick healthy dinner with minimal clean-up consequences! You’ll mainly need sweet potatoes, regular potatoes and ground meat and about 35 minutes to make this easy moussaka recipe. Served with a tasty 2-minute yogurt garlic sauce and some fresh vegetables on the side this gluten free dish makes a perfect weeknight dinner recipe!

An Easier Variation of Moussaka

You may, or you may not know that I come from the Balkans. Specifically from the beautiful country of Bulgaria where sweet potatoes are not really a thing people eat or grow in their backyards. But moussaka is. Very much so.

When I was a kid, I used to hate, hate moussaka. It was this heavy dish made with potatoes, ground meat (usually pork and beef), tomato sauce, paprika, some herbs and onions. You’d cook these on the stove for a while, then you’d put them in a deep baking pan and bake with a topping made out of yogurt and eggs. Hated it.

Until a few years ago, when someone served it to me with a simple garlic sauce made of yogurt, garlic and salt. There might have also been some dill inside. Served like this, it was amazing. Like, I wanted to eat it every day and since then moussaka has become a favorite of mine.

Now, there are many variations of moussaka in the Balkans. Pretty much every country makes it differently. The most notable difference is that in Greece and Turkey where they use eggplant, lamb and something like a bechamel sauce on top, not the yogurt topping. All versions are delicious! Most require a lot of time and effort though.

Not this version. This is as simple as it can get. It’s not traditional, as there are sweet potatoes inside and no baking involved, but you will love it.

What’s Inside The Moussaka Skillet

• Regular and Sweet Potatoes. I used the sweet potato because I had bought it a long time ago and didn’t want it to go to waste. It was starting to look as if it had a vein popping out. But it turned out pretty good. So good that I had to share it! However, if you’re not a huge fan of sweet potatoes, use regular potatoes only.
• Tomato paste and paprika.
• Ground turkey. As I mentioned, there are different variations for the meat in every country, so whichever ground meat you prefer, use that! I had some ground turkey at home, so that’s what I used for the skillet. Ground beef, chicken, pork or lamb will all work.
• Onions and garlic
• Mint and cumin

How To Make This Easy Moussaka Skillet

Chop the potatoes, and the onion and mince the garlic.

Add the onion, garlic and ground turkey to the skillet with a little bit of olive oil and stir at medium heat for 2-3 minutes.

Add in the chopped potatoes, sweet potatoes, salt and black pepper, tomato paste, paprika, cumin and mint. Stir well and cover with water (about a cup).

Cover the skillet with a lid and let simmer at a lower temperature for about 30 minutes. At this point the potatoes should be done and your moussaka is ready to serve! Sprinkle some thinly chopped parsley all over and serve with some salad and a yogurt-based garlic sauce or this cashew sauce if you’re dairy-free.

Use What You Have

This is a very forgiving recipe. If you don’t have or don’t like sweet potatoes, you can use regular potatoes only, eggplant or zucchini. To be honest, since I’m not the biggest sweet potato fan, next time I’d also make it only with white potatoes, and I might throw in some other vegetables as well. All those versions will be great. I even read that in Romania they sometimes use cabbage. But maybe Wikipedia is lying, sometimes they do. Use your best judgment and consider what vegetables you enjoy.

Meal Prep

This recipe makes around 4 servings, especially when served with salad and yogurt sauce. It also keeps well in the fridge for about 3 days, so it’s good for meal prep. Store in an airtight container in the fridge and reheat when it’s time to eat.

The Yogurt Garlic Sauce

I highly recommend you serve this moussaka skillet with this delicious yogurt garlic sauce:

• 1 cup yogurt
• 2 garlic cloves
• salt
• optionally: thinly chopped dill or parsley

Add to a cup or small bowl and mix well. If you can’t eat dairy, you can also try this cashew garlic sauce.

Salad On The Side

While you’re waiting for the moussaka in the kitchen, chop up a cucumber, some parsley, a little bit of onion, olives and tomato. Throw these into a bowl, toss with some olive oil and salt. This simple tomato cucumber salad together with the garlic sauce are a great side for the skillet.

I hope you enjoy this skillet!

More Easy Dinner Recipes

• Ground Beef and Cabbage Stir-Fry
• Mediterranean Chickpea Skillet
• Ground Beef and Quinoa Skillet