Delicious Greek Pastitsio {Casserole-Style}
This simple homemade Greek pastitsio knock-off is basically a deconstructed pastitsio in casserole form. It’s knock-your-socks-off delicious.
This simple Greek pastitsio knock-off (and I’m not claiming it’s authentic, people) is basically a deconstructed pastitsio in casserole form.
And it is downright, knock-your-socks-off delicious.
A lightened up, creamy sauce swirls around tender penne pasta and flavorful ground turkey or sirloin. Combined with the other gentle flavors (hints of nutmeg, tomatoes and garlic) and with just a touch of mozzarella cheese and fresh parsley, this dish reminded me of a kicked-up, unique and slightly Greek-influenced beef stroganoff.
Oh, and did I mention it’s quick? And easy?
We devoured this one.
I couldn’t get enough of the creamy, flavorful sauce and fought for the right to the leftovers. Add this one immediately to your weeknight rotation.
You won’t be disappointed!
What To Serve With This:
Divine Breadsticks or Cheesy Garlic Bread
Steamed vegetable like broccoli or peas
Simple green salad (or something more fancy like this Gourmet Green Salad)
One Year Ago: Divine Caramel Sauce
Two Years Ago: Chicken Spiedie Sandwiches
Three Years Ago: Peanut Butter Crunch Snack Balls
Delicious Greek Pastitsio {Casserole-Style}
Ingredients
- 12 ounces penne pasta
- 1 pound ground turkey or ground sirloin
- 1 ½ cups chopped yellow onion, from about 1 large onion
- 1 ¾ teaspoon salt, divided
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 5 cloves garlic, finely minced
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 8 ounces light cream cheese
- 2 cups milk, 1% or skim work great
- ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained
- 1 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Instructions
- Coat a 9X13-inch baking dish with cooking spray and set aside. Preheat the broiler.
- In a large pot of lightly salted, boiling water, cook the penne pasta according to package directions.
- While the pasta is cooking, heat a large 12-inch skillet over medium heat. Add beef or turkey to the pan with the diced onions and 1 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon pepper. Cook, stirring to break up the meat into small pieces, until the meat is cooked through. Drain excess grease from the meat.
- Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, another minute or so. Sprinkle the flour over the meat mixture, stirring to combine, and cook for 1-2 minutes over medium heat.
- Add the cream cheese in pieces, scattering it over the meat. Let it melt into the meat and stir to combine. Whisk or stir in the milk, nutmeg, 3/4 teaspoon salt and tomatoes. Stir to combine well and bring the mixture to a simmer.
- Cook 5-6 minutes until the mixture is slightly thickened and is thoroughly heated through.
- Stir in the pasta and spoon the pasta mixture into the prepared pan. Sprinkle the mozzarella cheese evenly over the pasta and broil for about 3-5 minutes (watching carefully so it doesn’t burn!). Remove from the oven and sprinkle with parsley. Let it stand for about 5 minutes before serving.
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: adapted from My Recipes (a Cooking Light recipe), recommended to me by my friend, Lesli
101 Comments on “Delicious Greek Pastitsio {Casserole-Style}”
My husband had never had pastitio, and he loved the flavor! The casserole came out beautifully. I stuck to the recipe except used gluten-free rotini. I’m pretty slow in the kitchen and still had it on the table 1 hour after I started peeling the onion!
Taking dinner to a family in need tonight and remembered this recipe! So delicious and comforting. Easy to put together and serves a large amount, plus freezes well. It’s creamy with a hint of tomato and the cheese on top…yum!
Looks great! Is there a way I can make it without a broiler?
Sure, you can bake it instead (probably 400 degrees just to brown the cheese on top).
I discovered your website a number of years ago and the first recipe that. I tried was Guacamole Salad which I took to a potluck. I loved it and so did everyone else and have made it many times. Tonight, I made your wonderful Greek Pastitsio. It was absolutely delicious. There are so many other recipes of yours that I will be making as they sound so tasty. I really like the fact that you make everything from scratch. Thank you for a truly wonderful website!! Many blessings.
Thank you so much, Judy!
This was very tasty. My family loved it, and can’t wait to have it again. I used ground turkey and added in some sliced black olives. Thanks you for this lovely recipe.
This is one of my husband’s favorite dinners! I usually make this with ground turkey and I love to grate fresh nutmeg (and I use more than the recipe calls for). It’s creamy and delicious and one of those meals that we consider comfort food in our home. I also love how quickly it comes together on a busy night.
I *love* this recipe – and was surprised to see a negative review below! This is one of those recipes I kind of use for everything – potlucks, meal trains, casseroles for new mamas…and, of course, our own dinners. My husband RAVES about this recipe. It freezes well, and is super versatile in terms of adding more vegetables – mushrooms, zucchini, and eggplant are some of the ones I’ve loved. I’ve even used this recipe as a template for a healthier meal, subbing out pasta for quinoa, making a fake-roux with almond flour and fat free milk instead of the recommended cream cheese, and using chickpeas instead of turkey to make it vegetarian. Seriously, this recipe is wonderful. Don’t let a negative Nancy discourage you from trying this deliciousness! I’m making it tonight for a dinner party
I’m glad you like this one so much, Angela! I feel exactly the same way you do! 🙂
My kids liked it marginally (since it is basically glorified mac and cheese) but my husband and I did not like this. I made it with ground turkey. It was really bland and one-note (and yes, I did add salt and even extra garlic). If I am going to eat something this fattening, it had better be worth it and this definitely was not. The first recipe I have made from this site that I have not been happy with.
More veg might improve it greatly, both flavorwise and healthwise. Some fresh spinach, diced red pepper. But I won’t be testing that out since I don’t plan to make this again.
I would be more confident if there were not typos in the recipe, and in the attribution. “2 cups milk, 1% of skim milk…”…..what could this mean? I can guess, but why not proofread before posting??? What else could be wrong? One comment says it is bland, and the suggestion is to add salt! This adds salt, but NOT other tastes to reduce the blandness. Too bad!
My picky eater ate this! I’m still a bit in shock. I almost took a picture of his empty bowl I was so happy, but figured I shouldn’t overdo it. Thank you for a quick, easy meal we can all enjoy, They are few and far between.
Hey there Mel,
So glad to see you’re back from your family reunion! We missed you and needed a recipe fix STAT. Hope you enjoyed your trip! I’ve been eying this beauty and would love to try it, soon. However, I share you distain of heating up our house in the summer and abhor turning on the oven unless absolutely necessary. We’ve tried some of your skillet pasta dishes with success, which lead me to wonder if you’ve ever tried this one with the skillet method? If so, do you have any suggestions/adaptations? Thanks a ton!
I haven’t tried the skillet method with this recipe but it’s super intriguing – I think it could stand a good chance of working if you up the liquid and cook the pasta in the skillet.
So delicious! I loved the nutmeg in the dish. I pretty much only cook from your site. LOVE the recipes.
I know this is an older recipe, but I just wanted to let you know that even the lactose free version of this tastes amazing. I subbed in vegan cream cheese and soy milk (the boyfriend is laclose intolerant) and added a little extra flour near the end since the soy milk is thinner than regular milk. So good!
I was so excited about this! Any ideas why mine turned out bland and flavorless? It was the most bland pasta I have ever made, and I know I must be doing something wrong. Double checked measurements too.
You might want to try adding more salt, Camilia.
Very tasty and so quick and simple! My kids loved it,even my picky eaters.
I’m late to this pastitsio-party but oh my, it was scrumptious!! I used some Penzey’s Greek Seasoning when I was cooking the sirloin. I want to try it with ground lamb, since it’s only one pound of meat I can splurge! I just love your site, thank you for helping me expand my menu and look forward to cooking dinner again 🙂
Am planning on fixing this for a holiday dinner party. Am thinking of fixing a greek salad and need another side. What would you suggest that would be easy as I am preparing for about 30 people.
What about these Skillet Green Beans? You could use a large electric skillet. Good luck!
Would this recipe work w/ground lamb?
pamg – Yes, ground lamb should work wonderfully (I haven’t tried it but I believe the original recipe called for it).
At the risk of sounding repetitive, you are a total rock star! I made this tonight for a friend (going through chemo) and her family. Huge hit!! My only alteration was using ground lamb. I can’t wait to make this again!
I’ve commented on this post before but had to come back and tell you I’ve made it TEN times as a take-in meal for families in our neighborhood / congregation. It’s been a huge hit every time. I add 1 8-oz. container fresh, sautéed mushrooms and 1 green pepper (also sautéed) to bulk up the servings and the veggie content. We love this recipe! Thank you!
I’ve enjoyed trying many of your recipes and they’ve all been a hit! When I came across this recipe I knew it’d be a favorite. I used some leftover bratwurst and added some olives. It is now my favorite pasta dish! In my house we are huge fans of yours and the fact that you are now a fellow northern minnesotan makes your recipes that much tastier!
I made this tonight! I like it even better than the Spaghetti Pie and I used rotini instead of penne and it was really delish and effortless to make! Thanks for the awesome recipe!
Made this for dinner tonight and we were all very happy with dinner. I thought my husband would be unsure because of the cream cheese, but he approved. Our 10 month old couldn’t get enough either. I use slightly less cream cheese and more spices, but sooo good. Thanks for all your yummy recipes.
This was easy and delicious, my two favorite qualities in a recipe 🙂 It was creamy and wonderful. I was bad though, and may have added more then a cup of mozzarella…. we love a cheesy casserole!
My family LOVED this!!
Wow!! Super Yummy!! Whole family loved it! I forgot to drain tomatoes…not a big deal. I did add a couple of shakes of red pepper flakes while browning the meat…cause I do this to all hamburger recipes. So Good! Thanks Mel!!
I am making a bunch of these and freezing them for my cooking group. I am worried about over-cooking the pasta, did you put the pasta in under-done when you make it ahead of time and freezing it? do you add the parsley in or just wait until cooking day?
Thanks!
Erica – I cook the pasta slightly shy of al dente so maybe a minute less than the package says. I add the parsley before freezing and it seems to do just fine.
I have a pastitsio recipe too and I absolutely loooove it. The one I use has mint in it and it makes it even moooooore wonderful. A little goes a long way, but it really adds a litle extra yum…some depth. Love.
I knew when I saw my secret cheese sauce ingredient (nutmeg) being used, I found a kindred soul and blog to follow!
We decided to celebrate Christmas in Tahoe this year. I made this at home using the make ahead directions . Viola – an easy and tasty dinner for all. All four of my sons devoured this!
This is so, so good….looking forward to making it again.
I was introduced to your blog by my sister in law a couple months back and had just been looking around, reading all of your wonderful recipes. I made this recipe for dinner last night and it was a total hit!! I did substitute ground lamb for the turkey, since we both enjoy the taste of lamb and it was on sale. My husband could not get enough of it and we had to force ourselves to put it away before we ate the whole dish! Thank you for a great recipe!! 🙂
Delicious dish with the ground turkey! Made this for dinner tonight and it was quick and easy to make. The cost of all the ingredients together was under $10 and there are plenty of leftovers.
I have made this recipe several times now! I love it, thank you for such great recipes… I can always count on your site when I want to find something new to expand my recipe box!
I am 100% Greek and love pastichio! It is very time consuming to make so it’s not a weekday thing for us. I made this casserole yesterday and it was fantastic! My boys loved it so much and said it totally tasted like pastichio. Thank you for the recipe and the blog. Glad I stumbled onto it
Made this for dinner tonight. It was really good, and we’re not so much of a casserole family. This will be added to my list of “go to” recipes. Plus, it would be something that I’d feel comfortable taking in to another family. Keep ’em coming!!
Hope you’re settling into Minnesota!
Wow, thank you so much! I will do two dishes and have them bake it. Thanks!
Hi Cerissa – good luck to the family of nine. Oh my – that is wonderful (and undoubtedly busy!). If you plan on taking the meal to them earlier in the day, I’d put it all together complete with putting the cheese on top and cover it with foil. It could then be baked covered at 350 for 30 minutes, uncovered and baked another 15 minutes. That should do the trick, I think. Also, I think if you double it you would need to make it in two 9×13-inch pans or one really large roasting pan (the disposable aluminum kind)…although if you make it in a large pan like that, I’d increase the baking time by another 15 minutes probably. Good luck!
Mel, I am thinking about making this dish for a pasta loving family of 9 that just welcomed a new baby into their family. What do you think would be the best way to prepare it to take over early in the day… any tips (should I have them heat it in the oven, then add cheese, etc)? Also, do you think it will fit in a 9X13″ pan if I double the recipe? Thank you for the great recipe and your help!
Hi Betsy – thanks for catching the salt error. I’ve updated the recipe. I usually add 1 teaspoon salt to the ground beef and the 3/4 teaspoon salt (originally listed in the recipe) to the sauce. I’ve edited it to include both amounts. Thanks!
The ingredients say 3/4 teaspoon of salt, but the only salt mentioned in the directions is 1 teaspoon on the ground sirloin. Mine turned out really tasteless – missing much-needed salt and I’m assuming that 3/4 teaspoon in the ingredients was supposed to go in at some point? I’m surprised no one else has commented about this…
I have no idea what patitsio is, but this recipe was so yummy. I used ground turkey and loved the peppery flavor of the sauce. Also, I didn’t have cream cheese, but substituted a cup of thick, homemade yogurt, and it was delicious.
Thanks for another winner, Mel! This was absolutely delicious. I’ll probably save this for weekends, though, since it dirties quite a few dishes. I’m looking forward to enjoying the leftovers for lunch the rest of this week. 🙂
Made this tonight – awesome! Having a huge Greek step-family, I love love love standard Pastitsio, but this deconstructed option was perfect for tonight…I did end up using a 50/50 mix of lean ground beef and ground lamb which kept it a bit truer in taste but I know that’s not for everyone, and I’m sure other meat choices would be fine too. Hubs and kids have already declared dibs on the leftovers for lunch tomorrow 🙂
Mel, This was so very easy to make. It took no time at all. I halved the recipe and used a smaller casserole dish. Came out absolutely delicious! Definitely will be a great new mother one!
We are in the middle of a move. I didn’t worry about bringing a cookbook, because I knew I could find plenty of good recipes right here! This was another hit. There are only two of us, so I cut the recipe in half and it worked great. The only trouble I had was that I can’t seem to find it in your recipe index. I had to just follow posts backwards to find it. How am I missing it?
I made this dish the other night and it was such a crowd pleaser. I actually made it for a group of girls who came over the watch “The Bachelor” and some boys caught wind of food and came running… lets just say they enjoyed this dish more than the bachelor 😉
Yum, yum, yum! I love it when a bunch of simple unassuming ingredients combine to be this delicious! Super easy to put together and hearty yet not heavy. And the leftovers were great too. Adding to rotation!
Made this dish last night and it was a hit! LOVED IT!! I’m also looking to leftovers that I’m having on my lunch break!
A new favorite at our house! Have now made it twice…once with turkey, once with beef. I recommend your recipes to whomever will listen.
Thanks so much.
This was fantastic! I upped the veggies by adding bell pepper and celery with the onions, and I tossed in 4 oz fresh spinach at the end when mixing it all together. Thanks again for an awesome meal!
I made this for dinner yesterday and loved it. Thank you!!
Love love love! kids both ate and husband already excited about left-overs!!
I made this tonight for dinner and my pasta-loving husband LOVED it! I’m not exaggerating when I say he had no less than 4 helpings. He said to me “we HAVE to have this again.” And after dinner, he promptly emailed the link to his whole family. Thanks Mel for another dynamite dish! This is the first time I’ve commented but it’s certainly not the first time I’ve made one of your recipes…on the contrary, I use your recipes regularly. And you never disappoint. Thank you thank you!
Jen – my husband hates tomatoes, too. :o) I’m not as thoughtful as you so I figured he could pick them out – ha!! He ate them in this without hesitation (BUT he has no issue w/ texture). I’m glad you asked about grinding them – now I’ll know how to be more thoughtful next time. ;o)
Jen – I don’t think I’d leave out the tomatoes completely. If your sweet, picky husband is ok with the pulverized option, I’d definitely do that. Then you’ll still get the flavor without the texture. Good luck!
Oh heavenly Mel! You’ve done it again! I love it! I had never heard of this, but most of it was pantry ready for me, so I tried it out after a trip to pick up parsley and cream cheese. I must say, the whole pan was devoured by my picky family. Honestly, I was a little nervous about the nutmeg. I like it in pumkin pie, but a cream sauce? I had my doubts, but NO more!! Amazing. I do have to admit that I used diced chicken breast instead of ground meat. Not a huge fan of stroganoff stuff and well, to tell the truth I thought it was a diced chicken recipe and I didn’t realize it wasn’t until I had the recipe out to cook and defrosted chicken in the pan -ooops. BUT, it was amazing! So, anyone that doesn’t have ground beef or turkey- diced chicken works fabulously as well!
Okay, I’m done raving about this one 🙂 Thanks again Mel, you really are my best friend!!
Okay, Tonya’s comments just FORCED me to pin this and make later.
My husband HATES tomatoes… will I be thoroughly missing out if I totally omit them?
Or, possibly, I could grind them up to a pulp and cook it with the ground beef so the FLAVOR is there, just not the chunks? (that’s my go-to technique for onions– he’s a “texture” guy, but doesn’t mind the flavor)
Any advice? He’s a big boy, but he’s the PICKIEST eater and I’m the *only* one who cooks!!! ::sigh::
When this recipe posted I made a change on this week’s menu – had to have this! Forget raindrops on roses & whiskers on kittens! How about pasta & cream cheese, ground turkey & nutmeg?? THESE are a few of my favorite things! DELICIOUS, Mel! DELICIOUS!! My husband agrees – this was just DELICIOUS!! Call me simple, but this turned out to be one of my very favorite dishes. Ever. In my life. Ever.
AND we followed it with the lemon crinkles. Yes & Amen!! Together, my husband & I ate THIRTY-TWO of them. We did not evenly split those 32, but I will NOT tell you whose share was more like 2/3. I will tell you that she plans to hit her final weight loss goal by Valentine’s Day so she should not make more of these until after that. Just sayin’.
Just had this for supper and its awesome!! The only thing that could use changing is that it feeds 6 people. My husband, our three year old and myself almost ate the whole pan, and we had a vegetable and apple sauce to go along with it. Thanks for another great meal !
I made this for dinner and LOVED it! The flavor combination is amazing. Thanks so much for posting it!
I just made this for dinner tonight and it turned out perfectly. FANTASTIC and DELICIOUS. I love how easy the recipe – I will make this often. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Can I just say I’m on the last of the leftovers for lunch, mixed in w/ leftover Indian food (jeera saag – sauteed spinach w/ garlic and cumin) and when mixed up together, it tastes heavenly! Thank you, thank you thank you for this recipe!
Made this tonight and it was soooooo good! I admit I was nervous but it was amazing! Thanks!
when i see a greek dish, i think about ‘my big fat greek wedding’ and automatically smile. it doesn’t hurt that this one is absolutely mouth-watering!
Oh, this is one of my favorite cold weather foods that I have never made. There is a restaurant near me that makes it, but now I clearly have to make it for myself.
Made this last night… it was a hit with everyone! Added oregano and parm cheese as well. It went into my daughter’s lunch, my lunch and will likely be the afterschool snack du jour when my oldest daughter gets home from basketball practice. Thank you for posting it!
I love finding new weeknight recipes. This looks great!
It seems I’m on a pinning streak with your recipes! Our family loves casseroles, this one is definitely going on the must try list.
Made this tonight and my casserole-fearing husband loved it! Said we should add it to our rotation. Incredibly simple and quick to make…a very satisfying comfort meal for the cold(ish), dreary winter weather. Thanks for sharing, Mel.
I have everything on hand to make this except the fresh parsley! It’s going to be replacing my previously scheduled meal on tomorrow’s menu plan. I’ll just use dried parsley unless I happen to drive by the store tomorrow on other errands. Thanks for posting!
Looks delicious! Can’t wait to try it!
How funny…I just came online in hopes of finding a new way of using the ground turkey I have! Got my answer on my first stop! Love it! And I already have all of these ingredients. Everything’s coming up Libby!
This is SO bizarre… this is the second time in one week that I have been thinking of a certain recipe and you had it featured THAT VERY DAY! Awesome! My neighbor growing up was Greek and the ONLY thing she ever made was pastitsio. I couldn’t get it out of my head yesterday… I can’t wait to try this tonight! YAY!
Oh heavens, Allyson, don’t run to the store just for parsley (unless you let me watch your kids for you!). It will miss a bit of the bright freshness but if you are so inclined, throw a teaspoon or so of dried parsley in with the sauce and I think it will fare just fine.
Kim in MD – I think this could definitely be made ahead, especially if you wait to assemble right before (otherwise, the casserole may dry out a bit if left assembled overnight thanks to the noodles sucking up the extra sauce). I hope you like it if you try it!
I came to your site specifically for a pasta dish for tonight – and didn’t make it past your home page! Looks delish. I’ve got everything but the fresh parsley – would I be missing much to omit it (and avoid an extra trip to the store)?
I have a version of this but I use cinnamon instead of the nutmeg. I’m going to try it with the nutmeg next time. Looks great!!
Love that it’s very light! Growing up in a Greek household we had plenty of this and plenty of it went to our hips! Excited to try this. Thanks!
I love this Greek twist on casserole. My husband will love it and it will be perfect for a cold winter night’s dinner!
Oh, I must add this to my dinner menu!
nothing to do with this recipe, but I am your lone male recipe follower, at least of record. I previously raved about the clam chowder which I still make often. But you didn’t say your skillet mac and cheese makes enough for dozens of people. It’s really good and really plentiful. I still love your emails and your blog. Dwight
Im here with you buddy!
A little late to the party, but I am here too. These recipes are great. My family is beginning to think I’m miraculously a chef. lol
my fridge is looking pretty sparse (tuesday is grocery day) but i think i can pull this one off. thanks, mel.
Oh My My mouth is watering! I will make this very soon!
Looks delicious! Pinned it…can’t wait to try!
I know what’s for dinner at my house tonight!
This looks delicious! I’m adding it to my menu lineup!
That looks so good.
Mmm such a nice dish!
This sounds great and very different. I could make this in lightened up form and I love the nutmeg in Pastitsio…with the creamy sauce it’s irresistible.
I have never had Pastitsio, but it looks and sounds delicious! Your timing posting this recipe couldn’t be better, Mel. My BFF and I are hosting a Greek theme party in March! This would be a great addition to our menu. Do you think it could be made the day before the party (you know me and my need to make everything ahead)? Perhaps cook everything but don’t assemble until just before putting in the oven? Thanks, Mel!
what’s not to love about a casserole? Looks great!