I love Greek food. There was this little Greek restaurant in Florida that I used to go to all the time with my daughters. Sadly, there aren’t any Greek restaurants near my home in Georgia. Oh, how I’ve missed it. Over the last few months my daughter and I have been recreating some of our Greek restaurant favorites at home. So far we’ve have made Baklava, Spanakopita, and Pumpkin Hummus. This past week I tackled a Greek dish that might be a little less known in the U.S. and made a Greek Pastitsio Casserole. My family gobbled up this hearty casserole with it’s flavorful cream sauce. It has the traditional Greek spices like cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice.
Greek Pastitsio Casserole
ingredients:
12 oz. penne pasta
1 1/2 lb. ground sirloin
1 ½ c. yellow or white onion, chopped (1 large onion)
1 ¾ tsp. salt, divided
1 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
6 garlic cloves, finely minced
2 T. all-purpose flour
8 oz. reduced-fat cream cheese
2 c. low-fat milk
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. allspice
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 (14.5 oz.) can diced tomatoes, drained
1 c. shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
2 T. chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
directions:
Coat a 9X13-inch or equivalent baking dish with cooking spray and set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
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 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, allspice, cinnamon, 3/4 teaspoon salt, Italian seasoning and tomatoes. Stir to combine 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 bake for 15 – 20 minutes, until the cheese is starting to brown (watching carefully so it doesn’t burn).
Remove from the oven and sprinkle with parsley. Let it stand for about 5 minutes before serving.
Note: You could use 1 pound of ground sirloin in the recipe. I just wanted mine extra meaty.
This recipe Greek Pastitsio Casserole is perfect to make on the weekend and have ready for a busy weeknight. You can easily make it ahead. Just assemble everything in the afternoon, and then put it in the oven to warm it through and melt the cheese at dinner time.

Greek Pastitsio Casserole
Ingredients
- 12 oz. penne pasta
- 1 1/2 lb. ground sirloin
- 1 ½ c. yellow or white onion chopped (1 large onion)
- 1 ¾ tsp. salt divided
- 1 tsp. pepper
- 1 tsp. Italian seasoning
- 6 garlic cloves finely minced
- 2 T. all-purpose flour
- 8 oz. reduced-fat cream cheese
- 2 c. low-fat milk
- 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp. allspice
- 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
- 1 14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes, drained
- 1 c. shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
- 2 T. chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Instructions
- Coat a 9X13-inch or equivalent baking dish with cooking spray and set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- 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 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, allspice, cinnamon, 3/4 teaspoon salt, Italian seasoning and tomatoes. Stir to combine 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 bake for 15 - 20 minutes, until the cheese is starting to brown (watching carefully so it doesn’t burn).
- Remove from the oven and sprinkle with parsley. Let it stand for about 5 minutes before serving.
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I live in the south, too, and finding ethnic food is difficult. I haven’t had Greek food in many years. Baklava was always my favorite!
That looks really delicious. The only Greek food, other than desserts, that I have had would be gyros.
I need to get one of those casserole dishes so I can make this. Looks amazing.
I ~love~ Greek food, too. There’s a really nice one where I live, but it’s a bit pricey. I’m going to keep this recipe in mind. 🙂
I love Greek food too but have no idea how to cook any of it myself. The next time I see you in person, though, you’ll have to tell me how to pronounce this. I had to read the recipe title syllable by syllable but still can’t figure out how to say ‘patitsio’ 😛
MMM that looks so good. I love Greek dishes.
That looks really, really good. Thanks for sharing this recipe. I may try it this week while the kids are on spring break.
This dish looks amazing! I also live in GA and have noticed a major lack of good Greek food, which I love too. I have only seen chain places and I prefer a small family run restaurant. Thanks for sharing !!
Thank you very much for posting this recipe. It would be easy to make vegetarian with veggie meat strips or seitan. Have a nice day <3