Warm up your table with these hearty, satisfying hotdish meals from the oven.
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Pizza Pasta Skillet Casserole
A blanket of gooey cheese and the oven-crisped pepperoni make this casserole a guaranteed kid pleaser. Of course, you can switch up the ingredients as easily as the toppings on a pizza. Classics like sweet pepper, black olives and sausage are all fair game—but we'd hold the anchovies!
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Cheesy Bratwurst Casserole
This six-ingredient hotdish recipe from an Appleton, Wisconsin, reader features an all-star lineup of Wisconsin foods, including bratwurst, cheddar cheese and potatoes. "It's a quick, easy recipe," our reader says. "There's not much you can mess up."
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Spring Chicken Pot Pie
Frozen puff pastry and a rotisserie chicken are your cheats to this fast and delicious pot pie filled with seasoned fresh veggies.
Top Chicken Casserole Recipes
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Chicken and Corn Hash-Brown Bake
This comfort food hotdish offers a new twist on the usual hash brown casserole. Try it for everyday meals as well as potlucks!
Easy Potluck Recipes
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Calico Bean Casserole
This recipe blurs the line between baked beans and chili. It's great for feeding a crowd.
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Spinach-Mushroom-Sausage Pierogi Bake
You don't get much easier than this recipe from Jan Valdez of Chicago! Saute a few ingredients, stir in cream cheese to make a sauce, and dump it all over frozen pierogis in a casserole dish. (You don't even need to thaw the pierogis!)
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Classic Chicken and Wild Rice Hotdish
Rich cream sauce stands in for canned soup in Minnesota chef Amy Thielen's spin on classic chicken and wild rice hotdish. The recipe comes from Amy's book The New Midwestern Table (clarksonpotter.com).
Top Chicken Casserole Recipes
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Mexican Mac and Cheese
Pair Mexican flavors with pasta for this comfort-food casserole that includes sausage, salsa and Monterey Jack cheese.
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Cheeseburger-and-Fries Casserole
This might be the easiest casserole you ever make, with just four ingredients and 15 minutes of prep time. The recipe comes from an Elkader, Iowa, reader. Kids of all ages will probably douse the stick-to-your-ribs meal with ketchup.
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Sweet Potato and Black Bean Enchiladas
Doctored with onion, chili powder and cocoa, canned sauce becomes a stepping-stone to something deeper.
Sizzling Mexican and Tex-Mex Recipes
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Unforgettable Chicken Pie
This from-scratch deep-dish chicken casserole comes from a Caledonia, Michigan, reader. "It's not your run-of-the-mill chicken pie," says the reader, who adds a bit of pork sausage for farm-hearty flavor. "Anyone who tries it just can't get enough of it."
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Spicy Brunch Lasagna
This make-ahead egg casserole features lasagna noodles, Alfredo sauce and hash brown potatoes, making it great for brunch or a simple dinner.
Our Best Breakfast Casseroles
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Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese
The combo of butternut squash, rigatoni, bacon and smoked cheese makes for a delicious twist on traditional mac and cheese.
Easy and Delicious Butternut Squash Recipes
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Eight-Layer Casserole
A Waukegan, Illinois, reader contributed this homespun ground beef-and-noodle hotdish recipe. Make-ahead directions are included at the end of the recipe.
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Chicken-Broccoli Bake
A flurry of curry adds zest to this classic casserole combo of chicken, broccoli and cheese.
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Wine-Tasting Lasagna
This is a great recipe for entertaining. If you're thinking about holding a wine-tasting party, the flavors of the red meat sauce and cheese-spinach layers in this colorful lasagna will complement the wines.
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Triangle Ranch Scalloped Corn
Diced green chile peppers give this cheesy baked dish character with some hotness. We like the crunch from the saltine crackers, too.
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Mexican Biscuit Casserole
This taco-flavored main dish is a potluck favorite from a Fargo, North Dakota, reader. Serve it with tortilla chips so your guests can scoop and eat.
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Bacon-Pear Macaroni and Cheese
Your family won't be able to resist the flavor combo of this macaroni and cheese casserole!
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Chicken Alfredo and Rice Casserole
This chicken and rice main dish is comfort food at its best.
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Cheesy Italian Meatball Casserole
Combine Italian meatballs, three kinds of cheese, pasta and sauce for this easy, crowd-pleasing casserole.
Warm and Cheesy Recipes
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Zucchini Sausage Casserole
This homey casserole takes only 25 minutes of prep, making it a perfect pick for a weeknight dinner.
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Tuna Alfredo Casserole
Purchased pesto and refrigerated alfredo sauce are the shortcut ingredients that make this tuna casserole so easy.
Purpose: A casserole can serve any function, for example, a main dish, side dish, breakfast, or even dessert. A hot dish is a main meal only, as it (purportedly) contains all the nutrients one needs in a hearty meal. Well, there you have it folks.
John Wayne first wrote the casserole recipe, but it looks a little different today. John Wayne Casserole was first popularized by the 1979 cookbook, "Cooking with Love from Cara and Her Friends," a collection of different celebrities' favorite dishes.
The dish originates in the Upper Midwest region of the United States, where it remains popular, particularly in Minnesota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, North Dakota, and eastern Montana. Hotdish is cooked in a single baking dish, and served hot (per its name).
The word casserole is derived from a French word that means 'saucepan'. Apparently, casseroles originated as communal pots that people shared for meals. The oldest recipe for a casserole, around 1250, consisted of pasta sheets cooked in water, layered with grated cheese and spices.
Not every single casserole has all of them, but as a rule of thumb, here's what to look for: a starch, a binding agent or sauce, and a protein or vegetable. Many casseroles also have both vegetables and proteins, as well as a crunchy element to give some textural contrast, and cheese.
It is reported that Jackie O served this side dish of sour cream egg noodles and chives while she stayed in the White House. On one occasion she served the dish at a private dinner to the Prince and Princess Radziwill (her sister and brother-in-law).
The man was unquestionably a fan of meat and potatoes, and one of his go-to side dishes was scalloped potatoes. With milk, cream, butter and cheese, John's version wasn't for the faint of heart.
"The standard size of a casserole dish is 9 by 13 inches. However, due to varying shapes, they are often measured by volume, with three quarts being average,” says Contrino. “It is important to note that if a recipe calls only for a 'casserole dish,' it is most likely asking for a 9- by 13-inch rectangular size.
In general, you'll want to bake a casserole covered with aluminum foil for most of the cooking time. Covering the casserole helps lock in moisture and prevents it from drying out. If you don't cover the casserole or uncover it too soon, the casserole will dry out.
Make-ahead meals (especially baked casseroles) are terrific because you can completely assemble them in advance and bake them just before serving. They're the ultimate comfort food as they come bubbling hot and delicious straight from the oven to the table to the delight of family and friends.
Fresh herbs or citrus zest can also punch up flavors with a bit of welcome brightness for a long-cooked dish, as can adding some heat in the form of a dash of hot sauce, a generous pinch of minced or sliced fresh chili pepper, or a shake of red pepper flakes.
What is known, though, is that the term "hotdish" first appeared in a 1930 Mankato cookbook, published by Grace Lutheran Ladies Aid. "What's clearer is that the dish has become a symbol of Minnesotan identity," Deustch said. "That is exactly why there are so many debates over what a hotdish can be."
What makes a casserole a "hotdish"? To make it a hot dish, it must be topped with tater tots. So, you brown some ground beef, add some kind of can vegetable, that has been drained, add in cream of something soup, stir together, and maybe a splash of milk.
The term “casserole” can refer to any dish prepared in a casserole dish—essentially a deep, wide baking dish—and baked in the oven. A casserole can have layers, as in the case of an Italian lasagna or a deep-dish pizza, or composed of some evenly distributed combination of veggies, a protein, and a starchy binder.
In France, un casserole refers specifically to a saucepan, and nothing else. However, une cassolette—a baked dish that's akin to what Americans call a casserole—is somewhat popular in French home cooking.
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