30 Vegetable Casserole Recipes That Are Guaranteed Crowd-Pleasers (2024)

FAQs

How do you make a casserole not soggy? ›

Thicken a meat casserole the most popular way with flour.

Add some flour to your pan after you've browned the meat and before adding any liquid. This way, the flour will soak up the juices and fat in the pan. Add about one teaspoon of flour at a time until you get the right thickness.

To prevent a soupy casserole, be sure to fully thaw any frozen vegetables in a colander over a bowl, and pat dry, squeeze excess moisture out of greens like spinach or chard, and quickly precook watery fresh vegetables like onions, mushrooms or squashes just until they release their moisture.

Add a little water or milk to the top of the it before reheating. Allow the liquid to seep in between the casserole and the baking dish, without overflowing. Cover the top with aluminum foil. The added moisture will get trapped in by the foil and the steam created will moisten a dry casserole.

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.

A common issue with casseroles is soggy overcooked pasta or vegetable components. "Partially cooking these ingredients is the only way to make a casserole with a satisfying texture," says LaClair.

The three main thickening agents for gravies are flour, cornflour and arrowroot. The first two are normally used in savoury dishes while arrowroot tends to be used in sweet dishes – that said, arrowroot will work in a savoury dish as it has no flavour.

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.

Many casseroles seem to improve in flavour if kept overnight (cool them quickly and keep them in a refrigerator, by the way, once they're cold). This means it's quite possible to make two casseroles while the oven is in full swing, and keep one for the next day.

What are the 5 components of a casserole? ›

So what's inside? Let's talk anatomy: A standard dinner casserole usually includes a protein, a starch, a vegetable, a sauce (or other binding ingredient), and cheese.

The primary reason for covering a casserole as it bakes is to trap moisture inside the dish. This will not only keep the casserole itself moist, but it will also help get the casserole up to cooking temperature.

The most likely cause of this is overcooking. As meat cooks, its muscle fibers shorten in both length and width and eventually squeeze out the juices they normally hold. As you can imagine, this leaves meat dry, and often stringy in texture. To avoid this problem, choose less-tender cuts of meat.

The time a casserole takes to cook will vary from 2-2½ hours for chuck, blade and thick flank, up to 4 hours for shin, leg and neck. Pork cuts for braising and casseroling normally take 1½ hours, and lamb much the same.

If it is still too wet (as well as not cooked enough), turn down the heat. If it is dry enough but not cooked enough, cover and turn down the heat. If it is almost done and dry enough, just turn the heat off completely and check on it every 5 minutes. From someone who has been cooking for 47 years.