4 Great Winter Casserole Recipes

There are nights when you get home tired and the last thing you want to do is fuss over the stove to make a meal for yourself and your family. Casseroles offer a convenient option. Most can be prepared in advance and simply thawed and cooked. Leftovers can be frozen for future meals or kept for a filling lunch the next day. They are also, as a general rule, very filling. Best of all, they cook in a single dish which means fewer dishes to clean up after dinner.

Casseroles are not usually difficult to put together and prepping them in advance for the week can make your life less hectic. Recipes can easily be doubled or tripled to make multiple casseroles if you wish to stockpile some meals in your freezer. Here are some classic casseroles to pack your fridge with for meals this week. All come from the Food.com site, where home cooks like you and I can submit their recipes and share them with others.

1) Macaroni & Cheese

My family loves mac and cheese and this is my all-time favourite recipe. This one is credited to jlb4.

• 16 oz elbow macaroni (cooked)
• ½ cup butter
• 1 tsp salt
• ½ tsp pepper
• ½ cup flour
• 3 ½ cups milk
• 1 lb cheese, cut into cubes (they suggest Velveeta, I use a mix of cream cheese, shredded Cheddar and Mozzarella, you can get as funky as you want though my sister uses smoked brie)
• Breadcrumbs

Preheat oven to 350 F.  In a skillet, cook the butter, salt, pepper, and flour until well mixed and smooth. Add in the milk and bring it to a boil. Let it boil for 1 minute and then remove it from the heat. Add in the cheese and stir it until the cheese has all melted. Mix the pasta into the cheese mixture until as well mixed as possible. Pour the mixture into a greased casserole dish and sprinkle with breadcrumbs. Bake for 30 minutes.

2) Pizza Casserole

This one was provided by CarrolJ. It’s another family favourite that is sure to please your family.

• 1 lb bow tie pasta
• 1 lb sausage, ‘mild’ (or other flavor if desired)
• 1 large onion, medium size chopped (cooked with sausage)
• 2 (26 oz) jars spaghetti sauce
• ½ lb cubed cooked ham
• ½ – 1 lb of sliced pepperoni
• 3 (8 oz) bags of shredded mozzarella cheese
• 6 TB grated parmesan cheese
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp dried oregano

Cook the pasta like normal, drain it, and set it aside. Cook sausage, garlic, oregano, and onion until sausage is completely cooked. Drain fat off sausage mixture. Lightly grease 13 x 9 baking dish. Preheat oven to 375 F.

Place a small amount of spaghetti sauce in the bottom of the dish until the bottom is lightly covered. Layer ingredients in the following order: 1/3 of pasta, 1/3 of remaining sauce, 1 bag of mozzarella, 2 TB parmesan cheese, and all of the sausage and onion mixture.

Next layer: ½ of remaining pasta, ½ of remaining sauce, 1 bag of mozzarella, 2 TB parmesan cheese, and all of the ham.

Last layer: remaining pasta, remaining sauce, 1 bag of mozzarella, 2 TB parmesan, and all of the pepperoni (You can pretty much cover it with pepperoni.)

Bake for 40 minutes.

3) Taco Casserole

This one comes from Leilani. It’s another easy to assemble recipe that will be a favourite with your kids.

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 (1 ¼ oz) pkg taco seasoning
• 1 (15 oz) can refried beans
• 2 cups Monterey jack cheese, divided (or mixed cheddar, jack etc.)
• 1 cup salsa (I prefer mild, but if you would like to kick it up a notch, go for it)
• 2 green onions, chopped
• 1 (2 1/3 oz) can sliced black olives
• 1 tomato, chopped
• 2 cups corn chips (coarsely crushed or chopped)

Preheat oven to 375 F. Brown ground beef and drain off the fat. Add taco seasoning and the amount of water indicated on the pkg. Follow pkg directions for cooking. Line bottom of an 8 x 8 dish with corn chips. Heat the refried beans in a saucepan until hot. Add 1 cup of cheese and salsa to the beans and stir until mixed thoroughly. Pour bean mixture over the corn chips. Put the beef mixture on top of the bean mixture. Sprinkle with remaining cheese, green onion, and olives. Bake until cheese is completely melted. Sprinkle with remaining cheese.

4) Moussaka

Kittencal is probably one of the most popular contributors to Food.com and I have found very few of her recipes that I don’t love. This one is no exception. Moussaka is a Greek casserole.

• 2 medium eggplants
• olive oil (as needed)
• 1 lb lean ground beef (or can use ground lamb)
• 2 medium onions, peeled and chopped
• 2 TB fresh minced garlic (or to taste, I use lots!)
• 1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
• 1 tsp dried oregano (or to taste)
• 1 tsp salt, divided (or to taste, I use seasoned salt)
• ½ tsp fresh ground black pepper (or to taste)
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• CHEESE SAUCE
• 3 TB butter
• ½ tsp salt (I use seasoned salt)
• ½ tsp fresh ground black pepper (or to taste)
• 2 TB flour
• 1 cup half-and-half cream
• 1 egg
• ½ cup grated parmesan cheese (can use more)

Peel eggplant and slice it into ¼ inch thick slices. Sprinkle slices with salt and let them sweat for an hour.

Grease a 9 x 9 or 9 x 13 baking dish (the bigger the dish, the thinner the casserole). Brush a cookie sheet with olive oil. Take the eggplant slices (post-sweating) and brush them with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Place them on a cookie sheet and using your oven broiler, broil until brown then turn them over and broil the other side until brown. You can brush additional olive oil on the slices if needed.

Arrange half of the eggplant slices in the bottom of the baking dish. In a skillet, cook beef and onions until onions are soft and beef is completely cooked. Drain off the fat and add seasonings and tomato sauce. Stir to combine. Layer beef mixture on top of eggplant slices in dish. Next place the remaining eggplant slices on the beef layer. Preheat oven to 350 F.

Melt butter in a saucepan. Add salt, pepper, and flour. Gradually stir in cream and cook over medium heat until thick and bubbly. In a separate bowl, beat the egg. Add a bit of the hot cream mixture to the egg and stir. Add egg mixture to saucepan and stir. Add Parmesan cheese and stir until completely mixed. Pour cheese sauce over top eggplant layer. Bake in oven for 45 minutes.