A casserole is the only dinner that is better the second day, which is the entire reason to make one. Everything goes in a single dish, the oven does the work, and what is left over reheats into a lunch that does not feel like leftovers.

These twenty-five are grouped by what goes in them. Every one lists its real total time and how many it serves, so you can tell a 30-minute weeknight bake from a 55-minute Sunday one before you start.

Chicken Casseroles

Four of these five start with chicken that is already cooked, which is why they are the fastest group on this page. A rotisserie bird gets you through any of them.

Bacon Ranch Chicken Casserole

Six ingredients and three pounds of already-cooked shredded chicken with cream cheese, sour cream, a packet of ranch, and bacon. The fastest casserole on this page, and the highest in protein by a wide margin. View the full recipe — 30 minutes, serves 6, 82g protein

Creamy Ranch Chicken Casserole

Five cups of shredded rotisserie chicken with a cup each of cream cheese and sour cream. Eight ingredients, and the ranch packet does all the seasoning so there is no spice list to measure out. View the full recipe — 45 minutes, serves 6

Million Dollar Chicken Casserole with Cracker Topping

Four cups of cooked chicken under cream cheese, sour cream, and condensed soup, finished with a buttery cracker topping. Eleven ingredients — the cracker crust is the part people remember. View the full recipe — 45 minutes, serves 6

Chicken and Stuffing Casserole

Four cups of shredded chicken with a whole box of stuffing mix and a can of cream of chicken soup. Eleven ingredients and 8 servings, which makes it the cheapest way on this page to feed a full table. View the full recipe — 50 minutes, serves 8

Broccoli Cheddar Chicken Rice Casserole

This one starts with raw chicken and uncooked rice — a pound of breast, a cup of long grain, and two cups of broth, so the rice absorbs everything. Twelve ingredients and no side dish needed. View the full recipe — 50 minutes, serves 6

Ground Beef Casseroles

A pound of ground beef is the base for all five. What changes is the starch on top: biscuits, pasta, rice, or tortillas.

One Pot Cheeseburger Casserole

Twenty ingredients, the longest list here, and it earns them — onion, garlic, carrot, and the rest build a base that tastes like more than ground beef. Everything happens in one pot before it goes in the oven. View the full recipe — 35 minutes, serves 6

Taco Beef Biscuit Casserole

A pound of lean ground beef with onion, bell pepper, and a can of diced tomatoes with green chilies, baked under biscuits. Eight ingredients, and the biscuits soak up the sauce from below. View the full recipe — 45 minutes, serves 6

Ranch Beef Bowtie Casserole with Corn and Garlic Butter

A pound of ground beef with a ranch packet, 8 ounces of bowtie pasta, and two cups of corn. Ten ingredients, and the garlic butter poured over before baking is what pulls it together. View the full recipe — 45 minutes, serves 6

Mexican Ground Beef Casserole with Rice

Nineteen ingredients built properly from onion, garlic, and bell pepper rather than a seasoning packet. It takes the same 45 minutes as the shortcut versions and tastes noticeably less like a packet. View the full recipe — 45 minutes, serves 6

Baked Burrito Casserole

A pound of ground beef with taco seasoning and a can of refried beans, layered into a tray. Eight ingredients, 8 servings — all the filling of a burrito with none of the rolling. View the full recipe — 50 minutes, serves 8

Potato-Topped and Tater Tot

Frozen potatoes are the easiest topping there is: no peeling, no par-cooking, and they crisp in the same time the filling needs.

Crinkle Fry Casserole Bake

Two pounds of ground beef under 32 ounces of frozen crinkle cut fries. Ten ingredients, 8 servings, and crinkle cuts hold their shape better than tots under a wet filling. View the full recipe — 50 minutes, serves 8

Tater Tot Chicken Bacon Casserole

Thirty-two ounces of tater tots over two cups of shredded chicken with ranch dressing and sour cream. Eleven ingredients, and it is the chicken answer to the beef versions above. View the full recipe — 50 minutes, serves 6

Tater Tot Pizza Casserole

Ground beef and a can of pizza sauce under tots, which is exactly as good an idea as it sounds. Ten ingredients and 8 servings, and it is the one children request again. View the full recipe — 50 minutes, serves 8

Baked Potato Chicken and Broccoli Casserole

Three large russets cubed rather than a frozen potato product, with shredded chicken and broccoli. Ten ingredients — a little more knife work, and it tastes like a loaded baked potato. View the full recipe — 45 minutes, serves 6

Vegetable Casseroles for the Side of the Table

Three sides that carry a holiday dinner. All of them scale up without changing anything but the dish size.

Easy Green Bean Casserole

Five ingredients: four cans of no-salt-added green beans, two cans of condensed cream of mushroom, milk, pepper, and the onions on top. The shortest list on this page, and 8 servings. View the full recipe — 40 minutes, serves 8

Cheesy Broccoli Casserole

Four cups of broccoli florets under two cups of sharp cheddar with a proper butter-and-milk sauce rather than a can. Nine ingredients, and sharp rather than mild cheddar is what keeps it from tasting flat. View the full recipe — 50 minutes, serves 6

Cheesy Yellow Squash Casserole

Six medium yellow squash with onion, egg, and two cups of cheddar. Nine ingredients, and the egg is what sets it into something you can cut rather than spoon. View the full recipe — 55 minutes, serves 6

Seafood Casseroles

Three that use the pantry or the freezer rather than a fish counter.

Tuna Noodle Casserole

Eight ounces of egg noodles with two cans of tuna, condensed cream of mushroom, peas, and cheddar under breadcrumbs. Nine ingredients and entirely shelf-stable apart from the milk and cheese. View the full recipe — 40 minutes, serves 4

Cheesy Shrimp Casserole

A pound of shrimp with a can of cream of shrimp soup, mayonnaise, and two cups of cheddar. Nine ingredients, and shrimp needs far less oven time than the filling does, so this one is forgiving. View the full recipe — 50 minutes, serves 6

Baked Stuffed Shrimp Casserole

A pound of large shrimp with a cup of lump crab meat under crushed buttery crackers. Nine ingredients and the most expensive dish on this page — it is a holiday casserole rather than a Tuesday one. View the full recipe — 50 minutes, serves 6

Low Carb Casseroles

The trick in all three is replacing the starch layer with cauliflower, broccoli, or nothing at all. None of them use a condensed soup.

Keto Cheeseburger Casserole

A pound of extra lean ground beef with onion, garlic, and olive oil — fourteen ingredients and no bun, no pasta, no rice. Thirty minutes, which ties it for the fastest casserole here. View the full recipe — 30 minutes, serves 4

Keto Chicken Broccoli Casserole

Two cups of cooked chicken and two cups of broccoli bound with a cup of heavy cream and a cup of cheddar. Twelve ingredients, and the cream rather than condensed soup is what keeps the carbs down. View the full recipe — 45 minutes, serves 6

Loaded Cauliflower Casserole with Bacon and Chives

Two pounds of cauliflower florets with cream cheese, sour cream, a cup and a half of sharp cheddar, bacon, and chives. Ten ingredients, 8 servings — it eats like a loaded baked potato without the potato. View the full recipe — 50 minutes, serves 8

One for Breakfast, One for Dessert

The format is not only for dinner. These two bookend the day.

Pancake Sausage Casserole

Two cups of pancake mix poured over sausage and baked into one dish — eight ingredients, 8 servings, and nobody stands at the griddle flipping. This is the recipe for a house full of people on a weekend morning. View the full recipe — 45 minutes, serves 8

Cream Cheese Crescent Casserole

Sixteen ounces of cream cheese between two layers of crescent dough with sugar and vanilla. Eight ingredients, 12 servings, and it is somewhere between a cheesecake and a sopapilla. View the full recipe — 45 minutes, serves 12

Before You Choose Your Recipe

Almost every casserole on this page can be assembled a day ahead, covered, and refrigerated — add 10 to 15 minutes to the bake if it goes in cold. The one thing that ruins a casserole is water, and it usually comes from frozen vegetables that went in without being thawed and drained, or from squash and mushrooms that release liquid as they cook. Cover with foil for the first two thirds of the bake and take it off for the last 10 to 15 minutes, which browns the topping without drying the middle. And if the dish contains raw meat rather than cooked, check the centre with a thermometer rather than the clock: 165°F for anything with chicken in it.

Casserole Questions

Can you make a casserole ahead of time?

Yes, and most of these are better for it. Assemble the dish up to 24 hours ahead, cover, and refrigerate — then add 10 to 15 minutes to the stated bake time because it is going into the oven cold. The exceptions are the ones with a crisp topping: hold back the tater tots, crackers, or crispy onions and add them just before baking, or they turn soft overnight.

Should you cover a casserole with foil?

For most of the bake, yes. Foil traps steam so the inside heats evenly and the edges do not dry out, then you remove it for the last 10 to 15 minutes to brown the top. A casserole baked uncovered the whole time usually ends up with a dark crust over a lukewarm middle.

Why is my casserole watery?

Frozen vegetables that went in frozen, nearly every time. Thaw and drain them first — a bag of frozen broccoli or mixed vegetables can release half a cup of water into the dish. Fresh squash, mushrooms, and zucchini do the same thing, which is why recipes using them often salt and drain the vegetable first. Letting the finished casserole rest 10 minutes also lets the liquid reabsorb rather than running onto the plate.

Can you freeze a casserole?

Yes, and unbaked usually freezes better than baked. Assemble in a freezer-safe dish, wrap tightly, and it keeps about three months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before baking — cooking from frozen means the edges finish long before the centre. Pasta and rice casseroles soften slightly after freezing; cream-based and cheese-topped ones come through best.

What temperature do you bake a casserole at?

350°F covers nearly all of them, including every recipe above. It is hot enough to brown a topping within the time the filling needs and gentle enough that dairy does not split. Raising it to 375°F or 400°F browns faster but risks a dried-out middle unless the dish is shallow.

How do you know when it is done?

Bubbling at the edges and hot in the centre. For any casserole containing raw meat, that means 165°F on a thermometer in the middle, not just at the side of the dish. For ones built from already-cooked chicken — most of the chicken group above — you are only reheating and melting, so visible bubbling and a browned top is the whole test.