20 Comforting Ways to Make the Most Out of Casserole Szn

Everyone gets all amped about braising in the winter. Like the only thing worth turning your oven on for is to drench a nice piece of meat in liquid and slow cook it to death. You know what’s worth turning your oven on for? A casserole. Crunchy-topped, ooey-gooey casseroles. Or a fuckin’ gratin. Literally anything topped with buttery breadcrumbs and cheese and broiled to golden perfection gives your life in mid-February meaning. You know what else you can bake in a casserole dish? Lasagna, man. Any blessed combination of pasta, sauce and cheese when put into a casserole dish and a 400-degree oven is like a little reminder that even though winter is terrible, there’s always a silver lining. While it's still cold enough out to enjoy the residual heating effects of your oven on full blast, here are our top 20 things to make in a casserole dish.

This savory cacio e pepe kugel from chef Missy Robbins is everything you could want from cacio e pepe and so much more. Using thin spaghetti or linguine pasta exponentially increases the crispy noodle bits on top, which is, of course, the best part of baked pasta.

You won’t miss the animal protein in this shepherd’s pie at all. See how easily this recipe comes together in our Test Kitchen with Farideh Sadeghin, MUNCHIES culinary director.

Another vegan riff on a retro American dinner table staple, the pot pie. This one’s loaded with savory gravy, chickpeas, potatoes and veggies, topped with a flaky phyllo crust.

Why use plain old pie crust when you can top your pot pie with buttery, flaky biscuits?

What isn’t improved with the addition of tomato sauce and loads of cheese? This tangentially-Italian baked concoction is as delicious as it is weird.

Its kind of the height of hubris to try to improve upon a classic mid-century American green bean casserole recipe that calls for canned cream of mushroom soup, but this one succeeds. Fresh chanterelles, smoked gouda, and real fried shallots make the extra effort totally worth it.

This vegan casserole is creamy (from the silken tofu) and faux-cheesy (from the nutritional yeast), and just a little sweet (from the caramelized onions). What more could you ask for?

We’ll gladly fight any sweet potato casserole purist who thinks marshmallows are the only acceptable topping. (Plus, we all know the marshmallows thing was part of a marketing ploy anyway.)

For the vegan potluck-ers among us, we want you to enjoy the bliss of the green bean casserole, too.

This casserole isn’t trying to pretend to be something it’s not. This recipe looks exactly like it probably would have on someone's grandma’s recipe card in 1960, for a reason. You can’t improve upon perfection.

Gruyere cheese was made to top creamy potatoes, and to be turned a mouth-watering golden brown under your broiler.

Your late night drunk snack on steroids.

There’s stil almost a pound of cheese and a quart of whole milk in this, but there are VITAMINS in that green stuff, and that’s what matters.

Your beloved boxed macaroni and cheese is all grown up. It got a bachelor’s degree in Russian literature and only drinks LaCroix now. It’s would prefer you don’t remind it of its embarrassing younger days when it thought Coldplay was a good band, thanks.

Cheetos are having a renaissance moment, y’all. Let’s embrace it.

Unless you feel the need to prove something to yourself, we highly suggest not bothering with peeling your own pearl onions, the world’s most annoying kitchen task. Use frozen!

Cauliflower + cheese + bacon = everything good and right about the world.

The most low-effort staple of Italian-American family gatherings, and your answer for what to eat tonight.

We see your “bread puddings should be sweet” rule, and we reject it. Bacon belongs in everything.

Embrace your inner Garfield the Cat with Matty Matheson’s quintessential beef lasagna.