15 of Grandma's Best Casserole Recipes (2024)

FAQs

What is the oldest known casserole? ›

Macaroni and cheese is the oldest written casserole recipe found in 1250.

In her pitch, she asked the stars to provide the recipe for their favorite dish. Wayne offered a simple concoction of egg souffle, cheese, green chiles, and tomatoes. His basic recipe became known as John Wayne Casserole, and it's now adored as a breakfast classic in many households.

Let's talk anatomy: A standard dinner casserole usually includes a protein, a starch, a vegetable, a sauce (or other binding ingredient), and cheese. But making a casserole is not an exact science, and you can definitely break away from this formula. Check out some fun side-dish casseroles and desserts below!

First found in a tomb in Ancient Egypt, honey is about 5,500 years old. Revered in ancient Egypt, honey remains edible over long periods. In 2015, while excavating tombs in Egypt, the archaeologists found about 3000-year-old honey that was fully edible.

A seemingly simple, tender noodle dish with plenty of cheesy, tangy flavor, and the refreshing garden sharpness of chives, Jackie Kennedy's Special Casserole is delicate and hearty at the same time, heartwarmingly homemade yet delightfully classic.

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 term “hot dish” first appeared in a cookbook in 1930 by a Mankato, Minnesota church group called Grace Lutheran Ladies Aid. Also, a fun fact, in the 1950s, Ore-Ida needed a way to use leftover potato scraps, and thus behold came the tator tot. They marketed them as a topping for casseroles and they really took off.

Is it better to bake a casserole covered or uncovered? ›

Generally, casseroles with grains, rice or pasta that will cook during the baking process are usually covered, for at least part of the time. Casseroles made of cooked ingredients are usually baked uncovered. If you like a crisper, browner top, be sure the casserole is uncovered for at least part of the bake time.

The average 9x13 rectangular baking dish holds 3.5 to 4 quarts. However, the number of quarts varies based on how deep the dish is—some of our deeper recommendations hold up to 5 quarts. Recipes that cook in a 3-quart dish or Dutch oven can be cooked interchangeably in a 9x13-inch baking dish.

The binder is the sauce, which holds ingredients together. Casserole toppings are used for color, variety in texture; protects protein ingredients and identify common toppings.

The extender/starch, a food ingredient that helps thicken a dish. – Dry bread crumbs; cooked, diced potatoes; pasta, rice, grits, or barley; cooked, mashed dry beans.

And a piece by Langdon Reid in a Staunton, Virginia, newspaper says: “History tells us that a French Canadian immigrant Elmire Jolicour is credited with inventing the casserole, this wonderful dish of culinary breakthrough, in Berlin, New Hampshire, in 1866.”

Bread. Bread is one the very first foods made by mankind. It is believed that bread was first made some 30000+ years ago.

The earliest known written recipes date to 1730 BC and were recorded on cuneiform tablets found in Mesopotamia. Other early written recipes date from approximately 1600 BC and come from an Akkadian tablet from southern Babylonia. There are also works in ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs depicting the preparation of food.

Baked dishes have existed for thousands of years. Early casserole recipes consisted of rice that was pounded, pressed, and filled with a savoury mixture of meats such as chicken or sweetbread. Sometime around the 1870s the casserole seems to have taken on its current definition.