Cooking Basics - Tips For Making Delicious Casseroles

Casserole recipes offer something for everyone. Casseroles feed large groups, they are budget friendly and easy to prepare. You can easily use leftover meat or other ingredients in your casserole, which also saves time and money and you can also serve your casserole in the same dish you cooked it in, saving clean up. What more could you ask from one versatile dish?

Here are some tips for creating the perfect casserole dishes.

Casserole Dish Size

The most versatile casserole dish is the 13x9 rectangular dish. This holds about 15 cups of delicious casserole.

Casserole dishes also come in 8x8 inches, which holds about 8 cups and is good for a couple or a smaller family. It also comes in handy for baking recipes like cornbread or smaller cakes.

Here are some other sizes of casserole dish and their volume:

11x7 inches - holds 10 cups
9x9 inch - holds 10 cups
1 quart - holds 4 cups
2 quart - holds 8 cups
3 quart - holds 12 cups

Freezing Your Casseroles

One budget friendly recipe idea is to make a large casserole and freeze the left overs. Here are some helpful hints for freezing your casserole dishes:

* Put your casserole in a container that can go into the oven or the freezer to save clean up and mess.

* Allow your casserole to cool fully before putting in the freezer. Be aware of a general rule though for food safety. Put your cooked food into the freezer or refrigerator at within two hours of taking it out of the oven so bacteria doesn't start brewing.

* Cover casserole tightly before putting into the freezer.

* If you're putting toppings on your casserole, like cheese or chips, leave these off the portion you will freeze and add them when you remove from the freezer to cook.

* Use your frozen casserole within 2-4 weeks for maximum freshness and taste.

* Defrost in the refrigerator not the counter top for food safety.

Cooking Basics

* Casseroles are easy to make ahead and just pop into the oven when you get home from work. Just allow about 15 minutes extra cooking time so all ingredients have time to warm up from the frig.

* Most casseroles can be baked at 350 degrees for about one hour, depending on whether or not your meat was cooked prior to adding it to your recipe.

* If you want a healthy casserole, watch the toppings! Mozzarella cheese made with skim milk makes a good topping and melts easily. If you use chips, make them whole grain. If you like crunchy toppings add pine nuts or other chopped nuts.

* I always cover my casserole recipes with tin foil to keep them from drying out. If I add cheese, take the foil off about the last 10 minutes of baking and allow the cheese to melt then.

* To make my casseroles healthier, I always add chopped veggies to much every recipe. Even the veggie-haters among my grandkids don't seem to mind them so much if they are buried in a tasty casserole.

While you're baking your casserole, make a fresh salad and slice up some whole grain bread and there you have it - a tasty, budget friendly dinner that the whole family will love.

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