Food and Recipes Dinner 8x8 Casserole Recipes That Perfectly Fit a Family of Four By Kaitlyn Yarborough Kaitlyn Yarborough Part of the Southern Living team since 2017, Kaitlyn Yarborough is a Georgia native living in Austin, Texas, who covers a wide variety of topics for both the magazine and website, focusing on culture and lifestyle content, as well as travel in the South. Southern Living's editorial guidelines Updated on September 1, 2022 Share Tweet Pin Email Trending Videos Photo: Antonis Achilleos; Prop Styling: Kathleen Varner; Food Styling: Maggie Ruggiero As far as we're concerned, a casserole fits every calling. From church potlucks to holiday feasts, there's always room for a classic side or hearty main-dish casserole on the table; yet we don't always want, need, or—let's be honest—have an inch of room for leftovers in the refrigerator. That's when we trade in our 13x9 for our 8x8 pan size. It keeps prep quick, skips on the leftovers, and works perfectly when you're not feeding a crowd, but just a few. Try our Poppy Seed Chicken or Spinach-Ravioli Lasagna as your main course served with one of our delectable sides like Parmesan Corn Pudding, Macaroni Corn Casserole, and Asparagus Gratin, then top the meal off with something sweet—our Easy Blackberry Cobbler or Praline Cake will do just the trick. This week, win every weeknight with these delicious 8x8 casserole dinner, side dish, and dessert ideas for your family of 4. 01 of 25 Twice Baked Potato Casserole Alison Miksch; Prop Styling: Sarah Elizabeth Cleveland; Food Styling: Melissa Gray Recipe: Twice Baked Potato Casserole Whether you serve it as a side or main dish, this potato casserole can be pulled together a day in advance and chilled until you're ready to cook. Just let it come to room temperature before baking. 02 of 25 Poppy Seed Chicken Southern Living Recipe: Poppy Seed Chicken This recipe transforms a handful of simple ingredients into a comforting dinner that your family will request again and again. It's comforting as can be and a guaranteed crowd-pleaser. 03 of 25 Creamed Greens Casserole Atonis Achilleos; Prop Styling: Kay E. Clarke; Food Styling: Chelsea Zimmer Recipe: Creamed Greens Casserole You'll have no problem convincing your family to enjoy their greens when you serve them up in a cheesy casserole. This side dish is special enough to suit any occasion but easy enough to whip up on a weeknight. 04 of 25 Creamy Tex-Mex Cornbread Bake Hector Sanchez Recipe: Creamy Tex-Mex Cornbread Bake This might be our favorite way to jazz up boxed cornbread mix. This casserole bake is packed with hearty ground turkey and filled with Tex-Mex flavor. 05 of 25 Parmesan Corn Pudding Jennifer Davick Recipe: Parmesan Corn Pudding Skip the stress with this corn pudding casserole that uses frozen corn. The veggie side offers a cheesy Parmesan twist on a traditional recipe. 06 of 25 Old-School Squash Casserole Greg DuPree; Prop Styling: Kay E. Clarke; Food Styling: Torie Cox Recipe: Old-School Squash Casserole You can't beat the crunchy, buttery cracker topping and creamy, cheesy squash blend in this traditional Southern recipe. It's a scraped-clean kind of casserole after everyone scoops a hearty portion. 07 of 25 Chicken Casserole D'Iberville Southern Living Recipe: Chicken Casserole D'Iberville To pull this casserole together quickly, you can use deli-roasted chicken instead of cooking your own. With this recipe, you'll have highly-anticipated leftovers for family dinners to come. 08 of 25 Pineapple Casserole Photographer: Jen Causey, Prop Stylist: Josh Hoggle,Food Stylist: Ruth Blackburn Recipe: Pineapple Casserole Whip up this holiday classic on a weeknight. With just six ingredients, one dish, and around 30 minutes, you're ready with a special side dish for any occasion. 09 of 25 Mini Cheese Grits Casseroles Victor Protasio; Food Styling: Torie Cox; Prop Styling: Heather Chadduck Hillegas Recipe: Mini Cheese Grits Casseroles Leave the festive ramekins for holiday brunch, and make things easier by putting these cheesy grits into a single two-quart dish. Follow this recipe for Test Kitchen tips on how to achieve the creamiest grits possible. 10 of 25 Wacky Cake Antonis Achilleos; Prop Styling: Audrey Davis; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall Recipe: Wacky Cake Another indulgent yet suitably sized dessert for four people, coming right up. Also known as depression cake, this old-school dessert is simply delicious. 11 of 25 Hashbrown Casserole Southern Living Recipe: Hashbrown Casserole It's a classic for a reason. This cornflake-topped casserole is an easy crowd-pleaser that comes together with just a few staple ingredients. 12 of 25 Salted Caramel Banana Pudding Hector Manuel Sanchez; Prop Styling: Lydia Pursell; Food Styling: Tami Hardeman Recipe: Salted Caramel Banana Pudding Dinner isn't complete without a tasty, perfectly portioned dessert. Take classic banana pudding to new heights with lightly spiced Biscoff cookies and a quick homemade salted caramel. 13 of 25 Spinach-Ravioli Lasagna Van Chaplin Recipe: Spinach-Ravioli Lasagna This is a real weeknight warrior. Using convenient ingredients, like store-bought pesto sauce, jarred Alfredo sauce, and frozen cheese-filled ravioli, it's perfect when you need a quick (but delicious!) fix. 14 of 25 Eggplant Parmesan with Feta Southern Living Recipe: Eggplant Parmesan with Feta Take the flavor up a notch on this classic eggplant dish by adding feta cheese. It offers a tangy touch in both taste and texture. 15 of 25 Easy Blackberry Cobbler John O'Hagan Recipe: Easy Blackberry Cobbler When in doubt, make a cobbler. Fresh berries and five ingredients later, you have a warm and gooey treat to top off dinnertime. 16 of 25 Fennel-and-Potato Gratin Photo: Jennifer Davick Recipe: Fennel-and-Potato Gratin Kick classic potato gratin up a notch thanks to nutmeg and fennel. This will become your go-to cheesy side, whether its for weeknight dinner or a holiday feast. 17 of 25 King Ranch Chicken Mac and Cheese Becky Luigart-Stayner Recipe: King Ranch Chicken Mac and Cheese With this recipe, there's no need to choose between King Ranch Chicken Casserole and macaroni and cheese for dinner tonight. This hybrid dish is full of shortcuts and convenient ingredients, but the end result is packed with big, bold flavors. 18 of 25 Easy Cauliflower Casserole Victor Protasio; Prop Styling: Heather Chadduck; Food Styling: Chelsea Zimmer Recipe: Easy Cauliflower Casserole If you're not careful (or perhaps if you are), your kids might just mistake this veggie-filled side for mac and cheese. You'll love creamy vegetables that are ready in just 45 minutes. 19 of 25 Asparagus Gratin Photography and Styling: Karen Rankin Recipe: Asparagus Gratin Forget what you know about a gratin. This take is easy as can be. Cheesy, creamy sauce upgrades asparagus to new heights in an 8-inch square dish. 20 of 25 Lasagna Roll Ups Hector Sanchez Recipe: Lasagna Roll Ups We think that Lasagna Roll Ups are much more fun to serve than their layered and sliced counterpart. This recipe uses canned artichokes in the filling but you can substitute sautéed mushrooms or spinach to suit your family's tastes. 21 of 25 Best-Ever Brownies Antonis Achilleos; Prop Styling: Kay E. Clarke; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall Recipe: Best-Ever Brownies These homemade brownies will beat the boxed kind any day of the week. They're oh-so chocolatey and reliable enough to experiment with just a little. Try our Chocolate Chunk-Sea Salt, Toasted Nut, or Chocolate-mint variations. 22 of 25 Shrimp and Grits Casserole Antonis Achilleo; Prop Styling: Christine Keely; Food Styling: Tina Bell Stamos Recipe: Shrimp and Grits Casserole All of the classic, comforting flavors of good old shrimp and grits come together in easy, casserole form. Serve the shrimp gravy on the side so everyone can get a hearty pour—trust us. 23 of 25 Praline Cake Greg Dupree; Food Styling: Emily Hall; Prop Styling: Heather Chadduck Hillegas Recipe: Praline Cake The praline glaze is the cherry on top of this vanilla cake. This decadent cake is both simple to make and delicious to devour—everything we could ask for from a weeknight treat. 24 of 25 Macaroni Corn Casserole Will Dickey; Prop Styling: Christina Daley; Food Styling: Rishon Hanners Recipe: Macaroni Corn Casserole This mash-up is not a dish to be messed with. We combined mac and cheese with a corn casserole to the best, ooey-gooey effect. 25 of 25 Easy Taco Casserole Antonis Achilleos; Prop Styling: Kathleen Varner; Food Styling: Maggie Ruggiero Recipe: Easy Taco Casserole We think pretty much any dish can be served in casserole form, even tacos. This spin on a family-favorite dinner has all the best parts of classic tacos with a few game-changing surprises mixed in. 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