28 Side Dish Casserole Recipes to Elevate Any Meal

Classic Parmesan Scalloped Potatoes

Recipe: Classic Parmesan Scalloped Potatoes

If ever there were a versatile side, this is it. This scalloped potatoes casserole goes with everything, and there's certainly nothing quite like creamy, homemade scalloped potatoes for dinner. This easy recipe tastes divine even as leftovers the next day. This lavishly rich casserole is ideal for family suppers, and it will complement everything from Italian entrees to the panoply of chicken and beef dishes in your kitchen arsenal. Gently stirring this dish twice while it bakes promotes even cooking and adds some creaminess to the dish. Pull it out of the oven, stir once more, then sprinkle with cheese, and continue baking without stirring for a casserole that's golden brown on top.

Cornflake, Pecan, and Marshmallow-Topped Sweet Potato Casserole

Recipe: Cornflake, Pecan, and Marshmallow-Topped Sweet Potato Casserole

This sweet potato casserole is always going to be nutty and crunchy, but adding cornflake cereal to the pecan-brown sugar topping gives the casserole extra crispiness. Each topping tastes beautifully toasty, and comes together in a medley of flavors all rolled into a single bite. The Cornflake, Pecan, and Marshmallow-Topped Sweet Potato Casserole is a rich and filling dish, sweet and savory at the same time. Set this down on the sideboard for a buffet-style Thanksgiving meal and your friends and family will be piling their plates high. They'll also marvel at how beautiful it looks with its rows of cornflakes, pecans, and marshmallows spread diagonally across the top.

Mac and Cheese with Ham

Recipe: Mac and Cheese with Ham

This delicious mac and cheese is light on butter and cheese, yet it still melts in your mouth. It's the perfect recipe for a comfort food with some smoky flavor and interesting textural nuance. A crowd pleaser, it's far from ordinary. You can change the flavor profile of the recipe with combinations such as sweet peas and prosciutto or ham and broccoli. Make it your own; this recipe can stand up to creativity and invention in the kitchen. It practically requires it. It will be a fantastic side dish on your dinner table, and it will be so loved that it may become an entrée dish.

Parmesan Corn Pudding

Recipe: Parmesan Corn Pudding

There are few dishes more satisfying than a corn pudding. It's the perfect blend of savory and sweet, soft and crisp, vegetable and bread. In our recipe, this tasty side dish takes a quicker approach to classic corn pudding. You'll love the abbreviated preparation and cooking time as well as the cheesy Parmesan twist. If there's one thing everyone loves, it's a creative way to deploy cheese on the dinner table, and we think we've found one of the best in this recipe. The Parmesan adds a bite that blends with the smoothness of the corn pudding just beautifully. You may want to make two batches of this recipe. The first will go quickly.

Summer Squash Casserole

Recipe: Summer Squash Casserole

One of our favorite days of the season is when summer squash appears on the tables of local farmers at the farmers' market. Summer squash casserole is one of the most versatile Southern side dishes, and it gets its due on dinner tables across the region. We think that it pairs well with everything from fried chicken at a summertime Sunday lunch to roast turkey at Thanksgiving.

Mashed Potato Bakes

Mix up your mashed potatoes routine by trying one of these five delicious variations on the classic side dish. Adding just a few well-chosen ingredients to the classic smooth potato mash creates something special. Tasty additions like caramelized onions and chorizo sausage will make these mashed potatoes a family favorite. If you write down all of the variations, adding in the ingredients your family loves, this recipe will become practically an heirloom. We're partial to the caramelized onions, but the chorizo sausage is a savory, fantastically flavorful addition that conjures a Southwestern, Tex-Mex inspired flair.

Sweet Potato-Carrot Casserole

Recipe: Sweet Potato-Carrot Casserole

Cooked carrots can taste surprisingly sweet, so you'll savor their flavor in this fantastic Thanksgiving side dish. The carrots also add smooth texture and extra flavor to this comfort food favorite. You can serve this classic holiday casserole any time of year and expect rave reviews. This casserole is topped with marshmallows, but it also has a special ingredient: our Sugar-and-Spice Pecans. You will love the combination of heat and sweet that these bring to this amazing dish. So get your sweet potatoes roasting in the oven and get ready to enjoy this great dish that is fantastic to share with your family and friends at Thanksgiving, but just as delicious whenever you feel like making it.

Zucchini, Squash, and Corn Casserole

Recipe: Zucchini, Squash, and Corn Casserole

There's nothing quite as delicious in the summertime as fresh zucchini, squash, and corn—and there's certainly nothing like it when that trio of fresh vegetables are baked together in a flavorful side dish casserole. Soft, white breadcrumbs double as a feather-light binder and a golden crumb topping, since they brown ever so slightly atop the casserole and add a subtle crunchy texture to the smoothness of the zucchini, squash, and corn. To make the bread crumbs, pulse torn slices of day-old white sandwich bread in the food processor until they are an ideal size. They'll be perfect casserole toppers—and easy and cost-effective, to boot.

Step-by-Step Video: Summer Squash Casserole

Fennel-and-Potato Gratin

Recipe: Fennel-and-Potato Gratin

This cheesy potato gratin gets a punch of flavor from nutmeg and fennel. It's impressive enough for a holiday party, but it is also easy enough to put together on a busy weeknight. We like the combination of nutmeg and fennel for a holiday party—there is a depth of flavor in the combination of spice that adds such a substantiality to the dish. It feels very special amidst flickering candlelight and shimmering holiday decorations. It's a perfect complement to roasted turkey, sweet ham, or sliced beef. It's also easy enough to whip up en masse if you have a large group to feed.

Classic Sweet Potato Casserole

Recipe: Classic Sweet Potato Casserole

Mouthwatering doesn't even begin to describe this delicious casserole, but it's certainly the closest, all-encompassing adjective we can find to describe the sweet, smooth, substantial, crunchy, fluffy concoction of a sweet potato casserole. It is truly delicious. This classic sweet potato casserole is perfect on any occasion, and it is bound to satisfy lovers of crunchy pecans and cornflakes as well as marshmallows, since all three ingredients work together in this casserole to create something special, a casserole that blends flavors and textures boldly.

Butternut Squash Gratin

Recipe: Butternut Squash Gratin

We know and love potato gratins, but the addition of butternut squash to this beloved dish has made us fall for it all over again. Butternut squash goes well with so many dishes, but its addition to gratin is really out of the ordinary. The butternut squash and potatoes blend beautifully, and they add both heft and flavor to the casserole dish. Preparation tip: You'll want to slice the potatoes as you use them and place them in each layer (rather than slicing them all at once). Doing this will help to prevent oxidation in the potatoes and will ensure that your dish is as fresh as can be.

Scalloped Corn Casserole

Recipe: Scalloped Corn Casserole

This timeless dish has generous amounts of creamy corn filling blanketed by crunchy, buttery crackers for the perfect combination of textures.

Sweetie's Sweet Potato Casserole

Recipe: Sweetie's Sweet Potato Casserole

Chef and restauranteur Kelsey Barnard Clark's grandmother puts a twist the standard sweet potato casserole and we just can't get enough.

Creamed Greens Casserole

Recipe: Creamed Greens Casserole

If you always served greens like this, there'd never be any negotiation at the dinner table ever again.

Baked Corn Casserole

Recipe: Baked Corn Casserole

While cornbread and corn pudding remain beloved side dishes, this Baked Corn Casserole can come through in a pinch. Consider it a hybrid between the pudding and bread, made easy in one skillet.

Cabbage Casserole

Recipe: Cabbage Casserole

Our Cabbage Casserole is proof that this veggie is delicious beyond the coleslaw tub. Served warm, it hints at everything you love about a potato gratin while keeping things light and crunchy.

Cauliflower Casserole

Recipe: Cauliflower Casserole

We wager the kids may have this cheesy, crunchy casserole confused with their favorite mac and cheese dish—what more could you ask for? Plus, it uses basic pantry staples, so you can pull it together on a busy weeknight.

Wild Rice-and-Greens Casserole

Recipe: Wild Rice-and-Greens Casserole

While the recipe calls for kale, feel free to swap in your favorite green. If you're planning on taking this to a party, it can also be made up to three days ahead.

Okra and Rice Casserole

Recipe: Okra and Rice Casserole

There's more than one way to eat okra, though fried sure is delicious. In this casserole, sautéed okra, sweet corn, Cajun spices, and garlic breadcrumbs create one flavorful side dish.

Cheese Cracker-Topped Squash Casserole

Recipe: Cheese Cracker-Topped Squash Casserole

Inspired by one reader's grandchild's refusal to eat a veggie, this squash casserole will win over even the pickiest eater.

Broccoli Cheese Casserole

Recipe: Broccoli Cheese Casserole

Though this is an excellent side dish casserole, we wouldn't blame anyone who filled up on it and skipped the main dish.

Corn Pudding Casserole

Recipe: Corn Pudding Casserole

Cheesy and creamy, Corn Pudding Casserole knows how to please. You might even find yourself making it on a regular weeknight.

Pineapple Casserole

Recipe: Pineapple Casserole

Only Southerners know the treasure of Pineapple Casserole, and if it's not a side dish at your party then you know you're missing out!

Cheddar Cheese Grits Casserole

Recipe: Cheddar Cheese Grits Casserole

Grits are good, but cheesy grits are great. This recipe helps you make them for a crowd.

Reunion Pea Casserole

Recipe: Reunion Pea Casserole

Packed with Italian sausage, squash, spices, cheese, and peas, this casserole makes for an excellent side dish but can also hold its own as a main.

Bacon-Brussels Sprout-Green Bean Casserole

Recipe: Bacon-Brussels Sprout-Green Bean Casserole

Topped with a generous sprinkling of crispy fried onions and bacon, green beans and Brussels sprouts have never been tastier. Plus, you can make it in advance and pull it out on a busy evening.

Buttermilk Spoon Bread

Recipe: Buttermilk Spoon Bread

Don't be fooled by the name; the texture produces a silky, savory pudding with a golden-brown top.

Old-School Green Bean Casserole

Recipe: Old-School Green Bean Casserole

Creamy, savory, crunchy, this casserole is a solid take on an old favorite. It's so good, we wouldn't blame you if you wanted to make it all year long.