Baked Mexican Casserole by Marco Verch Professional Photographer (CC BY)
Want to bypass that can of creamed or condensed soup when it comes to making a casserole? Read on for a selection of recipes ranging from entrees and sides to vegetarian choices that allow you to prepare the classic, crowd-pleasing dish with a lighter (and some might say healthier) touch.
This breakfast casserole is a good way to use up any cooked bacon you might have. And the richness? Give credit to the cream in the recipe.
Recipe: Cook This!
The full title of this recipe shows how many cooks are proud to offer dishes that bypass canned soups in their casseroles. This incarnation of the classic broccoli casserole gets its smooth texture from a homemade cream sauce that features butter, flour, and cream cheese. A crunchy topping of breadcrumbs or crackers adds a textured finish.
Recipe: Food.
This traditional breakfast or brunch entrée — or unexpected dinner or side — opts to create its own creamy “soup” thanks to a doctored-up broth that takes just five extra minutes of prep. The dish can be cooked in the oven, crock pot, or even in advance and frozen.
Recipe: Center Cut Cook
A made-from-scratch stock thickened with beurre manie (a butter and flour mix similar to a roux) and sour cream elevates this routine casserole into something special — and something creamy.
Recipe: Simply Recipes
Related: 21 Hearty Casserole and Stew Recipes That Reheat Well
Just 45 minutes total gets this classic family fave on the table, a comforting dish on a chilly night that bypasses canned soup for a homemade, creamy sauce based on mayonnaise.
Recipe: The Spruce Eats
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This regional specialty (shout out to Texans) features layers of chicken, tortillas and cheese. This version of the classic gets its richness from a simple homemade sauce featuring butter, milk, broth, flour and spices.
Recipe: Five Heart Home
Ground beef offers a substantial base for this dinner dish, while butter, mushrooms, shallots, and yes, tater tots round things out. A sauce based on flour, broth, and milk ties it all together, adding depth of flavor and keeping it gluten-free.
Recipe: Iowa Girl Eats
Spice up a weeknight dinner with this Mexican-inspired casserole featuring beef, beans, tortilla chips, olives, tomatoes, and cheese. Sour cream adds richness, though you can also opt to lighten the proceedings with a low-fat dairy product and ground turkey.
Recipe: Allrecipes
This spin on the retro holiday favorite steps away from processed ingredients and instead features a creamy, homemade garlic-mushroom sauce built around cream cheese. Of course, its recipe creator didn’t stray too far from tradition, still topping the dish with those beloved crispy onions.
Recipe: Budget Bytes
This five-ingredient casserole combines ease of prep with a lower-sodium profile than recipes featuring canned soups. Olive oil, chicken, diced onion, long-grain rice and broth — a homemade bone broth is said to be best — add up to one pleasing meal.
Recipe: This Farm Girl Cooks
No one will miss any kind of soup in this dish that features ricotta, mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses along with pureed pumpkin. A “white sauce” featuring sage, stock, nutmeg, and mustard powder helps put this pasta bake over the top. (Meat lovers can also feel free to add sausage.)
Recipe: A Family Feast
This Southern specialty, a perennial pleaser at many a “covered-dish” supper, may feature yellow squash as its star but a creamy sauce of cheese, mayonnaise, eggs, and sour cream gives it that authentic appeal of true comfort food.
Recipe: Southern Living
This recipe features basic ingredients (including diced breakfast potatoes plus crumbled potato chips for the topping), comes together in 10 minutes and gets its creaminess from an easy-to-make roux of butter and flour. We’d say it’s a win-win-win.
Recipe: Midwest Foodie
This recipe’s description notes that the combination of rice, beans and salsa always wins. It’s hard to argue with that. This dish can be customized countless ways, so “fill” your burrito any way you like. After all, it’s the dollops of cream cheese that tie it all together to create a creamy experience no matter what else is added.
Recipe: Budget Bytes
Anyone with leftover ham during the holidays may want to give this 15-minute recipe a try, as cubed ham is the featured protein. This spaghetti-focused recipe favors organic ingredients but we’re sure “regular” peas, cheddar cheese, half-and-half, and chicken broth will work just as well.
Recipe: Happily Unprocessed
A creamy Swiss cheese sauce elevates this pasta casserole that’s a fresh take on the time-honored dish featuring ham, chicken, and cheese. Cooking sherry, Dijon mustard, herbs and spices enliven the creamy sauce that ties it all together.
Recipe: Spend With Pennies
This stovetop recipe is said to deliver comfort food in less than 30 minutes, with leftover turkey, egg noodles, and veggies enrobed in a rich sauce that includes broth and heavy cream.
Recipe: Meatloaf and Melodrama
Layers of sliced potatoes are surrounded by ground pork sausage and shredded cheese, all slathered with a basic white sauce of butter, flour, and milk.
Recipe: These Old Cookbooks
This family friendly, from-scratch dinner offers a big flavor payoff without much effort. Chicken, peppers, tomatoes, and spaghetti join a sauce boasting cream cheese, broth, milk, and heavy cream for a pleasing entrée. Leftovers, if any, are said to be ideal for lunch the next day.
Recipe: It Starts With Good Food
Fresh or frozen spinach offers two options for this steakhouse-style dish turned into a family-friendly casserole equally suitable for a weeknight family dinner or an elegant holiday buffet. Heavy cream, Gruyere cheese, and crème fraiche are featured in a sauce that erases any thought of any kind of canned soup.
Recipe: No Spoon Necessary
This one-pot vegan dish offers quick assembly (15 minutes) along with a rich, savory flavor thanks to several kinds of mushrooms, leeks, herbs, and plenty of garlic. Where’s the richness coming from? Oh, just a little addition called cashew cream sauce.
Recipe: Holy Cow Vegan
This makes two broccoli casseroles, but can you have too many ways to disguise this kid-hated vegetable? This recipe calls for evaporated milk but you can substitute heavy cream.
Recipe: Salad in a Jar