82 Healthier Versions of Your Favorite Comforting Casseroles

Few meals satisfy like a hearty casserole. Whether you're hosting a friendly gathering or serving a weeknight family dinner, one of these casseroles is sure to be just right for the occasion. The best part? Many of these recipes are great make-ahead options. Batch cook before a busy week, or freeze one to keep on on hand for unexpected guests.

First up, you'll want to add this flavor-packed chicken tetrazzini to your weeknight rotation. If you’d like to make this comforting classic baked pasta dish ahead of time, you can freeze the unbaked casserole up to three months. Let it thaw completely; top with Parmesan and panko, then bake at 350°F until browned and bubbly, about 45 minutes.

Nothing says autumn like a hearty casserole—something you can make on a weekend afternoon, and have for leftovers over the next couple days. Here, rich Gruyere cheese marries with the bright acid of a dry white wine (try a Sauvignon Blanc) to bring a touch of elegance to this yummy comfort food.

A comfort-filled classic, the traditional dish features a cast of hefty characters—cream, cheese, and noodles—and delivers nearly 700 calories and a day’s worth of sat fat with just one helping. Canned tuna is a pantry staple that takes center stage in our remake (with just as many beneficial omega-3s as fresh). In lieu of a breadcrumb or potato chip topper, we use fresh dill and sharp cheddar to round out this dinner with bright flavor and cheesy goodness for less sodium.

This fresher take on the traditional casserole is loaded with vegetables and comes together with a homemade sauce instead of sodium-heavy canned soup.

If you're not from the Upper Midwest, you may not be familiar with hot dish. Traditionally, it's a casserole of starch (often French fries or tots), meat, and vegetables held together by a creamy sauce. "It's an easy way to feed a crowd," says blogger and cookbook author Molly Yeh, "and it's perfect for the dead of winter because it's so hearty and warm and comforting." Her update uses sweet potatoes flavored with Aleppo pepper. To get a head start, you can roast the potatoes and brown the sausage a couple of days ahead.

Wild rice is wonderfully fragrant; it’s the perfect counter to the creamy, earthy mushroom mixture and has enough texture that the grains won’t bloat or fall apart in the casserole. Serve with simply sautéed green beans or a mixed greens salad.

This oven-baked side couples the earthiness of poblanos with the sweetness of red bell peppers. Combine those with rich pumpkin and you have a new fall-weather classic you'll make time and again.

In this cheesy chicken casserole, leftover mashed potatoes form the base, rather than the topping, as they do in shepherd's pie. Poaching bone-in chicken breasts in stock yields tender, juicy meat—use this method for enchiladas and chicken salad. We love the texture and concentrated flavor of dried minced onion as the casserole topper, but you could skip it or substitute toasted, coarsely ground breadcrumbs.

This quick and easy recipe delivers a family-friendly dinner to the table in just under 45 minutes. 

The best part of this vegetable lasagna—aside from the flavor—is the low-cleanup: Vegetables take turns cooking in a single cast iron skillet, not several. A stovetop simmer quickly cooks the noodles through, so there's no need for a separate pot to boil them. Then the pan shifts easily to the oven for a last-minute broil to melt and meld the cheeses. Perfection!

Leftover quinoa, rotisserie chicken, and canned tomoatoes help this dish come together in less than an hour. Throw it in the oven for 25 minutes, and dinner is served.

Very few things embody comfort food as well as this hearty, warming mushroom and bacon casserole.

The classic sweet potato casserole often straddles the line between side and dessert (indeed, we've enjoyed the leftovers both ways). Our delicious version has 5 fewer teaspoons (20g) of added sugar per serving than traditional recipes. 

These enchiladas are a cinch to assemble and easy to freeze—just cover one of the pans with foil. If you plan to serve a crowd, bake in one (13 × 9-inch) baking dish. The chicken stays moist throughout baking and reheating, thanks to a gentle poach and a creamy verde sauce. Fresh cilantro stems have tons of favor; make sure to include them in the sauce.

Thanks to its firm consistency, precooked polenta (usually sold in tube form) can be seared, toasted, or even layered and baked like a lasagna. We keep the slices on the thick side so they have a creamy texture when heated through. A little ground turkey goes a long way in this dish; stir the rest into chili, make burger patties, or use as a filling for lettuce cups. In addition to mushrooms, this dish is a great canvas for any vegetables you have on hand, such as sliced greens or chopped cauliflower or broccoli.

Traditional creamy chicken casserole can have more than 800 calories per serving, but we’re serving up this classic comfort dish with a fraction of the calories.

Rise and shine to a thoroughly red, white, and blue breakfast. This lower-sugar recipe is a great way to use up slightly hard baguette and any berries you have roaming around your produce drawer. You don't have to let it sit overnight, but a few hours in the fridge will only make the casserole creamier.

Meet your new favorite casserole recipe. This budget-friendly dish (costing under $10) allows you to stretch a small amount of meat over several servings. It's family friendly, filling, and loaded with flavor--the perfect weeknight meal. The high heat on this recipe allows it to cook quickly, crisping the spaghetti slightly on the outside to make the perfect "pie crust" for this dish. You can use crumbled sausage in this dish, or start with Italian sausage and remove the casing, which is what the recipe calls for. Remove the casing by cutting up the side with a knife or kitchen shears, then crumble the sausage using a spoon in the skillet as it cooks.

We swap hefty egg bread for sourdough and whip up a low-fat milk custard to replace heavy cream.

OURS 293 calories, 3.2g sat fat
CLASSIC 596 calories, 6.6g sat fat
SAVES 303 calories, 3.4g sat fat

This multilayered marvel is loaded with crispy potatoes, hot-smoked salmon, and a smattering of fresh herbs. Cottage cheese naturally melds into the eggs, creating pillowy lightness throughout the mixture, while goat cheese creates dense pockets of creaminess. Hot-smoked salmon, unlike cured, is fully cooked—look for it in the fish case or packaged in the meat aisle of your grocery store.

This bubbling hot casserole is the quintessential comfort food. Prep ahead and bake when you're ready to eat.

This cheesy casserole is bound to be a new favorite. The individual servings are fun and perfectly portioned.

This perfect version of a classic Italian meatless dinner, Parmigiana, will quickly become a family favorite. Add a glass of vino for a Sicilian-style date night or a scoop of gelato for a kid-friendly Italian night.

For a complete meal, serve with a fresh salad of grapefruit and fennel, and sip our Pomegranate Fizz.

This casserole makes use of casarecce pasta—a short noodle with a curled edge that provides a large groove to hold the creamy sauce. If you can't find it, use fusilli, campanelle, or radiatore. Use a large, deep pot for the pasta so the spinach will fit inside, as well.

Silky roasted butternut squash stands in for noodles in this more nutritious take on the starchy pasta casserole.

Smoky bacon compliments the richness of butternut squash in this casserole to create a dish that can be enjoyed right away or prepared ahead for a party or weeknight meal.

We traded white rice for whole-grain quinoa and kicked out any processed ingredients for a new take on this comfort classic. To add more flavor to quinoa, try toasting it. Serve with a simple green salad. You can freeze an extra pan of this whole-grain main for kid-friendly comfort or make it ahead of time for a busy weeknight.

This dish is like enjoying an omelet stuffed with spinach, Swiss cheese, and mushrooms, with hearty sides of bacon and hash browns, all in one package.

This creamy baked pasta comes together quickly. Melted, gooey part-skim mozzarella cheese makes it even more decadent—without leaving you feeling guilty. Use any short pasta—ziti or rotini also work.

This casserole is a quick and easy swap for more traditional tamales—but just as delicious.

Onions, rice, and a creamy cheese sauce make this casserole a winner in our book. We're fairly sure you'll agree.

These enchiladas are a fresh take on the enchiladas you grew up with. Most noticeable is the lack of canned enchilada sauce. Make your own delicious ranchero sauce and receive rave reviews.

Here's a deliciously updated version of the classic, with fresh green beans and wine-infused mushrooms. We just had to keep the fried onion topping, which is arguably the best part.

Add pops of color to baked ziti with fresh summer veggies like squash, zucchini, and tomato. This quick and versatile baked pasta can be easily adjusted based on your favorite veggies or what you have on hand.

To help ensure that the cheesy layer remains moist and creamy, don’t press out the extra water from the tofu. Serve the lasagna with breadsticks and a green salad.

The combination of buttery Yukon gold and fluffy baking potatoes offers richness and a nice contrast in flavor and texture. We recommend using a food mill to ensure the potatoes are evenly mashed and not overworked, so they won't get gluey. If you don't have a food mill, cream the potatoes and cooking liquid with a potato masher.

Look for veggie protein crumbles in the produce section, near the tofu. Zesty Mexican spices and flavorings sass up the crumbles.

Although the yellow and green veggies give this hearty, one-dish meal a colorful appearance, you can different vegetables, if you prefer.

Since there’s no chopping involved, this is a great recipe for recruiting your kids to help out—there are lots of opportunities for stirring, and even a chance to use their hands to crumble together the streusel topping. Thin out the glaze with a little extra milk and spoon it over for a casual presentation, or put it in a Ziploc, snip off the corner, and let the kids drizzle their own special designs.

This meatless version of pastitsio swaps ground beef for wild mushrooms but keeps the creamy, cheesy goodness of the classic dish. Entertaining? Serve alongside Swiss Chard with Crème Fraîche and an earthy pinot noir.

Instead of the traditional buttery, heavy sauce present in most mac and cheese recipes, we turned to an unlikely hero for a boost: Butternut squash. Combined with nonfat milk and Greek yogurt, the squash adds a rich, nutty flavor, sneaks in some vegetable, and brilliantly mimics the color and creaminess of cheddar sauce. Over 65 5-star reviews agree: Butternut squash is a delicious addition.

Senior Food Editor Julianna Grimes advises, “Buy lamb loin chops, and have the butcher remove the meat from the bones in the store.” The lean, tender meat cooks quickly, and it’ll stay moist in this speedy take on a comfort classic.

Instead of the usual jarred salsa often called for in Mexican casserole, this recipe features a homemade salsa made with charred tomatoes that are mixed with cilantro and fresh lime juice. Charring the tomatoes gives a rich flavor to the salsa, which is a good match for this chicken-and-veggie-packed dish.

In this meatless version of the classic Greek dish, bulgur wheat stands in for ground meat in a spiced tomato filling surrounded by eggplant layers and topped with a béchamel sauce. The eggplant and bulgur pack this dish with fiber. Garnish with chopped fresh parsley.

The walnuts in this gratin offer a crunchy contrast to the roasted vegetables and cheesy rice mixture, while the splash of half-and-half adds creamy richness. The rice mixture can be made ahead and refrigerated. When ready to prepare, bring to room temperature, spoon into the baking dish, and proceed as directed at the end of step 5.

Rich porcini broth and nutty Parmigiano-Reggiano add deep umami taste to this vegetarian lasagna. Plain white button mushrooms will work in place of cremini. Serve with a simple green salad for a satisfying meal.

This dish embodies the alluring qualities you'd expect from rösti―shredded potatoes that are cooked until browned and crisp on the edges. Senior Food Editor Julianna Grimes notes, "This casserole fills the crispy, creamy, cheesy bill. Adding a salad rounds out the meal."

This simple skillet dish uses shredded potatoes as a base. The potato mixture cooks on the stove top first to get it browned and crisp on the bottom. Use a cast-iron skillet to get the potatoes perfectly crusted on the bottom, then bake them with smoky chorizo under a blanket of gooey cheese.

This overnight casserole saves you the trouble of standing over a griddle flipping individual slices of French toast. If using a fresh baguette, cut it up the day before, and let it sit in the bag overnight to become slightly stale—that'll help prevent sogginess when the casserole is baked.

Pop a prepared casserole in the oven and let it bake while you sip coffee—that’s the way to wake up on a lazy Sunday. Seems like every family has a beloved version of this type of breakfast strata. This one is much lower in fat than most.

Creamy and savory collide in a wonderful way—everyone gathered around your holiday breakfast table will love this one.

Lots of colorful, delicious baby veggies between pasta layers reduce the typical mounds of cheese. Our white sauce is based on fat-free broth, and we add just a bit of cream and an egg to give it a silky texture. We sprinkled the Parm within the layers to supplement the fontina that's used to give a crunchy-cheesy crust on top.

Home fries meet casserole in this ultimate comfort food dish that's great for brunch or dinner. It's most economical to buy a block of cheese and shred it yourself.

Three kinds of beans take the classic dish from ho-hum to fun, with different shapes and pleasing textures—from the al dente bite of chickpeas to the creaminess of Great Northern beans. If you happen to use hot smoked paprika, you can omit the ground red pepper.

Add a dash of cumin or paprika to the onions, if you'd like. You can also use purchased rotisserie chicken to cut down on the prep time.

Try this rich and creamy Three-Cheese Macaroni and Cheese for the ultimate feel-good meal.

Trade the traditional enchilada sauce for a creamy, cheesy topping on this Mexican chicken casserole recipe. Your family will never know they're enjoying a lightened meal.

To fill the shells, simply spoon the cheese mixture into a heavy-duty zip-top plastic bag; squeeze out the air. Snip a one-inch hole in one corner of the bag, and pipe the filling into the shells.

A traditional Mexican breakfast favorite, chilaquiles (chee-lah-KEE-lays) is a sauté of day-old tortilla strips, fresh tomato sauce, cream, and cheese. This hearty version is baked.

Summer means a bounty of zucchini from farmers’ markets. This lasagna makes use of fresh summer produce in a filling meatless entrée.

This casserole is easy to prepare, especially if you purchase diced ham from your supermarket. Gruyère is a type of Swiss cheese. Its sweet nuttiness enhances this dish, though you can substitute Edam, Gouda, or even cheddar cheese.

Broccoli remains slightly crisp in this recipe, though you can substitute any leftover cooked vegetables. Assemble the casserole the night before. Cover, refrigerate, and bake in the morning.

This was created as a breakfast dish, but that didn't stop Missie from serving it for supper. "My husband raved and the kids gobbled it up. We had it for dinner with scrambled eggs. It was very easy to prepare and will be a good dish to double and make for mornings at the cabin with family."

This moist, sweet-savory side dish is a cross between corn bread and corn pudding. You can use 1 1/2 cups fresh corn kernels in place of the canned corn, if you prefer.

"Now that I am retired, I have more time to cook," said recipe developer Glenda Mann, Longview, TX. "My husband and I love to travel, and this dish was inspired by a trip to Italy. Pancetta is Italian bacon and comes in a sausagelike roll; it lends a salty bite to the marinara."

We prefer the richness of Gruyère for this gratin, but you can also substitute any type of Swiss cheese. Try a mandoline or the slicing blade of a food processor to create uniformly thin potato slices. You can use a skewer to check the tenderness of the potatoes as the gratin bakes.

When it comes time to serve a crowd, this easy French toast casserole is a rich and decadent addition to any breakfast or brunch table.

Breakfast casseroles are ideal for overnight guests. Assemble it the night before, and bake in the morning.

Make this Southwestern chicken favorite for a festive dinner. Chilaquiles mimic a traditional casserole by layering ingredients. For even more heat, add 1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper to the tomatillo mixture.

You can assemble the spinach and cheese casserole in less than 10 minutes by using preshredded cheeses. The casserole's spinach, cheese, and nutmeg ingredient combination produces a rich layer of flavor that everyone will love.

Stratas are easy make-ahead dishes. The night before, assemble and layer the casserole without the egg mixture; cover and refrigerate. Combine the egg mixture, and refrigerate in a separate container. In the morning, pour the egg mixture over the bread mixture; allow the strata to stand for 30 minutes before baking.

Simple and satisfying, this hearty sausage and bean casserole is fast enough to prepare on a busy evening.

One of those “wow” dishes. It’s comforting, full of flavor, different than any other casserole you’ve had, and it’s really easy. Could it get any better? When corn is in season, by all means, cut off fresh kernels to use instead of frozen.

Making the most of convenience products, this corn casserole comes together quickly as an ideal side dish for a weeknight meal or even a friendly gathering.

This satisfying breakfast recipe is perfect to make for weekend guests. Assemble and refrigerate the casserole the night before, and just pop it in the oven the next morning. Look for turkey sausage near other breakfast-style sausage in the frozen foods section.

Classic shepherd's pie gets a Moroccan update with heady, aromatic spices in the filling and a garlicky whipped chickpea topping in place of the usual mashed potatoes.

This rich, creamy twist on traditional chicken paella gets an alluring Spanish accent from smoky cured chorizo and the unmistakable fragrance and flavor of saffron.

"Fresh" is a word not often associated with lasagna, yet that's exactly the sensation this one offers. Sweet-as-candy grape tomatoes burst and release their moisture and flavor, while earthy-bitter broccoli rabe and milder Broccolini balance the taste.

This casserole is a cross between tamale pie, posole, and—somehow—chicken and dumplings. It's a great use for leftover holiday turkey, taking the flavors south of the border for a welcome break from the Thanksgiving palate. You can also use rotisserie chicken in place of turkey.

Skip the potpie and try a fragrant, flaky casserole for your turkey leftovers. We ditch the pastry dough for a flaky, golden phyllo crust—a nice alternative to the pies and potpies you may be wary of by now. Don’t fret about getting the phyllo topper to fit snugly in the baking dish; any overhang will become delightfully crisp in the oven. Thawed phyllo can be finicky: Unroll very carefully, and keep remaining sheets under a slightly damp kitchen towel while you work. If you don't have leftover turkey from yesterday, use shredded rotisserie chicken.

The crunchy topping on this side-dish casserole gives way to a cheesy interior, resulting in a comfort food winner. A bonus with this dish is that you can make the casserole ahead—assemble and refrigerate it until time to bake. Sprinkle the cornflakes over the casserole just before baking.