How to Make a Casserole 10x Better, According to Martha Stewart

This time of year is all about comfort food. We love to get cozy with a warm bowl of soup and also bring out our 9-by-13-inch baking dishes because now is also when casserole season heats up.

Casseroles are versatile, convenient and easy to make, and you can make them ahead and feed a crowd in no time. This beloved comfort food is great for any occasion. Make a simple chicken and rice number for a weeknight dinner or whip up a green bean casserole for Thanksgiving.

The best casseroles combine different flavors and textures to make a perfect side dish or meal. For a great casserole, you need a solid base, like rice, potatoes or pasta. You can add your mix-ins of choice (veggies, proteins), then bring it all together with your sauce, which is often a rich, creamy mixture of some sort. To finish it off, add a crispy topping, like breadcrumbs, fried onions or cheese, for a satisfying contrast to the creamy filling.

Related: How to Make Vegetable Soup 10x Better, According to My Chef-Husband

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Why You Should Rub Your Casserole Dish with Garlic

Because the casserole formula is so flexible, there are tons of ways to mix things up to make the dish your own. One genius tip that we ran across recently is thanks to the one-and-only Martha Stewart. In her scalloped potato recipe, she starts by rubbing a smashed garlic clove around the inside of the casserole dish before layering in the potatoes and covering them with the sauce mixture.

Rubbing the baking dish with raw garlic before adding the ingredients gives the entire casserole a subtle, aromatic garlic flavor without overpowering it. The natural oils in the garlic are released when the clove is rubbed against the dish’s surface, creating a mild infusion of flavor that enhances the casserole.

Garlic pairs well with a range of savory flavors, so this technique can be used with a variety of recipes. Martha pairs it with potatoes, of course, but we can see it adding a fun hit of flavor to chicken and rice casserole, green bean casserole on Thanksgiving or baked pastas, like lasagna or baked ziti. It would also be a fun thing to try with chicken pot pie or shepherd's pie.

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