42 Thanksgiving Casserole Recipes to Get Your Guests in the Spirit (and Make Hosting a Breeze)

• Time Commitment: 40 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, high protein, beginner-friendly
• Serves: 6

Skip the whole bird (or hefty turkey breast) in favor of these festive enchiladas, which are complete with cheese and seasonal trimmings. (Shredded rotisserie chicken works, too.)

• Time Commitment: 1 hour and 20 minutes
• Why We Love It: kid-friendly, crowd-pleaser, special occasion-worthy
• Serves: 10

We don’t know about you, but we’ll take a bouquet of savory, shatteringly crisp phyllo rosettes over real flowers any day. If you don’t want to fuss with them though, just lay the strips of phyllo over the top.

• Time Commitment: 1 hour and 15 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, vegetarian, beginner-friendly
• Serves: 6

Wondering how to get the kids’ table to eat some veggies? Smothering them in heavy cream, Gruyère and Parmesan should do the trick.

• Time Commitment: 1 hour and 50 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, special occasion-worthy, gluten free
• Serves: 6

For those families that always serve baked ziti at the holidays…but want to spice up the menu. Swap noodles out in favor of hearty, creamy polenta slabs, then wow your guests with beefy, homemade tomato sauce.

• Time Commitment: 50 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, vegetarian, special occasion-worthy
• Serves: 6

Whether you serve this veggie-cheese-and-rice side in individual cast iron skillets or one big baking pan, your guests will ooh and ahh as if the Barefoot Contessa made it herself.

• Time Commitment: 1 hour and 10 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, special occasion-worthy, vegetarian
• Serves: 6

Parsnips, sweet potatoes and butternut squash unite under a blanket of bubbly Parm and Gruyère cheeses and a trio of cold-weather herbs. Look for pre-spiralized veggies at the supermarket to save time.

• Time Commitment: 1 hour and 30 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, <10 ingredients, beginner-friendly
• Serves: 8

It’s not a casserole in the traditional sense, but the squash is tightly packed into a single casserole dish to bake *and* they couldn’t be more appropriate for Thanksgiving if they tried. We used butternut, but feel free to try delicata or honeynut instead.

• Time Commitment: 2 hours
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, kid-friendly, special occasion-worthy
• Serves: 6

Red sauce? You won’t miss it one bit, thanks to ricotta and mozzarella cheeses, garlicky spinach, nutmeg and a generous dose of fresh sage.

• Time Commitment: 1 hour and 10 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, <10 ingredients, kid-friendly, beginner-friendly
• Serves: 8

The secret to our extra flavorful take on this iconic side? Grainy mustard. Go the extra mile by adding a flourish of breadcrumbs to the top before it’s baked for extra crunch.

• Time Commitment: 1 hour and 25 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, vegan, dairy free
• Serves: 8

Vegan food and comfort food are not mutually exclusive. Case in point: This stick-to-your-ribs lentil bake, which stars a beyond-rich cashew cream sauce.

• Time Commitment: 1 hour and 25 minutes
• Why We Love It: kid-friendly, crowd-pleaser, high protein
• Serves: 8

Because there’s always at least one picky kid who won’t eat *anything* on the menu. We have a feeling they’ll be fine with layers of store-bought ravioli, jarred marinara sauce and lots of cheese.

• Time Commitment: 1 hour and 30 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, kid-friendly, beginner-friendly, vegetarian
• Serves: 6

Speaking of picky kids, this white cheddar mac is so darn tasty that they won’t mind our favorite cruciferous veggie making a cameo. Oh, and did we mention the buttery panko-Parm topping?

• Time Commitment: 1 hour and 10 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, vegetarian, special occasion-worthy
• Serves: 4 to 6

A far cry from the boiled kind you have on St. Patrick’s Day. If your baking dishes are all spoken for (hi, apple crisp and sweet potato casserole), make this golden-brown beauty in an oven-safe skillet instead.

• Time Commitment: 30 minutes
• Why We Love It: beginner-friendly, kid-friendly, vegetarian
• Serves: 3

The Queen of Chambray is nothing if not resourceful. Instead of using humdrum tomato sauce, the base for this recipe is her homemade tomato-eggplant soup. It’s worth the extra effort for that richer, more complex flavor.

• Time Commitment: 1 hour and 40 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, high protein, kid-friendly, special occasion-worthy
• Serves: 6

In case you want to do away with turkey this year, this cozy dish is packed with traditional Thanksgiving veggies and mashed potatoes, along with Guinness-infused beef stew.

• Time Commitment: 8 hours and 35 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, make ahead, vegetarian
• Serves: 6

Never had the pleasure of tasting strata? It’s basically a baked dish of bread, cheese and egg custard. Assemble it on Thanksgiving Eve so it has time to soak in the fridge overnight.

• Time Commitment: 1 hour and 10 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, beginner-friendly, vegetarian, kid-friendly
• Serves: 6

Save the cauliflower rice for another holiday—this versatile veggie is dying to be transformed into a decadent side dish for once. We’ll be dousing ours in hot sauce, TYVM.

• Time Commitment: 50 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, beginner-friendly, vegetarian
• Serves: 6

There’s a ton of kale and mushrooms in this autumnal dish, but it’s far from health food, thanks to butter, heavy cream and alllll the Gruyère. Now that’s how we like our greens.

• Time Commitment: 1 hour and 10 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, special occasion-worthy, beginner-friendly
• Serves: 8

A timeless classic with a modern update. Frying your own shallots instantly gives the casserole an elegant vibe, or at least more elegant than store-bought crispy onions.

• Time Commitment: 55 minutes
• Why We Love It: kid-friendly, special occasion-worthy, crowd-pleaser
• Serves: 8

You know how those teeny-tiny mini marshmallows are the tastiest part of sweet potato casserole? This recipe calls for full-sized ones, so you can get toasty, gooey goodness in every bite (and brown sugar-cinnamon oat crumble to boot).

• Time Commitment: 1 hour
• Why We Love It: high protein, beginner-friendly, kid-friendly
• Serves: 4

Nothing beats knocking your main and side dish out in one felt swoop. Here, the rice cooks in chicken stock and cream of chicken soup, right alongside the thighs.

• Time Commitment: 50 minutes
• Why We Love It: <10 ingredients, beginner-friendly, kid-friendly, crowd-pleaser
• Serves: 6 to 8

Italian sausage has a ton of built-in flavor, so this dish doesn’t require much more than the absolute essentials to be delicious. Feel free to zhuzh things up with jarred pesto, ricotta cheese or crushed red pepper flakes.

• Time Commitment: 3 hours and 10 minutes
• Why We Love It: slow cooker recipe, vegetarian, kid-friendly, crowd-pleaser
• Serves: 8

We consider using a Crockpot on Thanksgiving to be a total hostess hack. If you have the potatoes going in the slow cooker, all your stove’s burners will be free to prepare the rest of the sides.

• Time Commitment: 1 hour and 10 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, <10 ingredients, beginner-friendly
• Serves: 12

Stuffing, dressing, casserole—whatever you call it, we want it on our plate. Cook it ahead of Thanksgiving, pop it in the freezer and reheat it before dinner at 350°F for about 20 minutes with a bit of broth on top to keep it from drying out.

• Time Commitment: 30 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, kid-friendly, beginner-friendly
• Serves: 8

If you think the crispy onions on top are what green bean casserole is all about, you’ll never stray from this recipe once you try it. And at this rate, we wouldn’t blame you for throwing some French fries in the mix too.

• Time Commitment: 1 hour and 10 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, kid-friendly, <10 ingredients
• Serves: 7

Something about bacon’s savory, salty, comforting flavor just screams fall to us. So, we’re making it a focal point of this year’s mac and cheese, which also has eggs, peas and lots of Parm and white cheddar.

• Time Commitment: 50 minutes
• Why We Love It: <10 ingredients, crowd-pleaser, beginner-friendly
• Serves: 12

Because pumpkin pie is only the tip of the gourd-loving iceberg. Think baked pumpkin purée topped with paper-thin potato slices and cheese of your choice.

• Time Commitment: 1 hour and 15 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, kid-friendly, beginner-friendly
• Serves: 8

What sets this creamy, dreamy side apart from the rest? We’re so glad you asked. It stars a from-scratch Raclette cheese sauce that will blow your guests’ minds. (Provolone or fontina can be used in its place if need be.)

• Time Commitment: 1 hour and 15 minutes
• Why We Love It: kid-friendly, beginner-friendly, crowd-pleaser
• Serves: 10

We love mashed potatoes just as much as the next girl, but there’s one crucial thing they lack: crunch. Here, you’ll get spuds and all the crunch you crave, thanks to frozen shredded hash browns.

• Time Commitment: 50 minutes
• Why We Love It: vegetarian, crowd-pleaser, beginner-friendly
• Serves: 8

Broccoli cheddar soup in casserole form—swoon. Jasmine rice soaks up all the butter, cream of broccoli soup and cream of celery soup, while sharp cheddar and Monterey Jack cheeses hold the casserole together.

• Time Commitment: 1 hour and 5 minutes
• Why We Love It: high protein, crowd-pleaser, kid-friendly
• Serves: 8

Psst: Bookmark this to make with your leftovers on Black Friday. We’ll take our slice with a dollop of cranberry sauce, please.

• Time Commitment: 1 hour and 5 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, <10 ingredients, beginner-friendly
• Serves: 8

Sweet potatoes, parsnips and beets turn soft and tender after a swim in Parm-spiked heavy cream and a stint in the oven. Even your veggie-hating kids will be willing to take a bite (well, probably).

• Time Commitment: 1 hour
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, vegetarian, special occasion-worthy
• Serves: 8 to 10

This lightened-up version of green bean casserole will still satisfy your relatives, promise. It calls for making homemade mushroom Alfredo sauce instead of using canned soup.

• Time Commitment: 1 hour and 5 minutes
• Why We Love It: kid-friendly, special occasion-worthy, crowd-pleaser
• Serves: 6

Any casserole topped with salt-and-pepper kettle chips is one we want on our holiday table. The recipe calls for shredding store-bought rotisserie chicken, so you won’t have to worry about cooking a second bird.

• Time Commitment: 1 hour and 20 minutes
• Why We Love It: special occasion-worthy, crowd-pleaser, <10 ingredients
• Serves: 10

You were planning on serving both anyway, right? Lean on easy canned biscuit dough and packet gravy if you must; it’ll taste so damn good that your guests won’t mind that you didn’t make them from scratch.

• Time Commitment: 1 hour
• Why We Love It: <10 ingredients, crowd-pleaser, beginner-friendly
• Serves: 6

If you pick the mallows off your sweet spuds year after year, try this savory recipe on for size. The potatoes are crowned with bacon, breadcrumbs and crispy fried jalapeños instead.

• Time Commitment: 1 hour and 15 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, special occasion-worthy, high protein
• Serves: 8 to 10

Behold: We saved the ultimate Thanksgiving casserole recipe for last. This drool-worthy creation has it all, from sweet potatoes and green beans to cranberry-herb stuffing to turkey and mushroom gravy.

• Time Commitment: 1 hour and 10 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, high protein, kid-friendly
• Serves: 10

Chicken and potatoes just got so much better.

• Time Commitment: 1 hour, 25 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, gluten free, paleo,
• Serves: 6

Lo and behold: a light Thanksgiving casserole option for those looking to save room for dessert.

• Time Commitment: 1 hour, 20 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, vegan
• Serves: 8

Vegan or not, your Thanksgiving guests will most definitely be returning for seconds.

• Time Commitment: 1 hour
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, kid-friendly
• Serves: 6

Even though this was technically meant as a brunch recipe... we won't tell.

• Time Commitment: 50 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, beginner-friendly
• Serves: 6

Totally adding this Thanksgiving casserole to our list of Thanksgiving traditions.