4 Secrets to a Perfect Casserole

By: Hilary Meyer

I'm a huge casserole fan. Beef, Broccoli & Potato Hotdish is my favorite. (Hotdish is the Minnesotan name for casserole.) In my early "casseroling" days, I would just toss together ingredients that I thought would taste good together in a 9-by-13 inch pan and bake them. It was easy and the results usually tasted good, but there were always some minor imperfections. Depending on the ingredients, sometimes the casseroles came out watery. Other times, some ingredients were overcooked and mushy while some had a little too much bite.

Since I test recipes for a living as an associate food editor at EatingWell Magazine, ending up with something less than perfect became rather irritating, so I had to change my method. Now I've perfected my favorite casserole and can use what I've learned to make others flawlessly too.

Check out the slideshow above for the secrets I've discovered to making perfect casseroles.

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