Struggling with what to make for dinner when you have an empty pantry and don’t know any empty pantry recipes? The answer is empty your pantry casserole of course!!
When I am falling short on groceries the first thing I think to make is an easy casserole. Typically, you’ll already have the ingredients on hand and what is easier than throwing some ingredients into a pan!?
I love this casserole recipe. It is so versatile. You can make it with almost anything. This is a great way to use your leftovers and a great easy dinner recipe for beginners!
What’s A Casserole?
If you’ve never had a casserole you’re in for a treat. A casserole is a meal cooked in a deep dish that is usually hearty and a saucy, creamy, or cheesy dish. A lot of times there is also a meat and carb ingredient, though you have exceptions like sweet potato casserole.
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Empty Your Pantry Casserole
This recipe is adapted from the Mix and Match Casserole Recipe. via CDKitchen
Casserole Ingredients:
- 1 cup milk
- 1 cup water
- 1-2 Tablespoons of oil (bacon grease, olive oil, or sour cream, etc.)
- Pinch of salt
- Pepper or spices to taste
Now pick one option from each category below to add to your casserole:
Pick a Sauce For Your Casserole:
- Can of cream of mushroom soup, condensed — undiluted
- Can of ounces cream of celery soup, condensed — undiluted
- Can of ounces cream of chicken soup, condensed — undiluted
- Can of ounces cheddar cheese soup — undiluted
- Can of diced tomatoes with basil, garlic and oregano — undrained
- Caramelized onions or mushrooms in beef broth
- 1 Cup of Sour Cream
…and then your vegetable (2-3 cups worth):
Green beans, sweet peas or corn, Asparagus tips, chopped spinach, frozen veggies, even kale or cabbage will work.
Pick a meat or protein source (about 2 cups worth):
- Canned white tuna in spring water — drained and flaked
- Chopped cooked chicken
- Diced cooked ham
- Chopped cooked turkey
- 1 pound ground beef — browned and drained
- Lentils
- Beans
Add a starch of your choice:
- 2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni
- 1 cup uncooked regular rice
- 4 cups uncooked wide egg noodles
- 3 cups uncooked small pasta shells
Or… cover with mashed potatoes, hash browns, biscuits, or a pie crust for a meat pie variation.
Extras:
- 3 ounces canned mushroom slices — drained
- 1/4 cup sliced black olives
- 4 1/2 ounces chopped green chiles
- 1/4 cup chopped red bell pepper — or green
- 2 cloves garlic — minced
- 1 1/4 ounce taco seasoning mix
- 1/4 cup chopped onion or scallions
- 1/4 cup chopped celery
Top it off with:
- 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1 cup herb-seasoned stuffing mix
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- Gravy
- 1/2 cup shredded Swiss cheese
- 1 cup round buttery crackers — crushed
- 1/2 cup fine dry breadcrumbs
Now let’s put it all together!
Combine sour cream, milk, water, salt and pepper with your sauce choice (omit sour cream and milk when using tomatoes). Stir in vegetable, starch, protein, and, if desired, extras. Spoon into a lightly greased 13 x 9 inch baking dish.
Bake, covered, at 350 degrees F for 1 hour and 10 minutes. Uncover and sprinkle with toppings; bake 10 more minutes.
Empty-Your-Pantry Casserole
This recipe is adapted from the Mix and Match Casserole from CDKitchen
Ingredients
Sauce Starter:
- 8 ounces sour cream
- 1 cup milk
- 1 cup water
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
Choose 1 Sauce:
- can of cream of mushroom soup, condensed -- undiluted
- can of cream of celery soup, condensed -- undiluted
- can of cream of chicken soup, condensed -- undiluted
- can of cheddar cheese soup -- undiluted
- can of diced tomatoes with basil, garlic and oregano -- undrained
- caramelized onions or mushrooms in beef broth
Choose Vegetable (2-3 cups worth):
- green beans
- sweet peas
- corn
- asparagus tips
- chopped spinach
- frozen veggies
- kale or cabbage
Choose a Protein
- canned white tuna in spring water -- drained and flaked
- chopped cooked chicken
- diced cooked ham
- chopped cooked turkey
- 1 pound ground beef -- browned and drained
Choose a Starch (skip if choosing a starch-based topping):
- 2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni
- 1 cup uncooked regular rice
- 4 cups uncooked wide egg noodles
- 3 cups uncooked small pasta shells
Choose 1 or 2 Extras:
- 3 ounces canned mushroom slices -- drained
- 1/4 cup sliced black olives
- 4 1/2 ounces chopped green chiles
- 1/4 cup chopped red bell pepper -- or green
- 2 cloves garlic -- minced
- 1 1/4 ounce taco seasoning mix
- 1/4 cup chopped onion or scallions
- 1/4 cup chopped celery
Choose a Topping:
- 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1 cup herb-seasoned stuffing mix
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1/2 cup shredded Swiss cheese
- 1 cup round buttery crackers -- crushed
- 1/2 cup fine dry breadcrumbs
- gravy
- mashed potatoes
- hash browns
- biscuits
- pie crust
Instructions
- Combine sour cream, milk, water, salt and pepper with your sauce choice (omit sour cream and milk when using tomatoes).
- Stir in vegetable, starch, protein, and, if desired, extras.
- Spoon into a lightly greased 13 x 9 inch baking dish. If using a starch-based topping, add it now.
- Bake, covered, at 350 degrees F for 1 hour and 10 minutes.
- Uncover and sprinkle with toppings; bake 10 more minutes.
Here is another empty pantry dinner idea…
King Ranch Chicken Casserole – yum!
Want some more delicious, easy dinner ideas? We’ve got you covered…
- Make dinner fast with some 30 minute meals for kids.
- Try one of our favorite sausage dinners.
- Instant Pot Recipes for Kids
- Here’s a sweet potato recipe for kids that is a family favorite!
- Mac and Cheese 3 ingredients
Leave a comment: What did you add to your casserole? We’d love to hear!
This sounds so good! My husband is a vegetarian, has anyone tried it with black beans or chickpeas instead of the proteins listed? I think I’ll try it this week!
This looks great for times when I think I have “nothing” to cook! 🙂
.-= Alicia´s last blog ..Menu Plan Monday (3/22/10) =-.
It’s kinda like going to Genghis Grill, only comfort food style. 🙂
I found you through WFMW 🙂 This recipe looks delicious and is right up my alley! I have a tendency to find a recipe I love, be out of different ingredients and so I start replacing here and there so it’s nice to find a recipe that encourages that 🙂
I love your formula… will definitely have to try it soon!
Yum! Looks like a chicken ala king casserole! I love all of your different ideas. Perfect for when I haven’t made it to the grocery store in a while.
Visiting from The Mommy Club linky.
My former housemate made casserole almost every time it was her turn to make dinner, yet they were all different. Now I understand how she did it! 🙂 It is possible to choose a bad combination of ingredients, but most of the time her creations were delicious…and she rarely had to go shopping to get dinner on the table; sneaky!
Erin, I have had casseroles like this with beans or with tofu chunks that were very, very good!
Here’s a vegetarian just-mix-and-bake recipe made from shelf-stable ingredients that’s ideal when you don’t have time for shopping or cooking but can have the oven on for an hour.
My vegetarian versatile recipe for using up leftovers is Lentil Rice which has several flavor variations.
Looks good. 🙂 Here from TT&J
That is so cool! How long do you cook it? I bet it can even work in the slow cooker too!
My friend and I were looking at your recipe yesterday, it is an awesome recipe! My friend said ” if you can’t make a meal from this recipe then you just can’t cook”, I agree! Hope you are having a great week end and thanks so much for sharing with Full Plate Thursday.
Come Back Soon!
Miz Helen
This sounds frugal, fun, and delish and is very similar to what I did last night. Fro the protein i used cut up chicken breasts, for the sauce I used a can of cream of broccoli soup and some milk, for the vveggie I used some thawed broccoli florets, and for the topping I used prepared stovetop stuffing. i also added about a cup of grated cheddar for an “extra” and baked it about an hour. So good!
This is the kind of recipe to put inside the cupboard door for the times you need to pull supper together quick.
This is completely awesome! I skipped grocery shopping yesterday so guess what my family will be eating… for like the next week? 🙂
I love cooking for the ingredients you have on hand! Great “recipe”!
What a great recipe…I imagine anyone could make this on any given day!!
WOW!.. This is another deliciously-looking recipe. It’s more healthy because it’s veggie. Thanks for sharing it.
Great Idea! We’re working on leftovers tomorrow. Love the idea of covering in mashed potatoes – we often have those leftover.
YUMMY!!! If only, I weren’t the only person in the house who would eat casserole.