8 Mostly Forgotten Casseroles Of The ’70s And ’80s That Still Taste Amazing

Depending on who you ask, the ’70s and ’80s were either the best of times – or the worst. On one hand, there was crazy fashion, great music, and the kind of freedom and innocence that was only possible in the pre-Internet world. On the other hand, there was the fall of Saigon, Watergate, the looming threat of nuclear war, and some pretty cringy hairstyles.

But it was also a transformative era for American food lovers. While home cooks were as besotted with convenience foods as ever, they were also discovering new ways to eat. Vegetarian cooking caught the attention of curious cooks and restaurateurs, as did international influences. For instance, American diners discovered that Italian food was more than spaghetti and meatballs: “real” Italian dishes such as tiramisu and pesto found their way onto restaurant menus and into home kitchens. Still, most busy home cooks of the era stuck to the tried and true, dishes that were filling, easy to put together, and tasty. And this often meant casseroles. Here are some favorites from that era that still make satisfying meals today.

Busy home cooks have long known that a bag of frozen hashbrowns can be a godsend. It’s a huge timesaver, sparing you the effort and mess of cleaning, peeling, and cutting/shredding potatoes, which makes it especially convenient if you’re cooking for a crowd. Even better, cooks have discovered tasty uses for them beyond the breakfast table. Among these is the classic hashbrown casserole: Mixed with canned cream of chicken soup, chopped onions, and shredded cheese, a bag of plain potato shreds cooks up into a creamy, savory, and satisfying casserole. It’s such an easy, crowd-friendly, and comforting recipe that some communities call it funeral potatoes, since it’s become a standard dish at funeral receptions. It’s easy to see how soothing a big serving of creamy, cheesy potatoes can be on a sad day.

The popularity of the dish endured through the ’80s, with some cooks turning it into a main course by adding chicken. And while from-scratch versions of hashbrown casserole appeared as early as the 1830s, the ’80s version with chicken fit in perfectly with the vibe of the time. Cooks and eaters in the ’80s appreciated the convenience of meals made with pre-made ingredients such as canned soup and frozen vegetables, and they also enjoyed creating variations on familiar dishes.

As any showbiz hopeful can confirm, fame is a mysterious thing. While some people are catapulted onto the A-list as soon as they set foot on stage, other equally talented people languish in obscurity for years before suddenly getting noticed. Recipes are also subject to the quirks of fame. For instance, King Ranch casserole — a Mexican-inspired mix of shredded chicken and torn corn tortillas tossed with creamy canned soup and Ro-tel tomatoes and topped with cheese — was a regional favorite in Texas for decades before gaining popularity in the rest of the U.S. in the ’70s.

The exact origins of King Ranch casserole are unclear, but historians agree that it’s a Texas creation, and the presence of canned soup points to it being a post-World War II innovation. Some scholars of Texan culture have hypothesized that it may be an Americanized version of chilaquiles, a traditional Mexican dish of tortilla pieces tossed in chiles, tomatoes, chicken, and cheese. We also know it has nothing to do with its namesake, King Ranch, a sprawling Texas cattle ranch that covers more land than the whole state of Rhode Island. (And, as some have noted, it would make zero sense for a cattle ranch’s signature dish to feature chicken.) Whatever its origins, Texans and non-Texans alike agree it’s good eating. For a lighter modern version without the canned soup, try this easy King Ranch chicken casserole.

If you wanted to be taken seriously as a cook or party host in the ’80s, The Silver Palate Cookbook was required reading. The 1982 cookbook, which featured recipes and entertaining tips from the then-famous Silver Palate gourmet food shop in New York City, introduced mainstream home cooks to once-exotic ingredients such as arugula and pesto and popularized the idea of cooking with seasonal ingredients. The vibe was fancy, but not fussy: The authors recommended making mayonnaise from scratch and seeking out the best-quality ingredients, but did so in a friendly and encouraging tone.

Needless to say, you won’t find any dishes featuring canned cream of mushroom soup in the book. But a few casserole recipes do appear. One is for green lasagna — a tomato-free, vegetarian take on lasagna featuring spinach pasta, basil puree, chopped spinach, three kinds of cheese, and Bechamel sauce. It’s a dish that still feels modern today — but with a caveat. While the headnote in the original recipe described it as a light dish more suitable as a side than a main course, some modern diners find it overwhelmingly rich. So if you try it, consider using it as a winter main course with a light, crunchy salad on the side.

In the ’80s, like today, people liked processed food more than they’d care to admit. This was, after all, the era when Lunchables and Chicken McNuggets were introduced, and sugary cereals named after cartoon characters were normal breakfast food. This didn’t mean people didn’t worry about all that fat and sugar — the 80s were also the decade when Lean Cuisine and Diet Coke made their first appearances.

The Tater Tot casserole embodies the conflicted attitude toward food in this era. Traditional recipes use canned cream of mushroom soup, ground beef, and a few chopped vegetables, all topped with a layer of Tater Tots and baked until the tots are crisp and the filling is hot and bubbling. In short, it showcases the processed foods 80s diners loved while maintaining a veneer of wholesomeness. In any case, diners of the era loved it. Like other popular casseroles of the era, it was pure comfort food and, even better, easy to make. It was also an endlessly riffable recipe. Creative cooks devised versions enhanced with cheese or built on a base of Sloppy Joe filling. And cooks today continue to devise their own takes on it, especially in Minnesota, where tater tot hotdish, as it’s locally known, is the de facto state dish: In 2016, future governor and vice presidential candidate Tim Walz, then a state representative, won a hotdish contest with his turkey taco version, flavored with chili powder and enriched with sour cream and cheese.

America’s love affair with Mexican food has always been fraught. While Americans loved tacos and tamales from the moment they tasted them, the same respect didn’t extend to actual Mexican people — some old-time Mexican restaurants advertised their wares as Spanish cooking, since they felt that calling it Mexican food would sound too low-class. And like cooks everywhere, they adjusted the unfamiliar cuisine to suit their tastes and make use of local ingredients.

A prime example of such adaptation is the classic tamale pie, a hearty casserole of ground meat and veggies in spicy sauce with a cornmeal-based topping. The first written recipe for tamale pie appeared in 1908, and it gained popularity as a tasty budget meal during the Great Depression and World War II. And while tamale pie was a good way to stretch out pricy meat, it was also a dish people were proud to serve and happy to eat; it was a popular choice for buffets and dinner parties. Tamale pie reached peak popularity in the ’50s, but never really went away. It remained a home cooking favorite through the ’70s and beyond, and still stands the test of time today — try this handy slow-cooker tamale pie and see for yourself.

Sloppy joes were a much-anticipated school lunch in the 80s and continue to be a favorite weeknight dinner today, and it’s easy to see why: The combination of hearty ground beef with a sweet-tangy tomato-based sauce on a soft bun is kid friendly, yet interesting enough to satisfy grown-up palates, and there’s always something satisfying about a big, messy sandwich for dinner. Best of all, it’s easy to make, meaning a busy cook can get a dinner everyone enjoys on the table quickly. What’s not to like?

For some cooks, the sloppy part can be problematic. If you’re cooking for a large group or for a bunch of messy, excitable children, sloppy joes may be easy to throw together, but the cleanup from all the drips and spills afterwards can be a nightmare. Luckily, an easy solution exists: take all the components of a sloppy joe and turn them into a fork-and-knife casserole. In the 80s, this didn’t take too much imagination, given the trend at the time of reimagining favorite dishes — from tacos to cheeseburgers to stuffed peppers — as easy-to-serve, crowd-friendly casseroles. Sloppy joe casserole gained additional prominence in the ’80s when a recipe for the dish was featured on cans of Manwich, a premade sloppy Joe sauce. The dish is simple: pour your favorite sloppy Joe recipe into a casserole dish and bake with a topping of slider rolls or biscuits. For a version with extra heft and nutrition, try this Sloppy joe biscuit casserole enhanced with veggies and canned beans.

Remember being a kid and being admonished to put away your favorite snacks so you’d still have an appetite for dinner in a few hours? More than a few of us swore that when we grew up, we’d eat whatever we wanted. As adults, we imagined no one would be able to force peas and carrots and meatloaf upon us when a big bag of Doritos was there for the taking.

Then we grew up and realized our moms were right — an all-Doritos diet is simply unsustainable. But we have to admit we still love them. And by the ’80s, home cooks figured out a clever way to indulge their inner child while serving a respectable main course: the Doritos casserole. Think of it as a multi-layered, topping-heavy version of nachos: it’s a hearty dish of ground meat flavored with canned chiles, tomatoes, chili powder, onions, and canned cream of chicken soup layered with Doritos and shredded cheese and baked. The cheese melts, the seasoned meat provides protein and spice, and the Doritos soften slightly and soak up the flavor. And by changing out the flavor of Doritos, you can change up the flavor profile of your casserole. Try it with your favorite Doritos flavor and make the dish your own.

With Julia Child’s rise to prominence in the ’60s and ’70s, American home cooks began to embrace French cuisine. Thanks to Child’s tutelage, French dishes were no longer elusive delicacies only available at restaurants staffed by specially trained chefs, but attainable goals for home cooks. For the most part, Child’s recipes weren’t for quickie weeknight meals, but more complex dishes that a proficient home cook, with a little planning, could realistically put together for a weekend dinner party.

Among these dishes she popularized was chicken Cordon Bleu, roulades of pounded chicken breast filled with ham and Gruyere cheese, breaded, and pan-fried in butter. Its genius was in presenting ordinary, familiar ingredients in an elegant little package with chewy, creamy, and crunchy textures in every bite. Making it, however, is a bit of a production and requires some dexterity. By the ’80s, time-pressed cooks had innovated a shortcut: chicken Cordon Bleu in casserole form, with the ham and chicken tossed with pasta in a cheesy sauce and baked with a crunchy breadcrumb topping. It’s easy to make ahead, and the classic flavors are as crowd-pleasing as ever.