My favourites are pasta-based ones, they're really the only kind of casserole I grew up with so they're all I know. I make an awesome one of penne and hot sausage, with a sauce of sour kraut (!!!), onions, white wine and dijon mustard. Maybe a little mozzarella on top. SOOOO good!

Last night's was made with homemade corn tortillas, pepian sauce (green pumpkin seeds, tomatillos, etc), shredded chicken, and cheese.

I like baked mac n cheese, savory stratas, bread pudding - funny because we didn't eat any of these growing up other than lasagna.

I'd have to say lasagna: a bechamel veggie version or red sauce, meat laden one. This would be followed closely by pot pie.

Stratas and lasagnes are my faves, though my sister in law makes something she calls a spinach souffle and I call a spinach casserole which is like the best part of spanikopita without fussing with the pastry.

Tonight I'm making a baked mac n cheese casserole, but by far my favorite is the one my family just calls "casserole"

Frozen corn, bechamel, italian sausage, sliced hard boiled eggs, and bread crumbs on top. So tasty, and like getting a giant hug from my own mom every time I make it.

There's so many that I love, but I think King Ranch Chicken tops the list.

OOOO Turkey Sausage Croissant Casserole!
http://whitsamusebouche.com/?p=52

Enchilada Casserole is my favorite.
http://www.sowonderfulsomarvelous.com/2010/01/enchilada-cassarole.html Followed SO closely by handmade chicken pot pie and the classic green bean cassarole that doesn't really count as a cassarole.

I think because I grew up with them, the british pies - pretty much any stewed meeat under mashed potatoes. yum!

I've never been a casserole person, and always hated pot pies, so I invented one I liked! ^_^ Jerk Chicken Pot Pie.. nice and spicy! http://www.popartichoke.com/2010/11/jerk-chicken-pot-pie-comfort-food-with.html

Tater Tot Hotdish

Homemade chicken pot pie with big pieces in it and an all butter crust (not! puff pastry)

shepard's pie (made the right way with leftover lamb roast and gravy)

When I was a kid, chuch functions always seemed to included a macaroni-hamburger-tomato casserole. I could eat it hot, I could eat it cold, I start drooling just thinking about it. Mmmmmmm....

Remsen Central School (wayyyy upstate NY) used to make Potato Chip Casserole. My dad loved it so much he got the lunch lady to give the recipe to my grandmother. Bear with me. 1 crushed bag of potato chips, 1 can tuna, 2 cans cream of mushroom soup. Mixed together and baked. Sounds awful, doesn't it? It's heavenly. And to gild the lily, layer it in the casserole dish with x-sharp cheddar. OMG. We would have it on freezing cold nights and our family renamed it Fat and Salt Casserole.

Gnocchi ala Sorrentina!
Fresh gnocchi tossed in a fresh tomato sauce with tons of chunks of mozzarella and basil baked til bubbly!

recipe please, kittystockings!

Oh man, I'm a baked ziti fan myself, except I make it with penne generally, so I guess it's not really baked ZITI, even though that's what everyone here in central NY calls it. I use cooked penne, marinara, a can of diced tomatoes, a little ricotta, some whole milk mozzarella, and Italian meatballs (usually frozen, alas). With garlic bread it is a huge carb intake, but soooooo good. I try to make it less than once every month or two months because between my boyfriend and I we can eat just about a whole 9x9" pan of it (or half a 9x13") plus nearly a whole loaf of garlic bread.

There are so many to choose from! Where do I begin...a recent favorite is a Shrimp, Orzo and Feta casserole I discovered in the Boston Globe. Another delicious seafood dish is a Potato Crusted Cod Broccoli Bake (yes, I love seafood!). You can actually use frozen seafood instead of fresh if you live in a landlocked state. YUM!

My mother always makes for special occasions a Hungarian dish called Rakott Krumpli: layers of sliced potato, sliced hard-boiled egg, and sliced Hungarian sausage, with dollops of sour cream throughout. We last had it when I visited home for the holidays. Indescribably good, every time.

Mmm, casseroles. My absolute favorite is what we call "Your Mom's Chicken." No, it's not an insult, but when my husband and I moved in together we combined recipes and we both had chicken casserole recipes from our moms.
So I just started calling his mother's recipe "Your Mom's Chicken."

It has a layer of rice, then a tasty chicken, cheese, sour cream, bechamel sauce is poured on followed by crumbled butter-soaked Ritz crackers, then stick the whole thing in the oven.

I don't really do casseroles except for homemade chicken pot pie. From-scratch pie crust, tender and flakey, chicken breast slowly simmered and gently cut, tender potatoes, carrots, onions, and celery and homemade chicken gravy from my own stock. Heavenly comfort food.

You've inspired me to prepare what I call "stovetop lasagna": a tomato sauce with some lasagna added while it cooks and simmers, then brightened with a couple of types of cheese.

1) Meatless lasagne with spinach, tomato sauce, and a ricotta-bechamel mixture.

2) Upscale chicken divan (my parents make it with goopy canned cream soups and mayo, but I prefer homemade sauces).

3) Brown rice with lots of veggies and sometimes chicken chunks in a mornay sauce.

I'm so happy about the revival of the casserole...I'm not fond of the ones with lots of processed junk in them, but there's something so wonderfully comforting about a really good, homemade casserole.

Bisquick Impossible Taco Pie was my "special request" birthday dinner during my formative years. I still crave it.

If someone else is cooking, vegetarian lasagne. If I'm cooking, red cabbage and chestnuts!

Tater tot casserole, in my married years, has now been renamed to Le Goo. Can of corn, can of green beans, can of cream of chick, can of cream of mush, browned ground beef salt and pepper with an onion chopped up in it. Combine, brown some tater tots, slide on top, then finish baking til hot and bubbly. It is best with a slice of buttered potato bread and a glass of milk! Yum, can you tell my family is from the Midwest?!

Lasagna, baked ziti, enchiladas of any sort, pastitsio, chicken pot pie, shepherd's pie, tuna noodle casserole. There are too many to choose from !

Wow. This post is giving me a lot of recipes to try.
My favorites are beef short rib pot pie, any baked pasta dish, Hamburger corn pone pie, and Shepherd's Pie

My all-time favorite hotdish (yes, that's what we call them in Minnesota) is Chicken Divan. I have no idea where the recipe came from, but it's the perfect combo of veggies, chicken, and the less healthy stuff (like cream of chicken soup and cheese).

I wonder if all the lasagne/pasta people are NY/East Coast and the cheese/meat/potato people are Midwest?

I'm a NYer, originally from way upstate, and I don't think I ever saw one of these "hotdish" type things growing up. It was always lasagne, baked ziti, variations thereof, and vegetable casseroles (green bean, broccoli, spinach).

Chicken Spinach Pasta - penne, sun dried tomato chicken sausage, froz spinach and a jar of sundried tom or roasted red pepper alfredo...to die for! I add diced peppers, onions, fresh parm and a side salad.

I occasionally make a vegetarian casserole of lentils and tomato sauce topped with cheesy mashed potatoes. It re-heats well, too.

Vegetarian lasagna. Any variation on homemade mac and cheese w/vegetables is also wonderful.

My favorite growing up was beef-a-roni or what others call American Goulash. Now I like baked mac & cheese with chicken and peas and a parmesan bread crumb topping.

I don't do casseroles very often -- they're not as convenient when you're cooking for one. But once in a while, I do like: vegetarian moussaka, a rice-and-zucchini tian my mom makes, deconstructed veggie cabbage rolls (you cook everything together instead of rolling it up) and savoury chickpea crumble.

My MotherinLaw makes the most fattening and delicious broccoli rice casserole in the world. We only eat it at Thanksgiving because it's so decadent. Broccoli, rice, CHEEZE WHIZ and lots of BUTTER (and other stuff). Talk about comfort food.