Casserole recipes are usually sized for a crowd. They are often designed to feed 6, 8, maybe even 10 people! But if you're just cooking for one or two, that's too much. The good news is that most casseroles are extremely easy to size down. Here are a couple of tips and guidelines for taking any one of the recipes we've posted during Casserole Week and adjusting it to a half-batch size.
Half a Casserole: What to consider?
When adjusting a recipe for a casserole or really any oven-baked dish, there are two primary things to consider:
• Volume - Quarts or liters
• Surface area - How many square inches or centimeters are exposed on the top of the casserole?
The volume is the first and most important: If this recipe makes 3 quarts of cheesy pasta, for instance, then halving it will make 1.5 quarts. Therefore you need a 1.5 quart dish.
But not all 1.5 quart dishes are created equal; a tall, narrow bowl will not give you the right proportion of crunchy top to creamy innards that you expect. And a wide, shallow dish may mean that your casserole bakes far too fast and gets too dry.
So when halving a casserole recipe you need to find a dish that a) Has the appropriate volume for the halved recipe and b) Has approximately the same proportions as the original dish.
How much does a 9x13-inch pan make?
Having said all that, here are some specific tips:
• A 9x13-inch pan holds between 12 and 14 cups and has 117 square inches of surface area.
• Therefore, halving pretty much any recipe that goes into a 9x13-inch pan means that you need a pan that holds between 6 and 8 cups and has about 60 square inches of surface area.
• Fortunately, most of us have such a pan! An 8x8-inch pan holds 8 cups of volume, and has 64 square inches of surface area.
The 8x8-inch pan is just slightly bigger than a halved 9x13, so if halving a recipe you may want to reduce the baking time by about 5 minutes, and check on the casserole then. But ultimately, this has always worked well for me. When halving a basic 9x13 casserole, cut the recipe in half and bake it in an 8x8-inch pan.
For more pan volume info and some size conversions:
• Pan Sizes at Joy of Baking
One final tip: If a recipe calls for just 1 egg, still include that entire egg when halving the recipe. Yes, it may be slightly wetter, but it's better to do this than try to "halve" an egg or make a substitution. Most casserole recipes are loose enough around the edges that there is plenty of room for this kind of thing.
Do you ever halve casseroles? Do you have any tricks or tips for reducing big dishes to more modestly-sized portions for households of one or two?
Related: Good Question: Ingredient Substitutions in a Cake Recipe?
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I always cut casserole recipes for our 2-person household. I don't usually need to bake them as long as a full recipe, so I set the time a bit lower.
Very helpful! Thank you!
Great tips. I hate eating leftover casseroles for days on end!
Casseroles freeze awfully well, I think. And these days, with a new baby in the house, if I'm going to any trouble to cook (and it's a freezable recipe), I'll definitely freeze some for later! But this is very helpful info, especially if you have a backlog of recipes you've been wanting to try. And I'm sure all of us here have just such a backlog.
I recently discovered the joy of making up the whole recipe, but dividing it between two (or more) smaller dishes. One gets baked for dinner, and the other(s) get tossed in the freezer for the future. It's nothing novel, but it sure does make it worth the effort (of making a casserole).
I recently discovered the joy of making up the whole recipe, but dividing it between two (or more) smaller dishes. One gets baked for dinner, and the other(s) get tossed in the freezer for the future. It's nothing novel, but it sure does make it worth the effort (of making a casserole).
Thanks for the tip about the egg. That's the one thing that trips me up when I'm halving recipes.
I have to agree about the cooking once/dividing it and tossing one in the freezer. Even our family of five (with three teenagers) doesn't consume a whole lasagna for dinner. So I split it and freeze one.
As kls987 said--it is nothing novel, but on the nights we are running late, I feel brilliant and organized!
I always forget about leftovers, so when I make a casserole just for 2, I put it in a glass loaf pan. Pretty much keeps that volume/surface area ratio though, as noted above, sometimes the cooking time should be reduced.
I also make a complete recipe and split it between two pans so that I can freeze one for later. If you're going to go to the trouble to make the recipe, it doesn't really take any more effort to divide it between two pans so that you can have a second meal later. Plus, when you pull that second casserole out of the freezer, you get to feel fabulously virtuous, as coffeesnob said!
With a two person household we often divide recipes. One rainy day I went through the baking dishes and calculated the area of each ( 8 x8 pans are easy to do mentally but I can't quickly do circles) and put it on a card taped to the inside of a cupboard drawer. It's now quicker to pull one with the right ratio.
ALWAYS cutting recipes down, since I'm usually just cooking for me. GREAT tip about the egg, I will remember that.
Have to say that I've never really had a problem scaling down casserole recipes, even going from one that serves 10-12 and cutting it in 1/4.
And leftovers are always good for lunch at work. Or frozen for later enjoyment.
Yeah! I have a cassorole I've been dying to make, but it's too big so I've been wanting to try halving it and wondering what pan to use.