- I made my mother’s vegetable casserole for the first time in 10 years.
- The recipe includes three types of vegetables, fried onions, and water chestnuts.
- The casserole is an easy, cheap, and very delicious option for people strapped for cash or time.
I’ve never liked casseroles, but my mother’s recipe with fried onions and gooey cheese is the only exception.
The veggie casserole recipe has been in my family for at least three generations, starting with my grandmother, who passed it along to my mother. While my mother followed the recipe closely throughout the years, she later added in her own secret ingredient: water chestnuts.
“The water chestnuts add a nice texture and crunch,” she said, adding that the neutral flavor doesn’t overwhelm the other ingredients.
It’s been about 10 years since I’ve tasted her casserole recipe, and with the holidays cutting into everyone’s time and cash, I thought I’d share the joy.
Keep reading to learn how to make Amy’s Gooey Veggie Casserole.
Combine all the ingredients together in a bowl.
To start, combine the de-thawed vegetables, soup, 1/2 cup of Swiss cheese, sour cream, pepper, pimentos, water chestnuts, and 1/2 of the fried onions in a large bowl.
While some of the ingredients are options — like the pimentos and water chestnuts — I suggest giving them a try. The pimentos add a sweet flavor to the otherwise savory casserole, while the water chestnuts add texture and crunch amid the gooey-ness.
I’ve made a lot of recipes online, but this is among the easiest — and most satisfying — I’ve tried.
From deviled eggs to cinnamon rolls, I’ve spent a lot of time in the kitchen trying different recipes over the last few years. This casserole recipe is a slam dunk for two reasons: time and taste.
This casserole is perfect for people who want a home-cooked meal but don’t have the time to devote an entire evening in the kitchen. Aside from the 35 minutes in the oven, my mom’s casserole took 10 minutes to assemble with no issues.
Taste-wise, my favorite parts of the casserole as a kid have always been the Swiss cheese, fried onions, and water chestnuts. Not much has changed as an adult, but I found a new appreciation for pimentos this time around. The pimentos are sweet, adding another layer of flavor to the casserole.
I’ve also discovered why my mother never added salt to her recipe. At first, I thought it was a health thing — which it might be — but the fried onions have so much salt that adding any extra would be too much. The mellow taste of Swiss cheese, water chestnuts, and sour cream helped cut through that saltiness, balancing out the flavors.
It’s been a decade since I’ve last had this casserole, but I won’t make that mistake again.
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