Some foods just get better the second time around. Cooking certain dishes twice isn’t just reheating—it’s about evolving their flavors and textures. Foods like lasagna or fried chicken benefit from initial preparation followed by another cooking phase, enhancing everything from taste to mouthfeel. This list highlights ten foods that truly shine when cooked twice.
Table of Contents
- 1. Chicken and Eggplant Parmesan
- 2. Tuna Noodle Casserole
- 3. Chicken Pot Pie
- 4. Lasagna
- 5. Meat Lovers Pizza
- 6. Twice-Baked Potatoes
- 7. Baked Mac and Cheese
- 8. Sweet Potato Casserole
- 9. Moussaka
- 10. Shepherd’s Pie
- 11. Baked Ziti
- 12. Potato Gratin
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1. Chicken and Eggplant Parmesan
Returning to Italian food, both chicken and eggplant parmesan are intensive recipes. The chicken or eggplants must be breaded and fried, and the red sauce has to be simmered on the stove for a while. But the final step is topping the protein with sauce and cheese and letting it get all gooey and crispy in the oven.
2. Tuna Noodle Casserole
At this point, tuna noodle casserole is an American classic, even if it’s not everyone’s favorite. The recipe is a bit simpler than the ones above, but you still have to boil the pasta before you can mix everything and pop it in the oven. Get the recipe
3. Chicken Pot Pie
Another supremely cozy meal is a hearty and earthy chicken pot pie. First, you have to cook the chicken. Then, you have to cook all the veggies and make the gravy. Plus, you have to make the pie dough! This all takes 45 minutes to an hour, and then the pie goes in the oven for 30-60 minutes, so it’s a long process. Get the recipe
4. Lasagna
Lasagna is one of the coziest dinners you can make, with cheesy layers, creamy ricotta, hearty meat sauce, and the perfect crunch on the end of the noodles. However, it’s a ton of work. It requires cooking the beef on the stove, boiling the noodles, whipping the ricotta mixture, and, if you’re making it from scratch, making the sauce. After all that, it still has to go in the oven for an hour. Get the recipe
5. Meat Lovers Pizza
Vegetable and pepperoni pizza, along with other varieties, only need to be cooked once. But for the classic meat lovers pizza, you must pre-cook the sausage, beef, and bacon on the stove, or risk having a raw meat pizza. Plus, if you make the pizza sauce, that’s a whole other step.
6. Twice-Baked Potatoes
This one speaks for itself because it’s right in the name! While delicious, twice-baked potatoes can be quite effortful. Not only do you bake them twice, but in between the bakes, you have to scrape the potatoes, mix them with other ingredients, and then stuff the potato skins. Get the recipe
7. Baked Mac and Cheese
A gooey, creamy stovetop mac and cheese is a delicious classic, but baked mac and cheese is in a league of its own. The cheese thickens into a stouter sauce with a more robust texture, and the edges of the noodles get a lovely crunchiness. But after boiling the pasta and making the cheese sauce, waiting for it to bake can be taxing.
8. Sweet Potato Casserole
This Thanksgiving staple is a must-have every November, but it takes a lot of effort. You could just serve sweet potato mash, but taking the extra time to fill a casserole dish with cooked potatoes and topping it with little marshmallows is worth it.
9. Moussaka
Moussaka is like a Greek lasagna, but it uses a white sauce and eggplant slices instead of noodles. The recipe requires you to soften the eggplant beforehand, make the sauce, and cook the beef. Then, you build the lasagna into layers, which all go in the oven to get a nice golden color. Get the recipe
10. Shepherd’s Pie
Shepherd’s pie might be even more work than chicken pot pie. While you don’t have to make a pie dough, you do have to make mashed potatoes to top the pie off. Eating the mashed potatoes and beef mixture together in a bowl would be satisfying, but the golden crisp the potatoes get in the oven is worth the extra time. Get the recipe
11. Baked Ziti
Another cozy Italian food that requires the stove and the oven is baked ziti. The richness of this recipe is irresistible, but it requires you to make the pasta, meat, and sauce on the stove, eventually mixing it all together and letting it bake for a while. Get the recipe
12. Potato Gratin
Potato gratin, or scalloped potatoes, is a mouthwatering, decadent dish with lots of cheese and herbs. Before you can layer the sliced potatoes with a cheesy sauce, you have to boil the potatoes and make the sauce. You could just let the potatoes cook in the oven, but that requires baking it for almost two hours.
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