Laravel - Automatically eager load model relationships by setting a protected $with var on your model -- found via: https://stackoverflow.com/a/25674216

laravel-eager-load-model-relationships.php

<?php

namespace YourApp;

use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Model;

class Posts extends Model
{
    /**
     * Automagically eager load any Model relationships
     *
     * @var array
     */
    protected $with = ['categories'];
    
    /**
     * Get the category relationship
     */
    public function categories()
    {
        return $this->hasMany('YourApp\Categories', 'category_id', 'id');
    }
}