Homey dinner on a snowy day - Tator Tot hotdish

Tator Tot Hotdish is a family favorite.

Grandma used to make it all the time.  Now my dad does.  He modified Grandma's Recipe to be healthier (and tastier).  Now I too am making it, and modifying it!

Grandma's receipe has about 3 lbs of burger (and onions), 1 frozen bag of mixed veggies and 3 cans of "Cream of XXX soup", then 1 bag of tator tots.  And oodles of salt :)


Here's the Recipe I made and photos as I made it (My dad's is super similar):

Preheat oven to 325ºF.  Put a few tator tots on the bottom of the roaster:

To soak up some juice and give you some spuds on the bottom

Brown one pound hamburger with one diced onion. (MY ADDITION: add one 8oz pack of mushrooms, sliced).  SEASON YOUR MEAT with lots of salt and pepper.  (MY ADDITION: a few glugs of Balsami Vinegar too)

1 pound burger, 1 onion, 1 -8oz sliced mushrooms, salt, pepper, balsmic vinegar...MMMM

In a separate kettle,boil some carrots to soften them a bit. add frozen corn (1 bag) and frozen green beans(1 bag).  MY ADDITION:  Add some smoked paprika to the veggies.

veggies, as they begin to thaw, that's why they are segmented

Veggies all stirred up so you can see the ratios

Then stir in one can of cream of mushroom soup into the veggies.  Make sure you keep all the liquid in the veggies, this keeps your Hotdish moist.  AND IS SUPER GOOD on Day #2

Then Layer into the roaster!

Veggies with Cream of Mushroom Soup  on top of base layer of tots

 NEXT, Add ground Beef mixture to the top

mmmm.  tasty.  Like I said Mushrooms are my addition along with Balsamic Vinegar

Cover with Tots

ALRIGHT, Using regular AND sweet potato tots were my experiment this time.  I will skip it next time, they get to soft and don't hold form.  BUT it makes for pretty hotdish and it wasn't horrible.

BAKE at 325 for like an hour.  Everything is cooked, but you gotta get everything to meld together!

I forgot a picture of the finished product, but believe me, it was good :)

Have fun making it!