Tator Tot Hotdish Heats up Winter

Tator Tot Hotdish is a Minnesota favorite and staple food for any cool winter day. It’s also a personal favorite, with a few twists from my garden.

Tator tot hotdish or casserole is best enjoyed with as-close-as-possible-to-fresh ingredients. When possible I like to use the vegetables that I’ve frozen from my garden. Frozen eggplant and frozen corn from the garden or farmer’s market make a huge difference- you can tell by the flavor! I also use venison as a substitute for the beef, it is more lean and tastes just as good.

To make the hotdish: Start by browning the meat until it’s thoroughly cooked; then adding your preferred mix of vegetables – about 2 cups of whatever frozen vegetables you desire, along with the cream of mushroom soup. The warming heat of spice comes from the homemade taco seasoning mix below. It’s entirely optional, but definitely worth it!

Layer all of the meat mixture into pans and cover with the tator tots. Cook in the oven per the instructions on the tator tot package- usually about 20 min at 400° F.

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Tatortot Hotdish Recipe

Course

Main

Cuisine

Hotdish

Servings

Ingredients

• 1 lbs. Ground Beef or Venison
• 1 can Cream of Mushroom Soup
• 1 Tbsp. Taco Seasoning Use recipe below
• 2 cups frozen vegetables
• 1 bag Tator tots

Course Main Cuisine Hotdish Servings Ingredients 1 lbs. Ground Beef or Venison 1 can Cream of Mushroom Soup 1 Tbsp. Taco Seasoning Use recipe below 2 cups frozen vegetables 1 bag Tator tots

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400° F. Put pan on stove and brown beef or venison. As it browns add the taco seasoning (see below for recipe).
2. Add mushroom soup and vegetables to browned meat. You can use a bag of mixed vegetables or some corn and peas. I also use frozen eggplant from my garden for a healthy, tasty twist. Stir ingredients together and flatten into a 9x13 pan or 2 8x8 dishes.
3. Cover top with tat or tots so that meat mixture is covered. Place in oven and Follow cooking instructions for tots - should be about 20 min at 400 degrees.

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Taco Seasoning

Make your own Taco Seasoning "Packets"

Servings

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp. Chili Powder
• 1 tsp. Ground Cumin
• 2 tsp. flour
• 2 tsp. Salt
• 1.5 tsp. Paprika
• 1 tsp. Ground Coriander
• 1/2 tsp. Cayenne Pepper

Servings Ingredients 2 Tbsp. Chili Powder 1 tsp. Ground Cumin 2 tsp. flour 2 tsp. Salt 1.5 tsp. Paprika 1 tsp. Ground Coriander 1/2 tsp. Cayenne Pepper

Instructions

1. Mix all ingredients together. Store in a cool, dry place or package for future taco meals.
2. Depending on how much flavor you like in your tacos this seasoning should make 2 "packets" for 1 lb. portions of meat.

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