Yet Another Tater Tot Casserole

charlie #5's Note:

I like to play with the below basic recipe. One of my favorites is to add a package of drained and squeezed spinach and some garlic to the beef or some mushrooms. Sometimes I add a little Worcestershire to the soup too. Occasionally I’ll add more soup. I love that this is SO versatile. Experiment with different soups, cheese, vegetables. Next time I’m going to drizzle a bit of olive oil over the top of the tater tots and sprinkle with some herbs. Perhaps garlic powder, Italian spices, or crushed red pepper flakes.

• Total Time: 1 hrs 10 mins
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 1 hrs

Ingredients:

Servings: 6

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 (1 ounce) package onion soup mix
• 1 (10 3/4 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup
• 0.5 (10 7/8 ounce) can milk
• salt
• pepper
• 1 (32 ounce) package frozen tater tots
• cheddar cheese, shredded (optional)

Directions:

1. Mix ground beef with the dry onion soup mix and press into a 9x13 pan. Mix the soup, milk, salt, and pepper. Pour over the ground beef mixture. Add a layer of cheddar cheese. Arrange frozen tater tots over the top of the casserole.
2. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

Reviews

[willoby2]

I make a basic meatloaf recipe, then brown/drain ground beef, add cream of mushroom and cream of celery soup to beef mixture, top with shredded cheese and tater tots.

[LilPinkieJ]

Excellent! My kids liked it better than mine. I think it was the lack of the icky mushroom soup. Lol - I can't believe you lined up your tots for the picture! It looks great.

[Becky in Wisconsin]

* * * MADE FOR FALL PAC 2008 * * * Well, this wasn't like I was used to for Tater Tot Casserole. I had learned to make this many, many, MANY, years ago by browning the meat first, then adding the soup to that and green beans, pouring that in a cake pan and topping with tater tots. The onion soup mix in here over powered the dish for me. And the ground beef on the bottom of the pan became like a hamburger patty to me. Sorry, like I said it was unlike what I was used to for this type dish. I'm not saying it was awful, just different for me. I really hate giving a negative review, but I'm just being honest.