Dinner is served in an all-in-one dinner pie; Cheesy Tater Tot Dinner Pie. Beef and/or ground turkey, mixed veggies, cheesy sauce, topped with those favorite Tots! A true comfort food dinner that can easily be altered for your tastebuds!
Did you know that there’s a National Tater Tot Day? Yep, it’s February 2nd. Like Napolean Dynamite, TOTS! Not gonna share with Randy or anyone!
This is also one of those dinners, provided you have the staple ingredients, dinner can be on the table in just a little over 1 hour! Make ahead? Yes. Just keep the tots frozen until it’s time to go into the oven.
This recipe does away with canned cream of whatever soup, a staple in my home growing up. However, controlling what goes into our food is rather important these days. The sauce is a simple bechamel sauce (milk, flour, butter) and simply adding grated cheddar (Tillamook Cheddar is superb). The cheese melts into the sauce; 5 minutes from start to finish. It would almost take that long to go to cupboard, open up can of soup, scoop it out, thin with milk, heat up to melt cheese, well, you get it.
First off, brown the meat of choice with the chopped onions. Add in 12 oz. of frozen veggies and a little water and simmer until green beans are fork tender. Stir in the cheese sauce.
Place the entire contents into a deep dish pie plate or baking dish. Top with another 1/2 cup of shredded cheese, and frozen tots and bake @ 375 for 45 minutes.
When it emerges from the oven it will be bubbling and sizzling around the edges. But, please, let it cool for about 10 to 15 minutes before serving. No tongue scorching allowed; it’s the worst way to start off any meal!
Sprinkle on a little more season salt to taste and enjoy this Cheesy Tater Tot Dinner Pie, even if it’s not National Tater Tot Day!
