Tater Tot Hotdish

Tater Tot Hotdish is a huge family favorite of ours. In Minnesota, we call it "hotdish", not casserole. There are many variations floating around out there, so I will give you two that I've used. Pretty soon it will be too warm here for baking, so I guess it's time to use up that bag of tots in the freezer!

Version #1:
2 lbs. lean ground beef
2 cans French-cut green beans, drained
2 cans Campbells's Nacho Cheese soup
tater tots

Press the uncooked ground beef into the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish. Mix
the green beans with the soup, and spread over the top of the hamburger. Arrange
the tots across the top in a single layer, cover with foil then bake at 350
degrees for one hour(remove foil for last 15 minutes to brown the top).

Version #2:
2 lbs lean ground beef or ground turkey
1 medium onion, diced
24-oz bag frozen mixed vegetables, thawed
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
Cheese - one 12-oz bag of shredded cheddar (or slices of Velveeta)
tater tots

Brown the meat with the diced onion, drain. Spread in the bottom of a 9x13
baking dish. Combine the veggies with the soups, and spread over the top of the
meat. Sprinkle the cheese over the top, then arrange tater tots on top of that.
Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour (again, covered with foil for the first 45
minutes).

These are both great recipes to prepare ahead of time. Whoever gets home from school or work first can put it in the oven. When it is done I usually throw into the oven a pan of the store-bought crescent rolls (from a tube), when those are done the hotdish is cool enough to eat.

The best part about this hotdish is that it is customizable. If you want to make it spicy, add chili powder or tabasco sauce to the hamburger, and substitute leftover or canned chili for the soup. If you do it that way, corn is a good vegetable to mix in. Instead of serving with crescent rolls, cornbread is a good option.