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Q1075 Q1075
Looking for a good recipe? No worries, We’ve got you covered with this easy recipe. Not only will it be easy to cook, but it will give you a new recipe to add to your book. You can perfect this, tweak it you may want, but you will love it! It’s a tater tot casserole. Did we just say that? Yes, tater tot casserole. How great does that sound?
What Do You Need?
Ingredients In Tater Tot Casserole
- Ground Beef: This recipe uses two pounds of 80/20 ground beef.
- Seasonings: Salt and Pepper are all you need from the spice cupboard here.
- Onion, garlic: These aromatic vegetables give this dish a home cooked feel and flavor.
- Flour: This will be used to make a fresh, thick, creamy sauce for our casserole.
- Milk: Without the canned soup, we’re making a cream sauce using milk.
- Beef Broth: This adds flavor and depth to the meat mixture, as well as moisture for the sauce.
- Worcestershire Sauce: This savory, umami flavoring goes really well with beef.
- Mixed Vegetables: For convenience, use frozen vegetables. I use a blend that includes peas, carrots, green beans, and corn. Any frozen vegetables will work in this recipe. Peas and carrots are great, or just peas, or just green beans. Use what you like!
- Cheese: Shredded cheddar is perfect for this recipe. Shred your own or use bagged cheese.
tip!
- Whenever possible, it’s recommended you freshly grate your cheese from a block as it melts much better. Pre-shredded packaged cheese comes with anti-clumping agents (which is why it’s not clumpy when it comes out of the bag) which stop it from melting as nicely.
- Tater Tots: The star of the show are these beauties, crispy and browned on top of the casserole.
How To Make Tater Tot Casserole Without Cream Soup
- Prepare: Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C and grease a 13×9 inch casserole dish with cooking spray.
- Cook Beef: In a skillet, cook ground beef until it’s no longer pink. Drain fat and remove from the pan to a plate for later.
- Make Sauce: In the same pan, add the onion and cook until softened. Next add the garlic and saute for just a minute. Add flour, and cook it for 30 seconds. Add milk, broth, and Worcestershire sauce. Whisk and cook until the sauce has thickened.
- Combine: Stir the beef and frozen vegetables into the sauce and remove from heat.
- Layer: Layer the beef in the casserole dish, followed by cheese. Then arrange the tater tots on top in a single layer.
- Bake: Bake as directed in the recipe card below. Transfer to a cooling rack and cool slightly before serving.
Success Tips
- For a beautiful presentation, serve garnished with fresh chopped parsley or chives.
- The sauce comes together very quickly. Measure out your ingredients before you start cooking so that you can focus on cooking. This is called “mise en place” and is a very good habit to get into whenever you’re cooking a recipe with a lot of steps.
- A three quart dutch oven or oval casserole dish can be used instead of the rectangular 9×13 dish. Arrange the tater tots in a circular pattern if you do this.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C and grease a 9×13 inch casserole dish with cooking spray.
- In a skillet, cook ground beef until it’s no longer pink and cooked through. Drain fat. Remove onto a plate and set aside.
- Add onion, and cook until softened (2-3 minutes), add garlic and sauté for 30 seconds – 1 minute.
- Add flour, and cook it for 30 seconds then add the milk, beef broth, and Worcestershire sauce. Whisk and cook on medium heat for 3 minutes or until the sauce has thickened.
- Stir in the beef and frozen vegetables and remove from heat.
- Layer the beef in the casserole dish, followed by the cheese, and arrange the tater tots on top in a single layer.
- Bake for 30-40 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack, and cool for 15 minutes before serving. Garnish with freshly chopped parsley or chives.
