Cheeseburger Tot Casserole – Leels Cooks

I love tots. Very, seriously, deeply love them. They’re probably my favourite potato preparation, with spicy curly fries and mash coming in 2nd and 3rd.

Just something about those crisp little gems and how well they hold up to being topped with crazy things. Totchoes? Chili tots? CHEESEBURGER TOTS?

There are a few recipes out there for cheeseburger tots, but they usually call for only about 3 ingredients and one of them is a can of condensed soup. We can do better, and we did!

This dish is still rich, savory, and deeply beefy. We lighten it up by serving it with crisp iceberg lettuce and our favourite burger toppings.

 

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What you need:

• 1 lb ground beef (or any favourite ground meat, even veggie ground)
• 1 small onion, finely diced
• 1 clove garlic, finely minced
• 1 tbsp bread and butter pickles, minced (optional)
• 1 heaped tbsp flour
• 1 cup beef stock
• 2 tbsp tomato ketchup
• 2 tbsp yellow mustard
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 bag of frozen potato tots (about 600-700g)
• 4 slices cooked bacon, crumbled
• 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
• 1 tbsp fresh parsley, minced
• 1 tbsp fresh green onion, minced

Burger Toppings:

• Pickles, hot peppers
• Shredded iceberg lettuce
• Diced tomato
• Thousand Island dressing
• Anything you like!

Preheat oven to 375.

1. Begin by browning your ground beef in a large skillet. If it’s excessively greasy, drain some fat from the pan. Add onion and garlic and sautee until softened.
2. Sprinkle flour over pan and cook for about 1 minute. Add beef stock and stir, scraping any browned goodness from the bottom of the pan. Let thicken slightly. Add ketchup, mustard and salt. Stir then remove from heat.
3. Add frozen tots, I used my skillet as my cooking vessel, if you’re transferring this to baking dish now is the time. A 9×9 baking dish should work well, you can adjust the amount of tots you add if you need to use a smaller or larger pan. For my pan, I only needed 3/4 of a bag.
4. Add remaining bacon, cheese, parsley, green onion and mix. Place in oven and bake for 45 minutes or until the top is lightly golden brown and crisp.
5. Remove from oven and enjoy! Serve with your favourite burger toppings! ❤