I saw this recipe last night and decided to try it today on a group of 12 kids. It was very good (to me)and half of the kids ate it up. (The other half.......who knows?...it does look a bit "messy" when you serve it) I made a few "tweaks" to this recipe: 1)I cooked the beef onion garlic salt and pepper ahead of time. (Then I was able to drain all the grease and not have that IN the casserole) 2)I used Cream of Mushroom w/ Roasted Garlic soup 3)After pouring the cream/milk mixture I sprinkled cheddar cheese all over it before the layer of Tator Tots. 4)Baked it for only 30 minutes since beef was cooked. Yum! I'd make it again. Very easy and tasty.
This was awesome! My pickiest son gobbled it up. I did not at the oats and added a layer of grated cheddar in between the soup and tater tots. We will have this in the future.
I cooked the beef with chopped onion and 1 tsp of crushed garlic salt pepper gallic salt until done then I mixed the beef mixture with the soup milk and 3 tbls. of soy sauce and one can of cut green beans. Then i placed the mixture in the baking pan and topped it with potatoes..yum.... family favorite..thanks
This is just a little friendly FYI for those new to making Casseroles a.k.a. Hot Dishes: you always cook the the meat (whatever kind that may be except tuna) before putting it into the casserole dish. It will not tell you to do this in many hot dish recipes because it is for the most part understood. You should use raw meat in a casserole/hot dish only when the recipe tells you specifically not to cook it before hand. I hope this helps. Great recipe. It is an old common dish that most people will love.
This recipe was good. Next time I will cook and season the ground beef BEFORE I assemble the meal. The recipe doesn't say to do this and I ended up with a very greasy dinner. So if I decide to make this again I will cook the beef first then make the dish.:)
Like it says this is an oldie...I also browned the ground beef and onion so that I was able to drain off the grease skipped the oats (I can't stand oats and ground beef it is the whole moatloaf thing) added a can of veg-all and added a layer of cheese between the beef and tator tots...I cut the baking time down to approx 30 minutes since the beef is already cooked...this can be assembled up to the cheese layer in the morning put in the fridge pull it out just prior to dinner add the tator tots and pop it in the oven even the picky eaters like this one
I took other reviews advice and cooked the beef & onions first. I also spreaded cheddar cheese before the tots. This was definitely a "do again" from my guys!
I agreed with the other reviewers- fry up the hamburger with the chopped onion and diced garlic drain then put in the bottom of the casserole dish. I actually chopped up about half a large zucchini from my garden and added it to the onions and garlic as they sauteed (before adding the beef to the skillet) mainly just to add a veggie to this dish as it's a meal in itself. It was very delicious! Also after I emptied the can of condensed cream of mushroom soup into the bowl I refilled it all the way with milk instead of just half way. I'm not sure how it would have been with just half the milk but I found the amount of creaminess to be perfect with how I did it. I also did similar to another reviewer and laid some slices of cheddar down- I put mine on top of the soup layer so it actually went: meat soup cheese tater tots. Then upon serving I added a few grates of cheddar on top of the hot dish once it hit the plate. Wonderful! And the kids LOVED it!
My husband loves tater tots but I rarely ever buy them. When he saw this recipe on our meal plan he smiled form ear to ear. I fried the beef and the onions first and drained the fat and I didn't add the quick cooking oats. It was delicious and will become one of our regular meals.
it was very easy but very bland to my taste
