Up next in 10
Tater Tot Casserole - Cheap and Easy Recipe
26K views
Aug 22, 2023
Patreon: https://patreon.com/cowboykentrollins Grab this easy dinner meal idea for a comfort food classic tater tot casserole! #tatertots #cheapeats #cowboycooking Printable recipe below! Used in this video: Dutch oven trivet: https://www.kentrollins.com/shop 12-inch Lodge Dutch oven https://amzn.to/2WIThgZ Propane burner stove https://amzn.to/2MG9vo9 Rode wireless mic: https://amzn.to/2ShDyEq For more suggested products seen in our videos click here: https://www.amazon.com/shop/cowboykentrollins ====================== Printable Recipe: https://kentrollins.com/tater-tot-casserole/
View Video Transcript
0:00
Hey, we're talking about an old classic, tater tot casserole
0:03
Mmm, we're saving you money, and it's also in a one-pot meal, and it is cowboy approved
0:08
So come on up here and get a chair, because it will not last long. Two pounds, certified Angus beef ground, 80-20
0:16
People say, 80-20? Is that the year it was born and it's 20 years old
0:20
No. It is 80% lean, 20% fat. Makes really good groceries, it does
0:25
I'm thinking it is some of the best stuff in the world to use. Got it crumbled up
0:30
Go ahead and fit her in there. You can tell by that sound that that Dutch oven was hot when it got there
0:35
That's what we was after. Make sure the lid is on secure before you shake the seasoning or you get a whole lot of it
0:43
So we're going to give it a good showering of our original seasoning
0:48
And we're just going to let it cook down there for, I'd say, two or three minutes
0:52
You can see, as Shannon get in here, we're beginning to brown up a little. I'm gonna go ahead and put them onions in there as my good friend Justin Wilson would say
1:00
make sure you get everybody get them mixed up in there good I think was something to me really
1:08
that meant a lot when I was cooking especially fall works when for them cowboys they'd come in
1:13
it'd be one of them old sort of old damp chilly days at noon and they'd ride in there and they'd
1:19
stand around old berth and get warm a little bit get them a cup of coffee and they knew better
1:23
because you're never supposed to look at what's in a Dutch oven. You don't take the lid off
1:27
That was just cowboy etiquette. And I remember one I peeked over and he said
1:32
Tater tot casserole. He said, I ain't had none of that since I left home
1:36
And I've been going home for 35 years. So as they got all ready and everybody gathered around, we blessed the food
1:43
I told him, I said, you know, for licking in that Dutch oven, I said, you might already go last
1:47
Because I said, for a man that ain't had none of this in 35 years, I'm thinking you'll get the whole pot
1:51
Well, there was plenty to go around. But I ended up being there three weeks made this meal five times for them cowboys at noon because they enjoyed it so much
1:59
It is a classic that's always sort of stood by me if it's in a horse race. I bet on it every time
2:04
What four tablespoons of butter? Yeah, once you go ahead and just get that sort of mix up around there and let it melt
2:12
Three garlic cloves that are minced up You always tend to add garlic when it gets closer to the last of a recipe that you're cooking something in a skillet
2:21
That way you don't burn the garlic because we don't burn it. We want all that great flavor there
2:26
It's gonna bring to the table browning up simmering. So we're gonna go ahead Mushroom soup now if you get really industrious
2:33
We do have a video and she's gonna link it up there for you homemade mushroom soup. Oh, it is so good
2:38
But folks I was on a ranch nearly most of the time I ever cooked this we'd used a lot of canned goods
2:43
Go ahead and I just like you can do it two ways you could dump it right in there But I sort of prefer this method more than just dumping it right on top that meat These are hatch green chilies I mean bringing so much flavor to the table
2:56
But also some of the W sauce. Where's your sister? What you doing? Who there? I mean
3:02
I have trouble with it, so we're just going to put about that much right there in there
3:07
This stuff is like dynamite. You don't want much of it because it can be very overpowering
3:13
They make mesquite, they make hickory, different flavors like that. I prefer the mesquite
3:17
That's what this is. So be careful. You ever watch that old John Wayne movie where that guy was mixing nitroglycerin
3:23
and he was pouring it from one ingredient to another to try to get it in there? So we're looking for two drops and hope it don't explode
3:31
One. Two. So we're going to mix that. You can see it's already beginning to look like something I just put on a cracker or a tortilla
3:42
and just go to town. Right in here it goes folks. I mean we are fitting to spread the love and the goodness everywhere
3:53
You know I told you we used a lot of canned goods when we was cooking for them ranches
3:57
for so many years and still do when we're on a ranch because you can take it you can
4:03
keep it a long time. You never know sometimes how long you're going to be out there so it's good to have them
4:08
And when you cook with canned goods right you can transform that flavor to where nobody
4:13
even knows you ever had a canned good. And I always like them
4:16
and I look for those that's on sale. We're gonna cook this about two to three minutes
4:20
to make sure that everybody has blended and flavored. My mother never fixed tater tot casserole
4:27
that had cheese on it. But me and the people all in Wisconsin
4:31
and across the world, everywhere, love cheese. So we're gonna put about a cup of each one of them in there. What
4:39
Pepper Jack and cheddar. Now, you can use whatever flavors you want to
4:44
but I think these two combine to do really well. And some of you be saying, why don't you put it on top
4:50
The tater tot is the star. You got to let him shine through there. Okay, folks, I'm going to tell you right now
4:57
get whatever kind of tater tots you want. It don't make no difference. Just make sure that they're frozen
5:01
Or, pardon me, that was about to get in the shot. You can watch our video
5:05
Yeah, we did a homemade tater tot. You can have homemade mushroom soup, homemade tater tot
5:11
Hey, saving you more money, it is. Now, I never did really measure these, and I'd see my mother
5:17
She'd poke them down in there where they was all standing up just like this. I'd just give them a little mash and just put them in there wherever I can get them
5:24
We looking at about three or four cups here because I want it to be covered securely in tater puff tots I do So and I going to tell you right now it ain got to be a name brand for some time for it to be good So this is what called best buy best choice uh
5:46
Potato puffs shredded seasoned potatoes made with 100% real potatoes. These was not your artificial taters. Nope
5:55
But to any good tater that I ever cooked in my life what goes on top of them Shannon
5:59
that makes fried taters better? That original seasoning. Always, whoop, that and there's a little out of place
6:04
Get him down in there. Go ahead and give him a little mashing. Seat him in that cheese
6:08
One more that's trying to get out. Give him a little shaking of this right on there
6:14
So if you're in the house, preheat your oven to 350 degrees
6:19
and you're going to cook it about 35 minutes probably. Wait till them tater tots get really good and golden brown
6:25
and you'll see all that bubbly goodness peaching up down through there. But it ain't gonna take that long in a Dutch oven with good hot coals underneath it on top
6:32
This is really an easy dish to do because on casseroles the meats done cooked through the sauce is there
6:39
You're sort of just really cooking the top and incorporating all the flavors as it bubbles there
6:43
So this is something you can get the kids in follow the years coming up. This makes a great camping recipe
6:49
You'll impress a lot of folks with tater tot casserole Well, you see me I just had me a big old pretty heaping hump of coals right there on that flat metal
6:58
Just spread them out to where you got enough room you can get your trivet in there And you wouldn't even have to have a trivet on this dish since it's like a casserole
7:05
But I prefer one sort of slows things down. Let's simmer and get everything move the coals all the way around
7:10
Got me some put on top cover it really heavy back them coals to where it's just right there directly under that oven
7:17
One falls under the middle. You ain't heard a thing. There is no breeze whatsoever today
7:22
So we probably won't have to rotate today We are using some good fogo hardwood lump and folks it is hot when you take your hand and a hand width away from that Dutch oven and put your hand
7:33
There if you hold it more than five seconds It's probably not hot enough, but I guarantee you that fire is hot
7:38
It'll blister your finger if you hold it much longer than that now like I told you before
7:42
This is a casserole and that bottom heats going to cook it pretty quick
7:46
You're probably going to end up taking this off the heat on the bottom and moving it over here
7:50
just so the top can get done, because it's not gonna take long
7:54
to get that bottom cooking really good and through, melt that cheese, add a little more heat to the top
7:59
brown them tater tots up. We have a Pyrenees that a neighbor across the road and he could eat mage in one bite but for some unknown reason he is scared of the mage If he comes over here in the yard mage will run him off but mage
8:32
don't pay attention when he crosses the road that's why mage gets in trouble quite a bit. Don't you do it
8:37
Hey mage. Well, it is a done deal
8:59
Folks, you want to let that stuff go ahead and cool quite a bit because, whew, that stuff
9:04
will burn you. Got some of that cheese, get stuck to them taters to the roof of your mouth. You can't paw it fast enough to get it out of there
9:09
So make sure you let it cool. And in fact, I'm going to let this cool just a minute more while I feed the only help that
9:16
I got out here. And that is the mage and the beeg
9:20
Here you go. There's the big. Where is the mage? There is the mage
9:26
And look who showed up right about eating time. It's Lulu Head
9:31
There you go, Lou. Everybody got a tater tot. Here's to you, Mama, because I remember all the times you fixed it for me
9:42
Make you want to do, first you got to dig them, tater. Dig them, dig them, dig them
9:47
Then you got to make them. And then you mash them. put them tater tots in there and just stir it all up, put some fire on it, what you call
9:55
it, you call it goodness. In fact, it's so good I'm going back for another and y'all just have to bear with me because
10:01
I ain't had this in a long time neither. Like I said, I tip my hat to you, mom, I do
10:06
And thank you, Lord, for letting me have her. She was a great cook. Folks, this is so easy
10:10
Like I say, it's one of them dishes that you can do, gather around the fire in the fall when you're camping, makes a great noontime meal or a suppertime meal
10:18
Get the kids involved because it's super easy. But as always, and it is with great honor and privilege
10:24
I tip my hat to all our servicemen and women and all the veterans who have kept that old flag of flying over camp
10:28
wherever me and Shan are. We appreciate you each one. We shall never forget
10:33
The rest of you, hey, we just thank you all so much from the bottom of our hearts for letting us come into your lives
10:37
and share our videos, our food, our good time, and our pups because it means so much to us
10:43
Ooh, big doings it is. We started a Patreon account, So if you want some extra footage, extra scene stuff you might not have seen in this video if you just watched on YouTube
10:51
be sure and check it out down below because, hey, we'd love to have you be a part of it
10:55
We thank you each and everyone. God bless you so much. Come on in here. I'm going to fan it so it can cool off
11:00
I'll see you down the walk. Homemade tater tot casserole tree
#Cooking & Recipes
#Food
#Meat & Seafood