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Recipes Around the World: Hotdish

hotdish recipe

Emily of The Wanderlust Rose is here today bringing a Midwestern staple to the ‘Recipes Around the World‘ series!

This Midwestern staple is filled with veggies, beef, and surprisingly—tater tots on top! It’s exactly what us Minnesotans need to get us through the long winter, don’tcha know. 🙂

They’re easy to make and best served a potluck gathering! But don’t let the locals hear you call it “casserole.”

Here’s all about hotdish!

Cultural Context

Curious as to what the significance of this recipe is?

Hotdish is to Minnesota like pasta is to Italy. And specifically, the tater tot hotdish is a long-held tradition here in Minnesota, a quintessential comfort food!

Even though other states love to tease us for our fondness of this easy to cook dish, Minnesotans grow up with its creamy goodness. From church gatherings to school functions to holidays—hotdish was always there!

You might not brave the snow to travel to Minnesota but turn on an episode of Fargo and grab a fork, it’s time for some hotdish!

hotdish recipe ingredients

Ingredients

  • 1 pound of ground beef
  • 1 bag of tater tots
  • 2 10-ounce cans of condensed cream of mushroom soup (or 3 cans if you want it extra creamy)
  • 1 or 2 14-ounce cans of vegetables

*This is a great source of debate in Minnesota—green beans or corn? I like corn but we usually had green beans growing up. Now we make it with a can of each.

How delicious does this look?

Recipe + Preparation

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
  2. While preheating, brown the ground beef and season to taste. Drain off the grease.
  3. Spread the beef in the bottom of a 2 to 2 1/2 quart baking dish.
  4. Drain the liquid off the vegetables and spread them over the beef.
  5. Using a rubber spatula, spread the cans of soup over the top of the vegetables and beef. Use the soup straight from the can, as is. Do NOT mix it with anything.
  6. Arrange the tater tots on top—the more the better!
  7. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 50 minutes.
  8. Top with shredded cheese as you serve.

Serve hot and enjoy this infamous dish found exclusively in the Midwest!

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By Emily Rose

Hi, I'm Emily Rose! In 2018, I sold all my stuff and moved into my suitcase to travel full time and work around the world. Now I share the best travel jobs, photos to fuel your wanderlust and epic adventures on my site, TheWanderlustRose.com.

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    Reader Interactions

    Leave a comment

    1. The Wanderlust Rose

      Woohoo! So excited to share the yummy Midwestern-goodness with the rest of the world 🙂
      So happy to be included! Thanks Kiki!
      Xo,
      Emily Rose

      May 4, 2020 at 1:35 pm · Reply
      • The Crazy Fun Life

        Sooooo excited to make this yummy goodness!

        May 5, 2020 at 4:39 pm · Reply
    2. Mara

      Haha! I am from Minnesota too and this is all too real! Makes me want to cook some for supper. ?

      May 4, 2020 at 1:39 pm · Reply
      • The Crazy Fun Life

        I love hearing that! I hadn’t heard of hotdish before, so this is so fun 🙂

        May 5, 2020 at 4:40 pm · Reply

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