The Best Hotdish Recipe

Are you familiar with hotdish? What makes the best hotdish recipe? I recently researched a ton of hotdish recipes. Most (not all) in the way of the best hotdish recipe, involved tater tots. You really can't do wrong with tater tots.

The Detroit / Minnesota football game this season was tight. Normally, any team The Lions are playing is gonna get smack-talked, but Minnesota was tough. Minnesota people seem really nice. I kept seeing references to hotdish. Hotdish is referred to as "Minnesota's state food" on more than one Reddit thread.

Hotdish is pretty much ANY casserole, but traditional hotdish is made up of a protein (usually hamburger), frozen veggies, and canned soup. Hotdish is a staple family dinner food.

I also found some fancier recipes. I decided to make a more bougie hotdish... trying to one-up the kind people of Minnesota. I know. I'm not proud of me either.

I started out using this recipe on Farm Girl Gourmet. I thought it was strange that they listed ingredients but not how much to use. I decided to wing it, but I got strong reviews from my coworkers and I went home with an empty hotdish. :) If you try it, I hope you get good reviews too!

INGREDIENTS:

2 pounds of lean hamburger

3 T butter (plant-based or regular)

2-3 Medium garlic cloves, chopped

1 medium yellow onion

1 1/2 Cups of fresh sliced peppers (I used several different colors plus a bit of poblano pepper)

4 Green Onions - sliced thin

1 C Mushrooms - sliced thin

4 T Soy Sauce

1/2 C Vegetable or Chicken Broth

3 T Corn Starch

1 Bag of Frozen Tater Tots

2 - 8 Ounce Bags of White Sharp Cheddar Shredded Cheese (or cheese you prefer)

Heat a large frying pan and sauté veggies and garlic.

After veggies are sauteed, move veggies to a separate bowl. Using same frying pan, brown hamburger. If there is significant grease (ex: using 80/20 beef), drain meat. Return meat and vegetables to the frying pan. Add the 1/2 cup broth and soy sauce. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to low. Mix a bit of water in with the 3 T of cornstarch and stir until its a soup mixture. Add the cornstarch mixture to the frying pan and stir.

I let the pan cool and bit and then mixed in one 8 ounce bag of the cheese... just until the cheese combined. Then I moved the contents to a GREASED (spray with Pam or use butter) casserole dish.

I stacked my tots upright, but you can lay them on their side as well... it's just personal preference. Bake uncovered at 400 degrees for 30 minutes. Pull dish, sprinkle the second bag of cheese over the top of the tots, return to oven and bake for another 5 minutes. Baking times may vary based on how big your dish is and how you stack your tots. I prefer crispy tots, so my best hotdish recipe has a longer cook time.

Take your hotdish out of the oven and let it cool for 5-10 minutes to let it set up a bit. Enjoy!

Reddit has an entire thread dedicated to the Minnesota hotdish recipes. Especially rolling into winter, I am definitely a fan of the hotdish. Minnesota, thanks for good food!