Comforting Tater Tot Casserole

Sometimes you just need comfort food. Yet often when those cravings hit, you don't want to spend a bunch of time preparing something that takes forever.

Enter Tater Tot Casserole.

When my girls were little (they're now all in their thirties), I used to make this at least twice a month. But I bet it's probably been more than twenty years since the last time I made it. I was reminded of it when my oldest daughter was here over New Year's and we had a lot of hungry mouths to feed and not a lot of time. She made her version. Everyone ate and was satisfied.

Fast forward to this past weekend. I wanted comfort food, but I was also in a bit of a hurry. Remembering the bag of tater tots in the freezer, I was inspired to make my version of this classic, hearty recipe.

Here's what you'll need:

• 2 lbs ground meat (I used venison)
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup (if you don't have cream of mushroom, you're welcome to use another variety of cream soup)
• 1 can diced tomatoes and chilies (aka Ro-tel)
• 1 can corn, drained
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/4 - 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• salt 
• pepper
• 2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese (or whatever you have on hand)
• 1 32 oz bag frozen tater tots

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Spray or butter a 9 x 13 casserole pan, then dot with half of the frozen tater tots.

Set aside.

Brown ground meat with the diced onions.

Remove from heat and drain.

In a medium-size bowl, combine soup, garlic powder, Ro-tel, sour cream and milk and whisk until well combined.

Stir in the corn.

Add mixture to ground meat and onions, along with 1 1/2 cups cheese.

Stir to combine, then season with salt and pepper to taste.

Spoon mixture over the tater tots. Don't try to dump it all in and spread it, though, or you'll end up having your tater tots all together instead of spread out.

Top with remaining tater tots and sprinkle with remaining cheese.

Bake for 35-45 minutes, until tater tots are golden and meat is bubbly.

This made me very happy. And it's perfect if you need a quick meal to feed the masses. You know, the ones who start trolling the kitchen around 5/5:30, asking, "What's for dinner?" You could even have some of these for dessert.

I made strawberry cupcakes for a baby shower and had a few left over. You can find that recipe here.

Now that we're nearly two weeks into the new year, things are relatively quiet here on the ranch. I'm plugging away on a proposal that's due the end of this month, preparing for the release of my February book, Her Rocky Mountain Hope, all the while keeping an eye out for that pesky Bertha who still keeps making her way into my yard. 

So tell me what's going on in your neck of the woods.

Three time Carol Award finalist Mindy Obenhaus lives on a ranch in Texas with her husband, the youngest of her five children and two dogs. She passionate about touching readers with Biblical truths in an entertaining, and sometimes adventurous, manner. When she's not writing, she enjoys cooking and spending time with her grandchildren. Learn more a mindyobenhaus.com.