This Bacon Cheeseburger Tater Tot Hotdish slides in with a fun twist on an old favorite!
I can feel it coming.
Stepping outside in the early morning to just a bit of a chill in the air. The quicker cool-down in the evenings, with the sun settling down over the horizon before we’re ready to call it a day. It’s still summer, according to our calendar and its more relaxed schedule.
But fall is closing in.
I can definitely feel it.
The cooler weather, especially when accompanied by a few days of overcast skies and rain like we recently experienced here in Minnesota, always has me craving something cozy at the table. This Bacon Cheeseburger Tater Tot Hotdish slides in with a fun twist on an old favorite. Comfort food at its best!
* This is a sponsored post, created in partnership with Crystal Farms® Cheese.
My family loves a cheesy tater tot hotdish. I sway back and forth between using shredded cheese, where the cheesiness is more blended throughout the dish, and block cheese cut into cubes, which gives the experience of biting into pockets of melty cheese.
Both are good; you can’t go wrong either way.
In this bacon cheeseburger tater tot hotdish, I was bent on using a bacon cheddar block from Crystal Farms. My family loves it. Plus a block of their sharp cheddar.
I always, always, always include sharp cheddar in our tater tot hotdish meals!
I fancied-up this easy-to-make hotdish with a creamy, flavorful homemade gravy, plus some fun “bacon cheeseburger” flair on top right before serving. But to shave some time off preparation, I’ve included instructions in the recipe for simplifying the prep by using canned cream of mushroom soup and omitting the garnishments. The dish still comes through as BACON CHEESEBURGER in flavor, I promise.
My family was excited, yet cautiously skeptical, when I said I was going to add chopped hamburger dill slices to the gravy. Hatti even wrinkled up her nose, saying I was going to ruin one of her favorite meals. But it turns out, the pickles were the clincher in bringing through that bacon cheeseburger awesomeness. The pickle flavor is not overdone. It’s subtle. Hatti even goes back for seconds.
The other flavoring I use to bring the bacon cheeseburger flavor through is Lawry’s seasoning salt. This is the seasoning I grew up on when it came to hamburgers and skillet potato dishes. It just seemed natural to me to use it as the salt seasoning in this new recipe. I like to think of it as an ode to Mom’s cooking.
I have always enjoyed my helpings of tater tot hotdish with a side of ketchup. And with this latest rendition of this staple Minnesota dish, it feels all the more appropriate. Necessary, even. Because BACON CHEESEBURGER and TATER TOTS!
Bacon Cheeseburger Tater Tot Hotdish
Ingredients
- 8 ounces thick-cut bacon, with any especially large areas of fat removed (add an extra slice or two if you want to add chopped bacon as a garnish)
- 2 pounds 80/20 ground beef
- 2 teaspoons Lawry's seasoning salt, plus more for sprinkling over the tater tots
- ½ teaspoon black pepper plus more for sprinkling over the tater tots
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
- 1 large red onion, diced, and divided
- 4 large cloves garlic, minced
- ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1 cup diced hamburger dill pickle slices
- ¼ cup full-fat sour cream
- 10 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, freshly shredded, and divided
- 16-18 ounces frozen tater tots
OPTIONAL "bacon cheeseburger" Garnishes and Condiments
- cooked and chopped bacon, red onion slices, hamburger dill slices, halved cherry tomatoes, chopped parsley, ketchup, mustard
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Add bacon slices to a 12" cast iron skillet and turn heat to medium/medium-low heat. Fry gently, turning as needed, until all the fat has rendered and the bacon is chewy-crisp. Remove bacon to a plate lined with a paper towel. Once cooled, chop it up.
- Using same skillet, add beef and break it up into small pieces with a spatula. Cook, stirring occasionally. When it's about ¾-browned, drain away any excess grease. Sprinkle with Lawry's and black pepper, stir, and cook until fully browned. Remove beef to a plate with a slotted spoon.
- Add 2 tablespoons of the butter to any beef fat left in the skillet. Once butter is melted, stir in onion and cook, stirring occasionally, for 3 minutes or until lightly softened. Stir in garlic and cook one minute more.
- Slide onion mixture to one side of the skillet. Tilt the skillet to draw any juices out into the empty side of the skillet. Add remaining 4 tablespoons of butter to empty side of skillet. When butter has melted, sprinkle flour over the butter, whisking all the while (a flat whisk works awesome here). The mixture will be thick and paste-like. Cook for 1-2 minutes, until the mixture is browned and fragrant.
- Add Worcestershire to the flour mixture in the skillet. Whisk and cook for 1 minute. Then slowly add the milk while you whisk and scrape the bottom of the skillet. Once this mixture is smoothed out, bring the onion mixture into the milk mixture. Add reserved beef and chopped bacon, plus diced pickles, and stir to evenly combine.
- Remove skillet from heat. Stir in sour cream and 8 ounces of the cheese. Taste test, adding more Lawry's and black pepper if needed.
- Level mixture out in the skillet. Add frozen tater tots in an even layer, leaving a 1" bare perimeter of cheeseburger gravy if desired. Sprinkle with a bit more Lawry's and black pepper.
- Place skillet in oven and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until bubbling and thoroughly heated. Then turn on broiler to brown the tater tots until nicely golden and crisped, about 4-5 minutes.
- Remove skillet from oven and and sprinkle remaining 2 ounces of cheese over the tater tots. Broil for another 1-2 minutes or until cheese is melted and just starting to blister.
- Remove from oven and garnish with additional Bacon Cheeseburger garnishments as desired. Serve with ketchup and mustard on the side. Enjoy hot.
Nutrition Information:
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One of the largest cheese brands in the country, Crystal Farms has been committed to providing the highest quality, best tasting cheese products since 1926. Find their calcium-rich goodness in the refrigerated dairy section of your grocery story, straight from their home in Lake Mills, Wisconsin.
For more Crystal Farms #cheeselove, be sure to check them out on their web site. You can also find them on social media on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.
This post was created in partnership with Crystal Farms® Cheese of Wisconsin. All text and opinions are mine. Thank you for supporting the brands that help make this site possible.
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