Cheesy Tot-tastic Casserole

Since I've been cooking on my own I've been trying to perfect the tater tot casserole. I know, right?! Tater tots are so easy, how could I mess them up? Well for awhile I thought the answer lay in my slow cooker. But my tots kept sticking to the sides and burning no matter how little or how much non stick spray I used!

Yesterday while enjoying a rare opportunity to watch rachael ray she made a delicious tater tot casserole and I wanted it so bad! But rachael likes beef, we don't eat beef. So, here is my alternative.

1 pound ground turkey, 2 cans cream of chicken soup, 1 bag of frozen mixed vegetables, 1 yellow onion, shredded cheddar cheese (I prefer sargento's bistro blend cheeses, they melt sooo perfect!), and of course, tater tots (I used ore ida extra crispy)!

Throw the turkey in a skillet and cook it up. While it cooks, chop up half the onion. Once the turkey is cooked, drain off any grease and throw in the chopped onion. After a minute or two on medium heat toss in the mixed veggies. At this point I put a cover on my skillet to help the flavors combine and defrost the veggies. Stirring every couple minutes.

Break out a casserole dish. I used a round one I had laying around, but this could easily fit in an 8 x 13 dish I believe. Pour the meat/veggie mixture into the dish, add cream of chicken soup and mix. Level the mixture in the dish and put shredded cheese on top. Tater tots top the cheese. Pop it in the oven on 350 for about 20 minutes. Once the soup gets really bubbly, you may need some help getting the tots nice and brown and the cheese melty. At this point you can turn on the broiler to brown up the top amd help finish up the tots. I even put alittle of the leftover shredded cheese on top of the tots for extra goodness.

I'm an eye balling kind of cook so I just took it out of the oven when the tots looked nice and brown and the cheese had reached the perfect melted goodness.

Let it sit for about five minutes amd then dig in! This is the best version I have made of this dish, its sooo tasty, and the broiler really crisped up the tots. No mushy tots here! Hope you enjoy as much as Matt and I did!

P.S. It is just as yummy as leftovers the next day!

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