Chicken-tot Casserole

Ingredients:

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken

1 can mushroom soup

1/2 small onion, chopped

1 rib celery, chopped

1 bag frozen tater tots 

1/4-1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

Cut raw chicken into bite-sized pieces. Pan fry with a small amount of olive oil until cooked through.  Salt and pepper can be added in this phase for added flavor.  Add onions and celery, and remove from heat when onions are translucent.  This was a prepare-ahead meal, so at this point, I allowed the chicken and veggies to cool. You could also prepare and bake right away. 

Spray an 8 x 8 baking dish with Pam, and add the chicken. Try to make it as even as possible. Spread mushroom soup evenly over chicken. (Feel free to add milk or broth to make more gravy, but I thought it was perfect without additional liquid). 

Next, completely cover chicken and soup with a layer of tots. Sprinkle cheese on top of the tots. 

Cover with foil and bake at 350 for about 25 minutes. Then remove foil and increase heat to 375. Bake until the tater tots are golden and crispy. Serves 4-5. 

Notes: Good freezer-meal option (thaw first), make early-bake later, or prepare at meal time. Just be aware that frozen tots will extend baking time. For big families, double the recipe and use a 9 x 13 baking dish. Buy gluten free and dairy free products for an allergy-friendly meal. 

31 Pins: Day 28

Do you know what happens when you take 26 lbs. of deer meat to the butcher shop to be made into hot dogs?  You get 52 POUNDS of HOT DOGS back! 

Don't get me wrong, we love hot dogs and that is one of the few meat items the kids will eat.  But hot dogs on buns is going to get boring.  I did some searching for casseroles and dishes with hot dogs as one of the ingredients.  

Original pin:

This is corn bread with hot dogs in it.  And cheese.  So, if you like corn dogs, you will definitely like this.  And if you like crock pot meals, then you will be excited to know I turned it into a crock pot recipe and it worked!

Mix up some corn bread batter according to the directions on the canister/bag.  I did not do the fresh veggies as directed, but threw in some minced onion and celery seed (and the pepper).  Cut/slice hot dogs and fry in butter.  Put hot dogs and cheese into corn bread mixture.  Spray crock pot with Pam.  Pour in batter.  Top with more cheese.  Set on high for about 3 hours.  Watch it if you can, because it was a little toasty by the time we got back from church.  

It was yummy!