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Original video by @applesauceandadhd — all credit to the creator.

Jessica Secrest

Tater Tot Cottage Pie

A cozy skillet cottage pie layered with saucy ground beef, corn, peas and carrots, then blanketed in crispy tater tots and melted cheese. Comfort food that comes together in one giant pan and bakes to golden brown.

Americantater totscottage pieground beefcasserolecomfort food

Ingredients

  • —oil · for the pan
  • 1small onion · diced
  • —garlic · a metric ton, minced
  • 1 lbground beef
  • —Badia Sazon Complete seasoning
  • 2 tablespoonsflour · a couple tablespoons
  • —freshly cracked black pepper
  • —salt · go easy — the seasoning blend is already salted
  • —tomato paste · a healthy squirt
  • —beef broth · enough to loosen the mixture into a sauce
  • 1 bagfrozen corn
  • 1 bagfrozen peas and carrots · she starts with half, then uses the whole bag
  • —tater tots · enough to cover the top; mini tots work
  • —shredded cheese

Steps

  1. 1

    Preheat the oven to 350°F.

  2. 2

    Heat a little oil in a large oven-safe skillet over medium heat. Add the diced onion and cook until softened.

  3. 3

    Add a generous amount of garlic, then add the ground beef and brown it aggressively until it is cooked through and a little crispy.

  4. 4

    Sprinkle in the seasoning blend and a couple tablespoons of flour. Stir so the flour coats the beef — it will absorb the fat and thicken the mixture.

  5. 5

    Season with fresh cracked black pepper and a little salt, then stir in a healthy squirt of tomato paste.

  6. 6

    Pour in beef broth and scrape up any crispy bits stuck to the bottom of the pan. Adjust the heat down as needed so it doesn't scorch.

  7. 7

    Stir in the frozen corn and the frozen peas and carrots. Cook, stirring, until the frozen clumps break up and the vegetables are thawed and incorporated.

  8. 8

    Top the skillet evenly with tater tots.

  9. 9

    Bake at 350°F until the tots are golden brown on top.

  10. 10

    Sprinkle cheese over the top and return to the oven until melted. Serve hot.

Creator's notes

Jessica makes this in one absolutely massive skillet — plenty of room for activities. Her tots are itty bitty baby tater tots; normally she'd arrange them in a design, but she skipped it here. She likes it corn-forward, so she uses a full bag of corn.

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