Tater tots all lined up on top of my chili. This is the last of the winter food, really. Okay, maybe not seriously. But I’ll try my best! The fact of the matter is that I love comfort food all ready round but I get that that might not be everyone. Chili. You know, the stuff seasoned with an array of spices, chopped onions, and garlic and is usually a little spicy, and super flavorful? Well, today I’m turning it into a chili cheese hotdish by topping my homemade chili recipe with cheese and tater tots and baking it all off until the tots are golden and brown, the cheddar is melty, and the chili is bubbly and warm! In our house, this is what Sunday dinners look like. Something warm and comforting before the long, tiresome week ahead. But also something easy to make and preferably something quick to clean up. As of late, I will shamelessly tell you Sunday dinner is in front of the tv catching up on the latest episode of The Case Against Adnan Syed. Have you watched it? Two episodes in and two more to go!
So needless to say, my skillet chili with cornbread, chicken pot tater tot hotdish, and now this chili cheese hotdish are something that I make quite often when I want something warm and comforting. I love topping my bowl with just a dollop of sour cream, a few chopped scallion greens, and sometimes, when I’m feeling a little wild, I’ll add another dash of hot sauce. I know right, we party hard over here! Total sarcasm if you missed it there. We may be officially into spring but the days here are still cooler than usual, and I’m taking full advantage. Come summertime; we really can’t even think about turning on our oven!
Ingredients for chili cheese hotdish:
ground beef onions peppers (poblanos and jalapeños) garlic seasonings (the usual suspects) chipotle peppers tomato paste hot sauce chili beans cheddar cheese tater tots
Can I use something other than ground beef?
Sure, feel free to swap the ground beef for ground chicken or turkey. They would both work well here. If you don’t have a weird aversion to dark meat the way I do, I suggest using ground chicken thighs or dark meat ground turkey here. It will add more flavor to the chili and it won’t get as dry as white meat will.
Is this spicy?
We didn’t find this super spicy. However, everyone is different! If you’re worried about the spice, feel free to cut back on the jalapenos or the poblanos. You can swap the jalapenos for ½ a green bell pepper along with the poblano, and that should curb the spice a whole lot. If you’re still worried, use mild chili powder or a super mild hot sauce!
Can I make this vegetarian?
To tell you the truth, I’m not sure how that would go. You could try using more beans, and add corn or a mixed vegetable medley? However, the amount of liquid you need, the baking time, all of that will need to be played around with so it’s difficult for me to make any recommendations. If you decide to go ahead with it, feel free to leave a comment and share what you did! I’d love to hear!
Can this be made in advance?
YAAAAS! The most wonderful thing about this chili cheese hotdish is you can you prepare a lot of it in advance. And by a lot, I mean most of it. You can make the chili up to two days in advance, and refrigerate it. When you want to serve the chili cheese hotdish, just let it sit at room temperature for 30 minutes, top it with shredded cheddar and tater tots and pop it into the oven. You may need a few additional minutes in the oven to help the taters brown and for the chili to heat up but that’s it! How easy is that? Psst! Since this can be semi-prepared in advance, it’s the perfect meal to share with a loved one or friend! All they need to do it pop it into the oven and voila! Dinner in a flash!
Can I freeze the leftovers?
We’ve never had any leftover for me to test! But if I was to make an educated guess, I think it should hold up fine in the freezer for about three months. You’ll want to defrost the casserole in the refrigerator overnight and then pop it back into an oven-safe dish and reheat it through in a 325ºF oven for about 20-40 minutes depending on how much you have left over. You can also make and freeze just the chili portion. Then top with cheese and taters before baking it off if you want to have some meals tucked away in the freezer for later! If that’s the case, allow the casserole to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes (once you’ve already defrosted it overnight) and then bake as directed in the recipe. This is total man food. Hubby loved it and quickly declared it a win. There’s chili and shredded cheddar cheese, and it’s topped with tater tots; what is there not to love? Did I mention that it’s all made in one skillet? YUHUH.
For the chili powder, you can use something like ancho, chipotle, a mild chili powder, or a Mexican chili powder blend. All will work here!As far as the tater tots are concerned, how many you will end up using depends on the size of your pan! You may or may not need all of them. You just need to make an even layer across the dish. But seriously, more tater tots is never a bad thing 😉
