Reviewed: Aug. 28, 2009

This is just a little friendly FYI for those new to making Casseroles a.k.a. Hot Dishes: you always cook the the meat (whatever kind that may be, except tuna) before putting it into the casserole dish. It will not tell you to do this in many hot dish recipes, because it is, for the most part, understood. You should use raw meat in a casserole/hot dish only when the recipe tells you specifically not to cook it before hand. I hope this helps. Great recipe. It is an old common dish that most people will love.

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mjnauert

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Sherwood, North Dakota, USA

Living In: Austin, Texas, USA

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Reviewed: Aug. 18, 2009

This was very easy and good i did add some cheese..This is a keeper

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Paula West

Cooking Level: Expert

Living In: Decatur, Alabama, USA

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Reviewed: Aug. 17, 2009

I agreed with the other reviewers- fry up the hamburger with the chopped onion and diced garlic, drain, then put in the bottom of the casserole dish. I actually chopped up about half a large zucchini from my garden and added it to the onions and garlic as they sauteed (before adding the beef to the skillet) mainly just to add a veggie to this dish as it's a meal in itself. It was very delicious! Also, after I emptied the can of condensed cream of mushroom soup into the bowl, I refilled it all the way with milk instead of just half way. I'm not sure how it would have been with just half the milk, but I found the amount of creaminess to be perfect with how I did it. I also did similar to another reviewer and laid some slices of cheddar down- I put mine on top of the soup layer, so it actually went: meat, soup, cheese, tater tots. Then upon serving I added a few grates of cheddar on top of the hot dish once it hit the plate. Wonderful! And the kids LOVED it!

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cooksfor6

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Living In: Columbus, Montana, USA

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Reviewed: Apr. 29, 2008

This is good, but greasy. That's what you get with tater tots though!

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sugarmagnolia98

Cooking Level: Intermediate

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Reviewed: Feb. 21, 2008

I add 2 Tablespoons of dry Lipton onion mix to the soup mixture and 1 tablespoon worchestire sauce as well. Wasn't this called originally the "Firemans Casserole"? With that recipe it called to add 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese the last 5 min. of baking. Good Stuff!

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Denise

Cooking Level: Expert

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Reviewed: Feb. 10, 2008

I make an even easier version of this: Meat in bottom of baking dish. Lots of worcestershire sauce on top. Mushroom soup on top of that. Tater tots for top layer. It tastes great!

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melrosefarm

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Reviewed: Sep. 12, 2007

I took other reviews advice and cooked the beef & onions first. I also spreaded cheddar cheese before the tots. This was definitely a "do again" from my guys!

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PEACNHIM

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Reviewed: Mar. 22, 2007

Like it says this is an oldie...I also browned the ground beef and onion so that I was able to drain off the grease, skipped the oats (I can't stand oats and ground beef it is the whole moatloaf thing) added a can of veg-all and added a layer of cheese between the beef and tator tots...I cut the baking time down to approx 30 minutes since the beef is already cooked...this can be assembled up to the cheese layer in the morning put in the fridge pull it out just prior to dinner add the tator tots and pop it in the oven even the picky eaters like this one

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Reviewer:

busy mammo mama

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Sanford, Florida, USA

Living In: West Haven, Utah, USA

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Reviewed: Mar. 22, 2007

This recipe went over very well with the kids. We enjoyed the dish as well. I did not put the oats in, I just substituted the cheese in place of of the oats.

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Christy Dierks

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Reviewed: Mar. 22, 2007

As other reviewers I cooked the ground beef and onion together with a bit of garlic. I left out the oats also. This dish turned out nice and cheesy, very good and quick to put together.

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Cathy G.

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada

Living In: Thorold, Ontario, Canada

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Reviewed: Nov. 9, 2006

This is comfort food to the max! Easy to make and so satisfying!!

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chrissysno

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: North Lawrence, New York, USA

Living In: Bridgeport, New York, USA

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Reviewed: Nov. 9, 2006

I really like this!! I cooked the ground beef and onions and garlic sale first, also skipped the oats and sprinkled cheddar on like others suggested. I added green beans to the beef after it was browned and it made a nice all in one meal. The kids really loved it. The only suggestion I have is to make sure you make it in a pretty big pan (9x13 AT LEAST) so that the tater tots will all fit on top. YUMMY!!

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PHARBAK

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Reviewed: Aug. 16, 2006

This was awesome! My pickiest son gobbled it up. I did not at the oats and added a layer of grated cheddar in between the soup and tater tots. We will have this in the future.

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LadyBird

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Living In: Tyler, Texas, USA

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Reviewed: Jul. 27, 2006

this an old recipe my father use to make all the time. he always used half a can of mushroom and a half of can of cream of chicken and put it in. no one in our family liked mushrooms and it makes a world of diffrence. i defintly reccomond cooking the beef before hand as well.

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Jessica

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: San Diego, California, USA

Living In: Mansfield, Texas, USA

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Reviewed: May 4, 2005

I added chedder cheese like one reviewer said. Otherwise I made it exactly as directed. It's not bad, but not very good either. I don't think I'll make it again.

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Libby

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Wellsville, New York, USA

Living In: Bossier City, Louisiana, USA

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Reviewed: Dec. 27, 2004

My husband loves tater tots but I rarely ever buy them. When he saw this recipe on our meal plan he smiled form ear to ear. I fried the beef and the onions first and drained the fat and I didn't add the quick cooking oats. It was delicious and will become one of our regular meals.

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RAY9

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Reviewed: Feb. 7, 2003

I saw this recipe last night and decided to try it today on a group of 12 kids. It was very good (to me)and half of the kids ate it up. (The other half.......who knows?...it does look a bit "messy" when you serve it) I made a few "tweaks" to this recipe: 1)I cooked the beef, onion, garlic, salt and pepper ahead of time. (Then I was able to drain all the grease and not have that IN the casserole) 2)I used Cream of Mushroom w/ Roasted Garlic soup 3)After pouring the cream/milk mixture I sprinkled cheddar cheese all over it before the layer of Tator Tots. 4)Baked it for only 30 minutes since beef was cooked. Yum! I'd make it again. Very easy and tasty.

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