Mar 01, 2008
Update: I made this a while back and had no golden mushroom soup, so I used 3/4 cup lite sour cream. It was delicious! I've also used nacho-cheese soup in this recipe, and it is also great. My family prefers tater tots to fries on this casserole, and I always bake them until they're crisp before putting them on the casserole.
Original review: My kids really liked this. They gave it a five. I'd give it a three and a half if I could, but rated it a four because the rest of the family liked it. I didn't change anything except adding garlic, oregano, a little worcestershire sauce and cayenne pepper, but the next time I make it, I will make some changes. For example -- next time, I'll pre-cook the fries. Though I bought the extra-crispy version, the fries were soggy. I'll prebake next time, and might use waffle fries instead of regular, or even the extra-crispy tater tots. The bottom line with this recipe is that it's a plain, easy week-night meal that won't threaten your kids. UPDATE: I made this again last night, and the changes I made improved it vastly -- I prebaked OreIda's Crispy Battered Fries for almost thirty minutes on 425, so they were nice and crunchy. This cut down on the cooking time of the entire dish, as I only had to melt the cheese rather than wait for the fries to bake. I subbed nacho flavored cheese soup for the cheddar, and added a dollop (about a quarter of a cup) of sour cream to the meat mixture. Excellent!
—Amy
