Did you have tater tots as a kid? I definitely did.

For us, they were a side dish, along some frozen vegetables and fish sticks… or something like that. Doesn’t sound very appetizing to my adult, food-blogging self. I actually never really loved fish sticks but they somehow kept winding up at the dinner table! Maybe it’s because we had a nanny that couldn’t cook?

Anyway, I’ve heard about Tater Tot Casserole for ages. It seems like it was (or maybe it still is) a staple weeknight dinner dish for families with children. You know – something easy, that everyone in the family will eat without question.

Out of curiosity, I eventually asked someone what actually goes in Tater Tot Casserole, because I had no idea. They explained that it’s normally ground meat and cream of chicken soup. I immediately thought of My Other Half, because it sounded like the type of comfort food he’d LOVE.

I would say Tater Tot Casserole is sort of like a lazy girls’ shepherd’s pie, without the veggies. By all means, you can throw in veggies – when I was researching difference versions of Tater Tot Casserole to develop this recipe, I found a few that throw in frozen mixed veggies with the ground meat. It might be a good way to get kids to eat a few more green things? But what do I know? I’m not a parent. Yet.

This casserole looks kinda gross, I’ll admit, but it tastes AMAZING. Serious rainy or snowy day comfort food. I loved taking it for lunches! And obviously My Other Half went nuts for it.

This recipe is so easy! Even if you’re not a cook, you can totally make it in, like, five minutes. Do it!