Pizza Tot Casserole

Pizza Tot Casserole

1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1 medium green pepper, chopped, optional
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 pound sliced mushrooms
1 can (15 oz) pizza sauce
1 tsp dried basil
3 cups (12 oz) shredded mozzarella cheese
1 package (32 oz) frozen tater tots
1 cup (4 oz) shredded cheddar cheese

1.  In a large skillet, cook the beef, green pepper, onion and mushrooms over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain.  Add pizza sauce and basil.

2. Transfer to a greased 3 qt baking dish.  Top with mozzarella cheese and potatoes.  Bake, uncovered, at 400* for 30-35 minutes or until potatoes are lightly browned.

3. Sprinkle with cheddar cheese; bake 5 minutes longer or until cheese is melted.


We love this stuff.  I used ground turkey, because we don't eat ground beef.   My only question is - what's with the anti seasoning of the meat?  So I added garlic, pepper, and a small amount of sea salt.  I'm anti salt.  Plus you don't want to over power the spices in the pizza sauce and the basil.  So keep that in mind as you add that sort of stuff.  The last time I made this, I only had a pound of turkey, so I added some turkey breakfast sausage to make up the difference.  It was definately more "pizza" like.  But it's great either direction you take.  When the potatoes are done by most peoples standards, I leave them in a little longer.  I like my tots a little more crunchy as most, but you can adjust the cooking time based on your own needs.  Plus the crunchier the tots are now, the less soggy they are when you eat it for lunch the next day.

This makes a lot of food for just 2 people, so I would suggest that you feed more than 2, or that you prepare for leftovers for a few days. It usually gives us dinner, plus lunch for a couple of days.  We usually have a salad to go with it and call it dinner.