Wild Tater Tot Casserole With Homemade Tots
This is a hearty, family-friendly meal that makes the most of your wild game. This Tater Tot Casserole is a delicious and easy way to use ground or sausaged venison, goose, elk, bear, or any similar meats. In this version, I’m using my homemade hot maple sausage made with Snow Goose, but any seasoned ground meat will work beautifully.
This recipe comes together quickly with simple ingredients, ground wild game or sausage mixed with creamy mushroom soup, sweet corn, and crisp green peppers, all topped with golden tater tots and melted cheese. Whether you use homemade or store-bought tater tots, the result are delicious and perfect for busy weeknights or feeding a crowd.
Assembling and Cooking the Casserole
Preheat your oven to 375°F (190°C). While the oven is heating, place a cast iron skillet or large frying pan over medium heat. Add a drizzle of oil, then toss in the diced onion, garlic, and green pepper. Stir frequently and cook until the vegetables slightly soften and become fragrant.
Add the ground wild game meat or sausage to the pan. Use a spatula to break the meat apart into smaller pieces as it cooks. Continue to brown the meat until no pink remains, then carefully drain any excess fat.
Stir in the Worcestershire sauce and cream of mushroom soup, mixing until the ingredients are well combined, and then remove it from the heat.
Spread the mixture into the bottom. of the cast iron pan, or transfer the meat mixture into an oven-safe pan or a medium-sized casserole dish, spreading it out evenly to create the first layer. Sprinkle the corn over the top of the meat layer, ensuring even distribution.
Next, arrange the frozen homemade or store-bought tater tots over the corn layer, spacing them out slightly so that they crisp up evenly during baking. For the finishing touch, generously sprinkle shredded cheddar cheese over the top.
Place the assembled casserole in the preheated oven and bake for 30-45 minutes, or until the tater tots are golden brown and crispy. The cheese should be fully melted, and the dish should be bubbling around the edges.
Once the casserole is fully cooked, remove it from the oven and allow it to rest for 5-10 minutes before serving. This brief resting period helps the flavours settle and makes for easier portioning.
Preparing the Homemade Cheesy Tater Tots
To start, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Carefully add the peeled russet potatoes and allow them to parboil for a few minutes. The goal is to cook them only halfway through, so they should remain firm when pierced with a fork. Once they reach this stage, transfer them immediately to a bowl of ice water to halt any further cooking and cool them quickly.
Once the potatoes have cooled, use a box grater to shred them into fine, uniform strands. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, combine the shredded potatoes with shredded cheddar cheese, cornstarch, flour, milk, salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, oregano, and parsley. Stir the mixture until all ingredients are evenly incorporated.
To form the tater tots, lightly oil a tablespoon measurer or your hands and shape small portions of the potato mixture into compact, tot-like cylinders. Place them onto a lined baking sheet, ensuring they are evenly spaced. Once all the tots have been formed, place the baking sheet in the freezer and allow them to freeze for at least 3 hours. Once fully frozen, they are ready to be used in the casserole.
Wild Tater Tot Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground meat or sausage venison, goose, elk, moose, bear
- 1 can cream of mushroom sound
- 2 cups corn fresh or frozen
- 1 medium green pepper diced
- 1 small onion diced
- 5 cloves garlic diced
- 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 2 cups frozen tater tots homemade recipe below
Homemade Cheesy Tater Tots
- 2 lbs russet potatoes partially cooked and shredded
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 tbsp flour
- 1 tbsp milk
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1 tsp parsley
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 tbsp olive oil to coat spoon
Instructions
Wild Tater Tot Casserole
- Preheat your oven to 375℉ / 190℃
- In a cast iron skillet or pan, fry onion, garlic and peppers. Fry until softer and fragrant.
- Add ground meat or sausage and cook until browned. Drain any excess fats.
- Add all spices, Worcestershire sauce and cream of mushroom soup mix. Mix well and remove from heat.
- Spread to the base of your oven safe pan or skillet, or transfer to a medium sized casserole dish.
- Layer corn on top.
- Layer that with frozen tater tots.
- Sprinkle on shredded cheese.
- Bake for 30-45 minutes. Let rest for 5-10 minutes before serving.
Homemade Cheesy Tater Tots
- In a large pot with salted water, parboil 2 lbs of peeled russet potatoes. They should only be cooked barely halfway through and should still be very firm to pierce with a fork.
- Once potatoes are partially cooked, transfer them to cold water to stop any cooking and to cool them off quickly.
- Using a grater, shred these potatoes into a medium sized bowl.
- Once fully ground, add the cheese, spices, flour, cornstarch and milk. Mix well.
- Use an oiled tablespoon measurer or your hands to form this mixture into small tots.
- Line a baking dish with these tots and set in the freezer (for about 3 hours) until tots are frozen and ready to use on this casserole.
