Buffalo Chicken-Tater Tot Casserole

This isn't your traditional English Shepherd's Pie whatsoever, I'll say this is its long lost "American" relative.  Shepherd's pie is made with a minced meat consisting of beef or lamb, then topped with a mashed potato crust. My version of this meat pie is filled and layered with a few of America's favorite flavors. Buffalo chicken is a very trendy item in the American cuisine loved by many. A kid-friendly favorite in many American homes are tater tots (little potato nuggets). The idea of layering these two together sounded very exciting and appealing to me. When ordering a basket of buffalo wings you'll usually be expecting a spicy buffalo sauce paired with a side of celery and blue cheese dressing (or ranch). This is where most of my inspiration came from. The minced chicken is cooked with ranch seasoning then tossed with pieces of celery and buffalo wing sauce. Cheese is always a good idea, adding shredded cheddar and mozzarella makes this cheesy mixture even more crowd pleasing. Topping off this meat pie with tater tots creates the perfect crust. I served this "American" Shepherd's Pie at a football party gathering with friends and it was most definitely a huge success! Have fun!

Ingredients

  • 2 pounds ground chicken

  • 1 cup or so of Frank's Red Hot buffalo sauce

  • 1 cup shredded cheddar, plus more to sprinkle

  • 1 cup shredded mozzarella, plus more to sprinkle

  • 2 jalapenos, sliced

  • 3 cloves of garlic, minced

  • 1 small onion, chopped

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil

  • packet of ranch seasoning

  • frozen tater tots

  • 4 celery stalks

  • ranch or blue cheese dressing

  • blue cheese crumbles, optional topping

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 375. Spray/grease your 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray or brush with oil. For extra crispy tater tots, bake tater tots for about 10 minutes while preparing the chicken mixture.

  2. Heat oil olive in a large pan over medium, brown the chicken and the onion. Season chicken with half of the ranch packet. Add the garlic towards the end and cook for 1 minute. Strain the meat to get rid of the grease.

  3. Return to pan, add the rest of the ranch seasoning, celery, cheese and 1 cup of the buffalo sauce. Stir together to combine.

  4. Transfer the mixture into the baking dish. If if looks like it needs more buffalo sauce, go ahead and drizzle a little more over top.

  5. Arrange tater tots on top of the mixture in a single layer.

  6. Bake uncovered for 30-40 minutes or until tater tots are nice and crispy. Sprinkle a little cheese on top and place back in the oven for 2-3 minutes or until cheese has melted.

  7. Drizzle ranch dressing and top with jalapenos.


We’d love to see your finished product! Post your picture on Instagram, tag us @danimade.kitchen and hashtag it #danimade

ChickenDanielle SimoneComment