Manwich Casserole

Last nights entree was inspired by the fact that I wanted to make sloppy joes, purchased the meat and sauce thinking that I had a bag of hamburger buns in the freezer. So I get home from the grocery store Thursday evening put away the food and go to the back freezer to pull out the bun-sicles I find that I have no buns :-)

What I did have was a giant bag of tator tots, and so the casserole was born. It is a variation on the classic tator tot casserole, a recipe that the kids already loved.

Here's the Manwich Casserole
1.5 lbs ground beef
1/2 yellow onion
1 green bell pepper
1 can Manwich sloppy joe sauce
1 bag frozen tator tots
8 oz bag of shredded cheese
seasonings
1 tbsp oil

Preheat the oven to 450 and heat a frying pan on medium high. Dice the onion, add the oil to the pan, dice the bell pepper. Sautee the onion and bell pepper till slightly soft and the onions start to brown at the edges. Place the tots on a sheet pan and par bake apx 7-10 mins.  Add the onions to a 13x9 baking dish. Add the ground beef to the frying pan and season to taste. Once the beef is cooked drain off the excess fat and add it to the baking dish. Combine the onions, peppers, and beef with the sloppy joe sauce. Sprinkle meat mixture with shredded cheese (about 1/2 the bag). Top with a layer of tator tots. Place baking dish and any remaining tots in the oven at 450. Bake until golden brown apx 10-15 mins. Top the casserole with the remaining remaining cheese, continue to bake until the cheese melts.

I served the casserole with steamed broccoli and  

cauliflower, and sliced cucumbers and tomatoes.







Please give this recipe a try, everyone here loved it and I hope you do to.