Cheeseburger Casserole

I’m always game for a juicy burger n’fries, but the bread is sometimes a turn off.  So if you find yourself wanting a yummy burger but firing up the bbq isn’t a good solution, you’ll enjoy tonight’s recipe. A cheesy, bacony “burger” with fries all cooked in one dish.

Ingredients:

1 lb ground Beef
1 lb ground Pork
8 slices of Bacon fried bacon, slivered
1 Egg, beaten
1.5 cups of Ketchup
1 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
1 tsp Liquid Smoke
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp dried Thyme
1/2 tsp Oregano
1/2 tsp dried Garlic
Roux (4 Tablespoons butter & 4 Tablespoons flour)
80z shredded Cheddar Cheese (we used goat cheddar)
Bag of frozen Tater Tots

Set your oven to 400 degrees and let’s get cookin!

Fry the bacon in a skillet until done.  Remove bacon and set aside on a paper towel to drain.  Pour off most of the bacon grease and then add the beef and pork back into the skillet and fry until done. While the meat is cooking mix together the ketchup, Worcestershire, liquid smoke, salt, thyme, oregano and garlic, and set this aside. Carefully spoon the meat into a large bowl and set aside to cool.

In a frying pan melt the butter over medium low heat and then slowly add the flour, stirring constantly.  Cook, stirring constantly until golden brown.  This will help bind the burger together.  When the roux is ready remove from the heat, pour in the liquid ingredients from the step above and mix well.  To the cooled meat mixture add the beaten egg and also mix well.  Now add the ketchup-roux mixture from the pan into the meat and combine.  Time to assemble!

Into a baking dish pour in the meat mixture and level with a spoon.  Now add your layer of shredded chedder, then layer on the slivered pieces of crunchy bacon.  Finally add rows of tater tots until the casserole is covered.

Bake at 400 degrees for about 30 mins or until the tater tots have cooked.  Serve immediately with burger fixin’s: tomatoes, lettuce, onions, avocado and a splash of tabasco – if you dare!