Heart Attack Casserole

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So this recipe for Cowboy Casserole, Ghetto Casserole, Tater-Tot Casserole or whatever you wanna call it, keeps popping up everywhere again lately. I had been eyeing this baby up for weeks, while having a "I am craving something completely unhealthy and high in fat episode". I call it "Heart Attack Casserole".

 
I of course (because I can never leave a recipe alone), added my own touches and "kicked it up a notch" or ten. This is one of those comfort food dishes, it's so good that I have now made it twice in the past 3 weeks. I made a lot, enough to fill a 14x11 roasting/lasagna pan, the second time around. You can either freeze half of it or live of it for days (which you will want to do).

I am not sure where this originally was adapted from. I have seen many versions. Some with corn added, but hey that would be somewhat healthy then. We are not trying to achieve any of that with this one! I most recently saw it on Pinterest (I am HIGHLY ADDICTED to this "virtual inspiration board" site!!!). That version came from the Craving Comfort blog.

 

Meat, potatoes, lotsa cheese and bacon. Doesn't get better than this!

Sorry about the crappy photos below, I will add better pics next time, which I am sure will be pretty soon with football season coming...

Heart Attack Casserole
Ingredients

• 2 - 2.5 lbs lean ground beef
• 1/2 medium onion, chopped (optional)
• 2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce (optional)
• Pinch of salt, pepper & garlic
• 1 package of Lipton Beef & Onion dip/soup mix
• 2 cans of Campbell's Cream of Chicken & Mushroom Soup  
• 1 cup of sour cream
• 1 box of family sized deluxe Mac & Cheese (I used Walmart brand shells deluxe mac & cheese. Has to be deluxe, with the Velveeta like cheese sauce, not the powder)
• 2 packages of frozen seasoned tater tots (half way thawed, again I used Walmart brand)
• Half a box of Big Cheez-It's (crushed)
• 1 8 oz (or more, can never have enough cheese) package of shredded cheese (I used a mix of Cheddar/Colby/Monterey Jack)
• 3/4 of a package of Oscar Mayer Recipe Size Bacon Bits
• 2 containers of refrigerated Pillsbury Garlic Breadsticks (I only had one on hand, but would have wanted to use 2)

Cooking Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Brown ground beef and chopped onion, season with Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper & garlic.
3. In the pan mix-in the beef & onion soup mix and the 2 cans of chicken/mushroom soup, mix thoroughly on low heat
4. Boil the mac pasta 3/4's of the way, drain and add the cheese sauce to it as directed
5. Put the Cheez-It's in a ziploc bag, crush them to a chunky breadcrumb texture. I had my 4 year old do this and she was in her glory being aloud to destruct food ;)
6. In a 14x11 roasting/lasagna pan, add the meat mixture
7. Top mixture with the mac & cheese mixture
8. Top the mac & cheese with the Cheez-It breadcrumbs
9. Then spread the tater tots on top of breadcrumbs
10. On the tater tots add small dollops of the sour cream  here and there 
11. Top with the shredded cheese and bacon 
12. Finally add the breadsticks in a criss-cross pattern
13. Bake, covered with foil for 30 minutes, remove foil and finish baking an additional 20 mins until bubbly and tots are golden brown. 
14. Enjoy! and believe me you will! This is one of those "takes all your worries away" foods.

  Tip:It is way better the next day, so much so next time I may just make it the night before. A great left-over dish!