What's better than nachos? Replacing chips with tater tots & creating Tochos, that's what! My Green Chile Tochos with ground beef are perfect for game day.
You're kicking yourself for not thinking of nachos + tater tots already, aren't you? Kind of genius, right? My inspiration for this recipe came from my college days. I lived in New Mexico and actually refused to eat green chile for the longest time purely out of principle. You see, people in New Mexico have a love affair with green chile that I thought was extreme, so I decided to fight the current and not go along with this green chile love affair. That was until I was working on a very long and complicated senior project where we actually had to design a fuel cell for an electric car. This was long before electric cars were on the road, so it required some serious brain power. Anyway, my project partner, Edmund, took me to some restaurant and we ordered the most perfect thing. I have no idea what it was called, but it was fries smothered in ground beef, green chile, and cheese sauce. It was amazing and I have had an ongoing craving for that very meal for 15+ years. That is one of the reasons I thought these Green Chile Tochos were so awesome. That, combined with the fact that I thought they would make perfect game day grub, made me very happy.
You start by cooking your tater tots in the oven. I used a casserole dish rather than a baking sheet because I new all the cheesy goodness would get out of control if I didn't have a dish big enough to contain it.
Then, the magic happens. I layered my toppings, starting with the shredded cheese. I wanted to position it right in between the hot tots and the cooked ground beef.
Then, you smother everything with your oh-so-delicious green chile cheese sauce.
Heat everything back up in the oven to get it extra hot and bubbly, and you have the perfect game day grub. Here's the best part - no matter what time the game comes on, these delicious tochos taste amazing. Early morning tailgating? No problem! I served our leftovers with some fried eggs on top and some sliced avocado and it sent my taste buds to heaven and back! Seriously, this stuff is freaking delicious!
Green Chile Tochos
Ingredients
- 32 ounces Tater Tots
- 1 medium onion (diced)
- 1 pound ground beef
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 1 cup milk
- 24 ounces cheddar cheese (grated, divided)
- 1 cup green chile (chopped)
Instructions
- Bake Tater Tots on in 13x9 baking dish according to package instructions.
- While tater tots are cooking, brown onion and ground beef in large saute pan over medium high heat until fully cooked, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes.
- To make cheese sauce, start by making a roux by cooking the butter and flour in a medium saucepan over medium heat until fragrant, 3-5 minutes. Add milk and whisk to combine. Continue to cook and whisk until gravy thickens, about 5 minutes. Add half of the shredded cheese, remove from heat, and stir until melted. Add green chile. Keep cheese sauce warm until ready to use.
- When tater tots are done cooking, remove from oven. Spread remaining shredded cheese over tots, followed by ground beef mixture, followed by green chile cheese sauce. Cover with aluminum foil and return to hot oven to heat through and melt cheese shreds, about 5-10 minutes.
Liz
What is chopped shredded cheese. You say use entire bag of cheese in casserole, then how much do you use in cheese sauce?
Krissy
24 ounces - listed in ingredients
Cecilia
How much cheese do you add to the sauce?
Krissy
24oz. Quantities are in the recipe card towards the bottom of the post.
Heather Burton
It says 24 oz but does not specify how much to put on top of tots and how much to use in the cheese sauce.
Krissy
In the directions it says to spread all the cheese over the tots. Enjoy!
Lindsay
The directions say to sprinkle some cheese on the tots and then cheese in the sauce. How should the cheese be divided?
Krissy
Oh wow. I messed that one up! It should be divided in half. I'll update the recipe now. Thanks!
Sarah
I made this tonight. Wow! Definitely comfort food, but we wanted something warm and different and this fit the bill. The cheese sauce almost is like queso dip! It's not something I'll make often because frankly, I'm pretty sure that would put me into an early grave (lol) but it was tasty!
I did change one thing, I added salt and pepper to taste to the cheese sauce. Not much salt, but definitely some fresh ground black pepper. I feel like it helped the chiles stand out a little more.