Low Sodium Tater Tot Hotdish
I’m a Minnesotan, so if there is a dish at all that we are experts in, it’s Hot Dish. Some people may call it casserole (you are WRONG!), but I digress. It is the staple of all church basement meetings and socials. The star of potlucks. The Diva of neighborhood gatherings. If you grew up and could state that you had Hotdish, Salad (Jell-O), and Bars, you were a typical Minnesotan. the Hotdish is comfort food at its core being. So let’s talk low sodium Tater Tot Hotdish.
Everyone Knows About Hotdish
Minnesota is also home of over 10,000 lakes, and therefore almost as many variations of recipes for Hotdish. I’m adding one more to the mix, my low sodium tater tot hotdish recipe. Tater Tot Hotdish is like the “mother sauce” of hotdish. All other hotdish can be generated from this base hotdish. The basic DNA of this hotdish is Cream of Mushroom soup, Ground Beef, canned veggies (corn, peas, or green beans), cheese, and tater tots. You see our problem here, everything is loaded with salt! We need to hack some salt!
Low Sodium Canned Goods
Campbell’s is finally getting on the Low Sodium track. Their “Ready to Serve” Low sodium soups are hit and miss flavor wise, except for the Cream of Mushroom, it doesn’t lose that signature taste without the salt. You can see what I thought of their Low Sodium Chicken Noodle Soup, and understand why I am glad the Cream of Mushroom is better! When you are adding vegetables, you may want to skip the cans and go to the frozen section. Many brands of Frozen Vegetables have a lot lower sodium content than the canned versions. Canned veggies are also getting hip to health, and many stores will carry “no salt added” versions. I have found those to be the lowest sodium counts.
Low Sodium Proteins & Cheese
To make it like Mom made it, I go with fresh ground beef. You can also go with lower sodium fresh ground options like turkey, pork, or chicken. For a vegetarian option, I have seen recipes with tofu, chickpeas, and beans. The cheese is the “glue” that hold the Tater Tots to the top of the hotdish. Many old recipes call for Cheddar, American, or Velveeta. In my Low Sodium Tater Tot Hotdish, I use shredded swiss. You might be able to find mozzarella that is also low in sodium. By making these changes, we are able to come up with a great low sodium version of this classic comfort food!
Low Sodium Tater Tot Hotdish
Low Sodium Tater Tot Hotdish
Ingredients
- 1 lb . Fresh Ground Beef
- 1 can Campbell's Ready to Serve Low Sodium Cream of Mushroom Soup
- 8 oz Sargento Shredded Swiss Cheese
- 1 cup Corn
- 1 cup Peas
- 1/2 cup Ketchup Hunt's No Salt added
- 1/2 cup Mustard
- 2 cups Tater Tots lowest sodium you can find
- 1 Onion Diced
- 4 cloves Garlic
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F
- In a saute pan, brown the beef, onions, and garlic over medium high heat
- Once the beef is browned, add the veggies, ketchup, mustard, and soup and stir all together and let it cook for for 3 minutes.
- Transfer the mixture to a glass baking dish, add a thin layer of cheese, cover with tater tots and place into the oven.
- Bake uncovered for 50 minutes.
Notes
Nutrition
I can’t find a decent tater tot w/ low sodium. But I can find Denny’s shredded hash browns. If I sautéed the hash browns 1st, then layer it on the hot dish, would that work?
The Ore-Ida Reduced sodium are the lowest I have found. Cascadian Farms and Trader Joe’s also have a decent option. I also will use the Simply Potatoes Hashbrowns and make them into tots. You could just make a layer of hash browns or diced potato cubes.