My cowboy casserole recipe will have your family full and happy come dinnertime!
Does your family flip for tater tot casserole? If they’ve ever shown excitement over hashbrown casserole or breakfast casserole, where you get savory filling heaped beneath crispy potato toppings, then I guarantee you’ll only see cleaned plates after you serve this!
With loads of delicious ground beef, beans, and veggies, my cowboy casserole recipe is the best way to fill up your family! You can even swap the meat to make chicken tater tot casserole if you want — I’m all about versatility here!
Ready? Let’s cook!
What I Love About This Cowboy Casserole Recipe
Anything topped with tater tots is just 100% better, right? My cowboy casserole recipe is your new savory dinner favorite!
- Guaranteed family-pleasing — even the pickiest eaters!
- Easy to make
- Casserole magic
- Tater tots!
Cowboy Casserole Recipe Notes
I promise, my cowboy casserole recipe whips up in a snap! The longest part is waiting for all the goodness to bubble up in the oven, but I’ve got other tips to make your cooking experience a breeze.
- Ground Beef:Â I mentioned above that you can swap the ground beef for chicken, but what other swaps can you make? Plenty! Using the ground beef is delicious, of course, but try ground turkey or ground pork — or even ground sausage to make a breakfast cowboy casserole recipe!
- Chiles:Â This recipe uses a whole can of diced green chiles. Before you dismiss this recipe as too spicy for you, hold up! Green chiles actually aren’t spicy at all. They just add a delicious, mellow chile flavor to the dish.
- Tater Tots:Â Don’t feel trapped by your tater tot choices! Traditional is great for this recipe, but branch out too — try topping your dish with some veggie tots!
How Long Can You Keep This Cowboy Casserole Recipe In The Fridge?
This cowboy casserole with tater tots will last up to three to four days in the fridge! Any longer, and the tater tots get soggy and the texture is off.
To reheat, you can throw your leftovers in the oven to get a little bit of crispiness back into your tater tots!
Can You Freeze This?
Yes! This cowboy casserole with potatoes freezes just as well as any other casserole. Either wrap it up before you bake it or wrap it up after — either, way your casserole can freeze for two to three months.
To cook, let thaw in the fridge overnight, then either follow the remaining instructions if you didn’t cook it before or reheat in the oven until it comes to temp!
Make Ahead Tips
This recipe is ideal for make-ahead magic! Follow the steps above for freezer meal goodness so you can have a fully-prepped, delicious dinner on hand whenever you need it.
Serving Recommendations
The best way to serve this recipe is with lots of hearty, stick-to-your-ribs goodness! Top it off with some of my savory cowboy caviar (so easy to make!) and of course, don’t forget the sweet, buttery southern cornbread.
Recipe Variations
Looking for some more variety? Try these out!
- Add cornbread on top. Swap the tater tots for cornbread a la my chili cornbread casserole to get cowboy cornbread casserole.
- Use chicken. Meat swap! Mexican chicken casserole can be very similar to cowboy chicken casserole.
- Use sausage. Bring on the breakfast flavors with sausage potato casserole.
- Cook in the crockpot instead. Dump all this goodness, sans tater tots, into a crockpot just like in crockpot cowboy casserole.
More Casserole Recipes With Ground Beef
- Hamburger Casserole
- Cabbage Roll Casserole
- Dorito Casserole
- Beef Noodle Casserole
- Hamburger Potato Casserole
Cowboy Casserole
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 pound 80/20 ground beef
- 2 tablespoons chili powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cumin
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoons black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon brown sugar
- 1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 (15-ounce) can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 (14.5-ounce) can diced fire-roasted tomatoes, including juice
- 1 (4-ounce) can diced green chiles
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
- 1 teaspoon hot sauce, optional
- 1 cup frozen corn
- 1 (32-ounce) bag tater tots
Topping:
- 1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
Instructions
- Preheat 350°F. Spray a 9X13 inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray; set aside.
- Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Saute onion, stirring frequently, until translucent, about 6 minutes. Add garlic, stirring constantly, and saute until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add beef, continue to cook, crumbling with a spoon, until there is no longer any pink. Drain excess fat from skillet.
- Sprinkle beef with chili powder, cumin, oregano, salt, pepper, and brown sugar. Continue to cook, stirring frequently, over medium heat until the spices become fragrant.
- Stir in black beans, pinto beans, diced tomatoes, green chiles, sour cream, 1 cup of cheddar, and hot sauce. Cook until the liquid thickens slightly, about 5 minutes. Mix in frozen corn, then pour it into the prepared baking dish.
- Arrange a single layer of tater tots over the beef mixture. Cover the dish tightly with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes.
- Remove from oven, remove and discard aluminum foil, and sprinkle cheese evenly over tater tots. Return to oven for 20 minutes, or until casserole is bubbly around the edges. Allow to cool slightly then serve.
Fans Also Made:
Nutrition
This looks like a proper weekday dinner treat! I know my husband is going to love this, I’m fairly certain my children will too. I suppose you could make this vegetarian by leaving out the beef and adding more beans and veggies?
Hi Jessica. You sure could and it would be delicious!
Yum! My family loves this recipe! I will definitely be making this again! So excited!
Yay! Thank you so much, Beth!
The perfect meal! I can’t wait to make this for my family! I know they will enjoy it!
Thank you, Beti! It’s always a family fav!!
This Cowboy Casserole was incredibly delicious!! We loved it!!
I’m so happy to hear that, Katerina!! <3
This cowboy casserole looks so hearty! I am sure that my husband will love it!
Hi Catalina! It really is hearty. The guys in my fam LOVE it!
This Cowboy Casserole is looks like a perfect weeknight dinner! Yum!
Thank you, Erin!
I cannot wait to make this at our next get together. My family and I loved it!
I’m so happy to hear that, Amanda! <3