Help with my throw together casserole please

Cafe Society
1

I’m trying to avoid a trip to the grocery store and work with the ingredients I have in the kitchen.

Anyway it’s real simple.

In a casserole dish I was gonna throw, frozen tots, fajita strips (flank steak), peppers and onions, enchilada sauce, and cheese.

Then just let it bake until everything is cooked through.

The only thing I’m not sure about is if I should cook the fajita strips first, or just throw them in there raw.

Probably going to saute the peppers and onions first anyway.

Your thoughts are appreciated.

2

I’d brown the meat, onions, and peppers first, and thaw the tots so it doesn’t take forever. More likely to just finish it in the pan than baking.

3

What Tripolar said while I was logging in to say it

4

Tripolar and Dorkvader’s approach gets my vote as well.

I’d probably do a two-time approach to the cheese as well, some grated and mixed in, and then more right before you’re ready to serve on top with a quick broil for bubbly goodness. I might also add a cornstarch slurry to help thicken depending on how much starch I’d expect to get out of the tots, but that’s a personal choice when it comes to consistency.

5

Thanks guys. It didn’t even dawn on me to thaw the tots.

6

My thought is to make the tots separately, then use them as a bed over which you place the other, separately-cooked ingredients.

But I see that I’m late to this thread. So all I can say is: How did it turn out?

7

It turned out pretty tasty. My only criticism is the meat was a little more done than I would have liked. But still tasty.