# Vice-Presidential culinary question: What is "hotdish" in Minnesota? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 8, 2024, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vice-presidential-culinary-question-what-is-hotdish-in-minnesota/1005398 "2024-08-08T00:24:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sylvanz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Sylvanz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sylvanz)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2024, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vice-presidential-culinary-question-what-is-hotdish-in-minnesota/1005398/21 "2024-08-08T01:23:56Z")
What do you think of totchos are they good? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2024, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vice-presidential-culinary-question-what-is-hotdish-in-minnesota/1005398/22 "2024-08-08T01:24:44Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > It honestly doesn’t sound bad No, it honestly does. De gustibus non est disputandum and all that. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2024, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vice-presidential-culinary-question-what-is-hotdish-in-minnesota/1005398/23 "2024-08-08T01:24:48Z")
You’re asking me if a giant pile of potatoes and meat and cheese and salsa is _good_? It’s better than good. ---
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2024, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vice-presidential-culinary-question-what-is-hotdish-in-minnesota/1005398/24 "2024-08-08T01:26:27Z")
They do make a lager, but IMO the true nectar of the gods is their weissbier. It used to be one of my favorites, but I haven’t seen it in stores for so long I’d forgotten it existed until reading this thread. Good to know they’re still around, albeit apparently without distribution outside Minnesota. ---
**Author:** ![Sylvanz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Sylvanz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sylvanz)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2024, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vice-presidential-culinary-question-what-is-hotdish-in-minnesota/1005398/25 "2024-08-08T01:29:36Z")
Good point and well made. I might have to try those someday. If I can keep my daughter from making tater tot slopero… erm casserole. 😇 ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2024, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vice-presidential-culinary-question-what-is-hotdish-in-minnesota/1005398/26 "2024-08-08T01:30:44Z")
There are loaded tater tots in the freezer section. I am stumped, one hour? I would not leave anything in that long. ---
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2024, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vice-presidential-culinary-question-what-is-hotdish-in-minnesota/1005398/27 "2024-08-08T01:30:45Z")
I never saw tater tots for decades after leaving elementary school, but in recent years they’ve become popular snacks among the hipsterati. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2024, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vice-presidential-culinary-question-what-is-hotdish-in-minnesota/1005398/28 "2024-08-08T01:33:46Z")
I think our proximity to Tater Tot Central (“Ore-Ida” is short for “Oregon and Idaho”, after all) is part of why they’re easier to find here. A lot of mom & pop burger restaurants offer them as an alternative to fries. Sonic also carries them nationwide. ---
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2024, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vice-presidential-culinary-question-what-is-hotdish-in-minnesota/1005398/29 "2024-08-08T01:35:13Z")
I lived in Oregon until 1991 and don’t remember ever seeing them on any restaurant menus. But it’s certainly possible I just don’t remember. ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2024, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vice-presidential-culinary-question-what-is-hotdish-in-minnesota/1005398/30 "2024-08-08T01:38:51Z")
McCain Foods makes a brand of them called Tasti Taters, I believe. And a McCain in-law was a Canadian finance minister, Bill Morneau. So as Canadian as…well, as the old joke goes, “As Canadian as possible under the circumstances.” ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2024, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vice-presidential-culinary-question-what-is-hotdish-in-minnesota/1005398/31 "2024-08-08T01:41:46Z")
Your frozen food section doesn’t have tater tots? 😱 Air Fryer tater tots are the bee’s knee’s. I’m truly surprised. Somewhere in the US doesn’t have tater tots? It’s a regional food in the West? I mean, in Canadia, is it possible that poutine (vastly inferior product IMHO) is a barrier to entry? ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2024, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vice-presidential-culinary-question-what-is-hotdish-in-minnesota/1005398/32 "2024-08-08T01:42:13Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Don’t think I’ve ever seen them. Thanks for the info and pic. Here in Canada, Cavendish Farms does them too. Here’s what you’re looking for: > **[Buy Now | Potato Tots | Cavendish Farms](https://www.cavendishfarms.com/en/for-your-home/frozen-products/quick-crisp/potato-tots/)** > > Crisp and perfect for any time of day (or night). Ready in just 5 minutes, spend the time you save cooking them dreaming up new ways to enjoy them. Our Quick Crisp products are great in the oven, but were made for the air fryer, so you can cook your... ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2024, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vice-presidential-culinary-question-what-is-hotdish-in-minnesota/1005398/33 "2024-08-08T01:45:19Z")
> [@Kropotkin](#): > > McCain Foods makes a brand of them called Tasti Taters, I believe. And a McCain in-law was a Canadian finance minister, Bill Morneau. I like tater tots who weren’t captured. ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2024, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vice-presidential-culinary-question-what-is-hotdish-in-minnesota/1005398/34 "2024-08-08T01:48:16Z")
The loaded frozen ones are quite good. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2024, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vice-presidential-culinary-question-what-is-hotdish-in-minnesota/1005398/35 "2024-08-08T01:48:45Z")
> [@China\_Guy](#): > > Your frozen food section doesn’t have tater tots? 😱 Air Fryer tater tots are the bee’s knee’s. > > I’m truly surprised. Somewhere in the US doesn’t have tater tots? It’s a regional food in the West? I mean, in Canadia, is it possible that poutine (vastly inferior product IMHO) is a barrier to entry? I grew up in Connecticut and am familiar with tater tots, though I never liked them. I assumed they were commonly known throughout America. ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2024, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vice-presidential-culinary-question-what-is-hotdish-in-minnesota/1005398/36 "2024-08-08T01:50:27Z")
If you can’t catch them, you can’t eat them ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2024, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vice-presidential-culinary-question-what-is-hotdish-in-minnesota/1005398/37 "2024-08-08T01:51:46Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Here in the Pacific Northwest (and into eastern WA and Idaho as well), people like to use tater tots as the base for nachos instead of tortilla chips, and call it “totchos”. Don’t forget the western Washington chain _Taco Time_ and their tots called “Mexi-fries”. Edit: which I have just come to learn that in the time since I moved away were renamed “tater fries”. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2024, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vice-presidential-culinary-question-what-is-hotdish-in-minnesota/1005398/38 "2024-08-08T01:52:52Z")
> [@Lamoral](#): > > > [@Kropotkin](#): > > > > McCain Foods makes a brand of them called Tasti Taters, I believe. And a McCain in-law was a Canadian finance minister, Bill Morneau. > > I like tater tots who weren’t captured. The best ones are made from Yukon Feingold. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2024, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vice-presidential-culinary-question-what-is-hotdish-in-minnesota/1005398/39 "2024-08-08T01:53:08Z")
> [@Pork\_Rind](#): > > Don’t forget the western Washington chain _Taco Time_ and their tots called “Mexi-fries”. How could I? My sister manages one in Auburn. > [@](#): > > Edit: which I have just come to learn that in the time since I moved away were renamed “tater fries”. Well, technically, she manages a Taco Time _Northwest_, which is a separate chain from the rest of Taco Time as the result of a weird franchise agreement from the '60s. Sorta like how Dairy Queen in Texas is a completely different company than Dairy Queen everywhere else. TTNW got rid of the “Mexi” labeling a few years ago and just calls them “tater fries” now. The other Taco Time still calls them Mexi-fries. ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2024, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vice-presidential-culinary-question-what-is-hotdish-in-minnesota/1005398/40 "2024-08-08T01:53:21Z")
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