Dairy-Free Tater Tot Casserole

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Ingredients

Cream of Mushroom Sauce:

  • 1 cup raw cashews, cover in water and microwave for 1 minutes (let sit for 15 minutes)

  • 1 tablespoon ghee or avocado oil

  • 8 ounces cremini or baby bella mushrooms, chopped

  • 2 medium shallots, peeled and chopped

  • 4 garlic cloves, minced

  • 1 cup water

  • ¾ cup vegetable or chicken broth

  • ¼ cup nutritional yeast

  • 1 teaspoon fine sea salt

  • ¾ teaspoon dried thyme

  • ¼ teaspoon garlic powder

  • ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

  • Pinch of nutmeg

  • 1 pound ground beef

  • 12 oz bag frozen cut green beans

  • 16 oz frozen tater tots (I like Cascadian Farm Organic spud puppies) *see notes for alternative option that is Whole30 compliant

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

  2. Make the cream of mushroom sauce by first soaking the cashews as directed above. Then, heat a 10-inch ovenproof skillet (cast-iron or stainless steel) over medium heat. Add the ghee or avocado oil, along with the chopped mushrooms and shallots. Saute for 3-4 minutes or until mushrooms are tender and have released some water. Add the minced garlic and cook until fragrant (roughly 2 minutes). Remove the pan from the heat.

  3. Drain the cashews and add them to a high power blender. Add the water and blend on high for 1 minute to make cashew milk. Add the remaining sauce ingredients (broth through nutmeg) along with the entire mushroom, shallot, garlic mixture, pulse until uniform and mushrooms are desired size. 

  4. Fry the ground beef in the same skillet, breaking into small pieces. Drain off any excess grease. Once the beef is fully browned, add half of the cream of mushroom sauce to the skillet. Stir everything together. 

  5. Layer the green beans on top of the meat and sauce mixture. Pour the remaining mushroom sauce over the green bean layer and spread evenly. Top with the tater tots. I place them on individually so they are evenly distributed.

  6. Bake at 400 for 20 minutes, then move the skillet to a high rack and broil at 500 for 5 minutes to crisp the tater tots. Let the skillet rest for 5 minutes prior to eating, enjoy!

Notes:

*You can use frozen hash browns if you wish. Since tater tots will contain an added oil, they crisp easier, but the oil used is typically canola or soybean oil which isn’t great. Alternatively you can use organic frozen hash browns; just increase the broil time to 8-10 minutes (check them at 8 minutes so they don’t burn).

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