Tim Walz’s Award-Winning Hotdish Is True Midwest Comfort

Though I didn’t grow up in Minnesota, the home of the hotdish, I did grow up a few states south, in Missouri, where casseroles were a common dish to bring to potlucks and large gatherings.  So when Governor Tim Walz broke out onto the national stage and posted a few recipes for his own personal hotdish, I was excited to try them.

His Turkey Trot Tater Tot Hotdish, which eschews processed foods for the filling and instead uses from-scratch ingredients, did not disappoint! It was true comfort food for my soul.

A From-Scratch Hotdish

The hotdish is what Minnesotans and their adjacent northern Midwest states call a type of casserole. It’s a popular baked dish that can feed a large family or crowd.

Governor Tim Walz shared his award-winning Turkey Trot Tater-Tot Hotdish on his Twitter/X account last week, and I knew I had to try it. Unlike the New Ulm Hotdish he previously shared, this recipe doesn’t use a can of soup as a base, which is fairly common in hotdish recipes. In fact, besides the tater tots on top, there are no pre-packaged foods in the recipe, and the filling is made from scratch.

This means more prep and cook time, but the effort is worth it. The result was true Midwest comfort food, with a hearty blend of cheese, meat, vegetables, and just enough crispy tater tots on top to make me feel like I’m back home in Missouri. Making the dish from scratch also meant I could tweak and customize it to my taste, which I always love.

How To Make Tim Walz’s Turkey Trot Tater-Tot Hotdish

Governor Walz’s recipe reminded me a lot of the sort of recipe you’d find in a church cookbook, a recipe with minimal instructions and slightly jumbled list of ingredients that don’t quite match up with the order that you use them. With a little bit of midwestern common sense, however, it’s fairly easy to interpret and make.

The ingredient list is a bit longer than a typical hotdish recipe since you make the filling from scratch, but it comes together fairly fast. Brown a mix of ground turkey, chopped garlic (which I added more of), green onions, egg, and seasonings together in a skillet. Then, pour it into a 9x13-inch casserole dish.

Blanch diced green beans, fry up some bacon, and cook chopped mushrooms, adding it all to the dish. Then make a roux and whisk in milk with half-and-half. Add chopped onions and lots of cheddar. Pour the sauce into the casserole dish and fold it together. Add the tater tots, sprinkle some cheese on top, and bake.

The result was a meal that had me craving more. Each bite was a nice balance of cheesy sauce, seasoned ground turkey filling, and crunchy tater tot topping. My husband, who’s also from the Midwest, and I devoured half the casserole in one sitting.

Tips for Making Tim Walz's Hotdish

Use a larger skillet: The original recipe calls for a 10-inch skillet, but if you use a 12-inch skillet, you can brown the ground turkey, cook the mushrooms, and make the cheese sauce all in the same skillet, meaning one less pan to wash.

I prefer 93% lean ground turkey: Ground turkey typically comes in 93% lean or 99% lean. Because ground turkey can get fairly dry if you overcook it, using 93% helps keep the meat tender and the filling moist and makes the cooking more forgiving.

Use sharp cheddar: Even if you prefer medium or mild cheddar, I highly recommend using sharp cheddar in the filling. The milk and half and half dilute the cheese flavor a lot.

Use more aromatics: The original recipe calls for one clove of garlic and 1/4 cup of chopped onions. I used three garlic cloves and increased the chopped onion to 1/2 cup (or roughly half a medium-sized onion), making the filling taste more balanced.

Swap the seasonings: Increase the seasoning or add your own. The filling was fairly flavorful with just one-half teaspoon of dried sage, but I could have easily doubled the sage and added some dried thyme to give it a little more dimension.

Bake a little bit longer and add the cheese topping part way through baking: Finally, I decided to bake the hotdish for 55 minutes, adding the cheese in the last 15 minutes. This made the tater tots extra crispy. If you find that too fussy, bake as directed, sprinkling the cheese on top first. Hotdishes are supposed to be simple, homey meals, so I can’t blame Walz for giving simple instructions!