My Fast and Easy French Fry Casserole

French Fry Casserole has become a guilty pleasure at our house.  This is something we concocted.  You may be familiar with Tator Tot Casserole (recipe below).  Somehow that classic morphed into something else at our house.  One night my brother brought home leftover French fries.  And it wasn’t just a few fries, it was a boatload.  He brought the fries into the house to make sure no one wanted them before he threw them away.  We don’t really enjoy cold fries, and don’t think they reheat particularly well.  But this was such a huge portion of French fries, it seemed to be wasteful to throw them away.  So this was the practical beginning of French Fry Casserole.  It was our solution for what to do with leftover French fries. 

Since our first French Fry Casserole, we have saved even small amounts of fries in the freezer, so sometimes our casserole is a real hodge podge of different sizes and shapes of fries.  Occasionally we bake frozen fries especially for this casserole, and sometimes we buy our favorite fast food fries. 

Looking for a fast and easy, but devilishly tasty dinner?  This is an easy dish to prepare, and relatively quick to get into the oven.  We try not to prepare this casserole often, and we try not to prepare it late in the evening, because we always have second helpings and stuff ourselves silly. 

 

French Fry Casserole

Leftover French fries, the equivalent of about 1 ½ to 2 McDonald’s or Burger King large orders of fries

1 ½ lb ground beef

Lawry’s Seasoned Salt

Lawry’s Garlic with Parsley

2 cans cream of chicken soup

2 soup cans of milk

16 oz frozen mixed vegetables

 

1.  Preheat oven to 350°. 

 

2.  Season ground beef with seasoned salt and garlic powder. 

3.  Brown meat in a large skillet.  Drain oil from meat.  I just tip the pan and spoon off the excess oil. 

 

4.  Add cream soup.  Use a spatula to get all the soup out.  Add two soup cans milk, swirling to rinse the cans.  Stir to thoroughly combine soup, milk, and hamburger. 

5.  Add mixed vegetables to meat and stir to combine. 

 

6.  Distribute fries in the bottom of an 11” X 13” casserole dish. 

7.  Pour meat and vegetable mixture over the top of the fries. 

8.  Bake casserole at 350° for 45 minutes. 

 

 

Traditional Tater Tot Casserole

 

2 cans of cream of chicken soup

1 soup can of milk

1 1/2 lb lean ground beef

1 bag of frozen tater tots

 

1. Brown ground beef in a large skillet. 

2. Mix soup, milk, and browned ground beef.

3. Spread in the bottom of a greased casserole dish, 9” X 11” or similar volume dish.

4. Place a layer of tater tots on top.

5. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven until thoroughly warm, about 40 minutes.