Taco Potatoes Recipe
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
Taco Potatoes
This is one of those recipes that tastes great and doesn’t take a good picture no matter which way you turn it. Yep, these Taco Potatoes are ugly!
They are a take off of funeral potatoes with a Mexican twist, I’m telling you they taste really good. I have to keep telling you that because they are just too ugly, I wasn’t going to show you what they look like when served but figure since I am laying it all on the table so to say, I might as well. It didn’t help I used a clear casserole dish but I do this when I want you to see what something looks like. When I make this again and I will I will use a different casserole dish and I am sure it will present better. It has cheese on top so it has too, right?
Have you ever wondered how they get that fine textured taco meat that just crumbles in tacos? I used to also. I finally figured out the secret. Don’t brown your ground beef. Add a cup of water to the meat and stir it in. Cook over medium heat until the water is gone, wallah! finely textured hamburger.
Another tip is when you get a bag of frozen potatoes and they have those ice crystals on the potatoes I run hot water into the bag and drain the potatoes. Sometimes those ice crystals just don’t taste good and rinsing them off gets rid of additional water on them also. I would drain the potatoes for 5 minutes before proceeding. I had bought my potatoes a few weeks ago and they were fine and when I took them out of the freezer they were almost a solid block of potatoes, these are the ones I would rinse off.
Taco Potatoes Recipe
Yield: Serves 4
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Taco potatoes are cheesy potatoes o'brien with spicy taco meat flavored with taco seasoning and Mexican salsa.
Ingredients:
- 1 lb. ground beef
- 1 cup water
- 1 package taco seasoning
- 1 1/2 cups medium salsa
- salt and pepper
- 1 package potatoes O'Brien frozen
- 1 cup cream cheese
- 1 can mushroom soup
- 1 teaspoon salt
- pepper
- 12 oz. shredded sharp cheddar cheese - reserve some for the top
Directions:
Add a cup of water to the meat and stir it in. Cook over medium heat until the water is gone. Add the seasonings and salsa. Cook for 5 minutes. Put the meat mixture in a greased casserole dish.
Mix together all of the ingredients for the potatoes in a bowl. Pour over the meat mixture. Sprinkle with the additional reserved cheese.
Bake at 400 degrees for about 50 minutes. If you thaw the potatoes ahead of time you will save a little baking time. It should be bubbly all over and the top browned when done.