Queso Fundido Totchos

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A classic twist on nachos, these Queso Fundido Totchos are a crowd pleaser.  Serve them up for tailgating, an at home football party or serve them for dinner.  Whatever you choose, they’re sure to be a TOUCHDOWN and will have your guests going back for seconds!

If you love dips, try this Supreme Pizza Dip!

It’s football season! HOORAY! ? I like baseball and I’ll occasionally watch basketball, but my heart and true love is with football! ?  Football Sunday might be my favorite day of the week.  I like to start the day early and jump into the kitchen to prepare a spread before the days games.  We’ll invite all our friends and family over and graze throughout the day while watching our favorite match-ups.  Plus, it’s also an excuse to get down on some good grub.

I wasn’t always into football.  I only pretended to like the sport in junior high when the boys would talk about the awesome touchdown that just took place the day before.  I’d pretend I saw the whole thing when really I was probably shopping with my mom or painting my nails.  Ya know, the typical things a young girl in junior high really cares about.

It wasn’t until high school that I attended the school games did my love of the sport really take shape.  Every Friday night our parents would drop us off and we’d watch the game from the stands…at least the first few quarters…the rest of the time was social hour.  Then I began to watch the football games on Football Sunday.  It was so much fun to get into the game, yell at the players from the couch and chow down on all sorts of chips, dips and other munchies.

Lately, I’ve really been into recipe mash-ups.  See Pumpkin Pie Spice Chai Lattes.  So, I’d recently discovered people using Tator Tots as replacements for chips in nachos.  What a brilliant idea and perfect timing as it’s almost fall and it’s football season!  Now to think about how I could   We had invited some friends over for the first game of the year this past Sunday and I was scrambling my brain trying to think what I could make that was different from year’s previous.  (Last year I made a different chili recipe every Sunday)

I headed to Walmart to grab a bag of frozen Tator tots and figured if I walked around the store long enough, a recipe would take shape, and it did.  I knew that I had some chorizo at home so I immediately headed to the dairy aisle to find some cheese.  Afterall, what are totchos without cheese.  I decided to purchase a block of Kraft Monterey jack cheese as I know this is a great melting cheese, pepperjack for some spice and also picked up a bag of Mexican Shredded Cheese for sprinkling on top of the totchos.  In my opinion, you can never have enough cheese.

I picked up a few other various ingredients for the Queso Fundido Totchos and headed home to see what all I had purchased and to formulate a recipe.

I started with the chorizo and got that browning into the pan. I broke up the links as it cooked and when it was starting to crisp up, I took it out of the pan and laid it out onto paper towels so some of the grease could drip off.  I wiped out the same pan I just used for the chorizo and sautéed onion, garlic and a can of green chiles.  Once that was finished, I set the mixture aside and worked on my queso cheese sauce.

In a medium pot, I added butter and when that was melted I added in some flour.  I stirred that together for a minute until the flour taste cooked off and then I gradually started to add in my milk, whisking to combine.  I allow the milk mixture to come up to a bubble and then 1/3 at a time, began to add my cheeses.  Once the cheese was melted, I added in the onion, garlic, chile mixture and half the chorizo.

I cooked the Ore-Ida Tator Tots according to the package directions, which was 425 degrees for 28-32 minutes, if cooking the whole bag, which I did.  I also decided to whip up a quick pico de gallo.  I chopped up 7 roma tomatoes, half a red onion, half a seeded jalapeno and 2 tablespoons of cilantro. Super quick and easy and the perfect nacho topper.  I also finely shredded up some lettuce and chopped additional cilantro as I am Team Cilantro. You either love it or hate it and I happen to love it, score for my taste buds!

Once everything was prepared, I placed the tator tots at the bottom of a cast iron skillet and topped with the queso fundido cheese.  Next, I topped the queso cheese with the reserved chorizo and then layered on pico de gallo, shredded Mexican cheese and sour cream.

Just look at those delicious tator tots topped with melted cheese and chorizo.  Everyone loved these Queso Fundido Totchos and wouldn’t stop raving about them.  I knew they were a hit as when everyone had left for the evening, there wasn’t a tot left!  TOUCHDOWN!!  And least the tots were good as I can’t say so for my team, as we lost to our division rival, BOO!!  But at least the tots scored me some points!

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Queso Fundido Totchos

Prep 10 mins

Cook 30 mins

Total 40 mins

Author Strawberry Blondie Kitchen

Yield 6 -8

A classic twist on nachos, these Queso Fundido Totchos are a crowd pleaser. Serve them up for tailgating, an at home football party or serve them for dinner. Whatever you choose, they're sure to be a TOUCHDOWN and will have your guests going back for seconds!

Ingredients

• 1 32 ounce bag Tator Tots, I used Ore-Ida brand
• 12 ounces chorizo
• 1/2 cup onion, diced
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 4 oz can diced green chiles
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1 1/2 cups of milk
• 1 8 oz block Kraft Natural Chunk Cheese Pepperjack, grated (I used 4 oz)
• 1 8 oz block Kraft Natural Chunk Cheese Monterey Jack, grated (I used 4 oz)
• 1 16 oz bag Kraft 2% Mexican cheese blend
• 1 8oz tub Kraft Philadelphia Spicy Jalapeno Cream Cheese (I used 1/4 cup)
• 2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped
• Optional for topping, pico de gallo, shredded lettuce sour cream, cilantro

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees and cook tator tots according to package directions. (I cooked mine for 25 mins, but adjust according to your oven temperature)
2. Meanwhile, preheat a skillet to medium heat and brown chorizo.
3. Remove chorizo with a slotted spoon and allow to drain on a paper towel lined plate.
4. Whip skillet from chorizo and place back onto burner over medium high heat.
5. Add onion, garlic and green chiles to pan and saute until onion is opaque. Set aside
6. In another medium pot, add butter. When butter has melted add in flour and stir until combined.
7. Cook for 1 minute and then gradually whisk in milk.
8. Bring mixture up to a bubble and 1/3 at a time, begin to add cheeses. Thoroughly melt cheese before adding next batch.
9. Add in cream cheese and stir to combine.
10. Cook over low heat until mixture is smooth and feel of lumps.
11. Add in 1/2 reserved chorizo and onion, garlic, chile mixture. Stir to combine.
12. Layering
13. Place tots on the bottom of your dish, top with queso fundido cheese, remaining 1/2 chorizo and any additional toppers you'd like.

Courses Game Day

Cuisine Quick and Easy

How do you celebrate game day at your house?  Do you ever get into a rut on what to make?  If so, be sure to check out Kraft Natural Cheese recipes for your next at home tailgate party or for dinnertime.  Also, Walmart will be having “Game Time” demos on September 26th, so be on the lookout for those which will feature recipes, tip and ideas for your next party.

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