Slammin' Jalapeño Chili Cheese Tots
Combine your love of tater tots, chili, cheese, and jalapeños into one easy and mouthwatering dish!
Combine your love of tater tots, chili, cheese, and jalapeños into one easy and mouthwatering dish!
- Carbohydrate 2.0548 g
- Cholesterol 0 mg
- Fat 0.022 g
- Fiber 0.374000010490417 g
- Protein 0.242 g
- Saturated Fat 0.00924 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (22g)
- Sodium 0.88 mg
- Sugar 1.68079998950958 g
- Trans Fat 0.00616 g
- Calories 9 calories
Step-by-step
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
- Place the tater tots onto a baking pan. Bake them for half of the full time specified on it's package.
- While the tots are baking take the onion and chop it into good size chunks or fine chunks depending on your preference.
- Take tater tots out of the oven and flip. Put back in the oven for about 3 minutes shorter then the full time it says to bake. Be sure to have the rest of the ingredients(chili, cheese and jalapeño peppers) ready so that you can put the rest of this masterpiece together when time expires.
- Take tots out of the oven.
- Now we will add the toppings... Pour the 3 cans of chili evenly over the tater tots. Next spread the onion over the chili. Now place the 12 slices of cheese evenly over the top of the chili. Top it off with just the right amount of sliced jalapeño peppers.
- Finally, place in the oven for the remaining 3 minutes or until the cheese is melted.
- Bon appétit!
Melted processed cheese blankets thick canned chili atop a sprawling layer of ultra-crispy potato cylinders, yielding sharp contrasts between crunchy exterior surfaces and rich, soft toppings. Achieving structural integrity in potato-based casseroles relies entirely on moisture control and thermal management. Baking potato products at a high heat of 450 degrees Fahrenheit drives off surface moisture rapidly, creating a rigid exterior starch matrix. Pre-baking the potato base halfway prevents structural collapse under heavy wet loads like canned chili. Processed cheese product slices contain emulsifying salts like sodium citrate, which prevent protein and fat separation during melting. These emulsifiers ensure a glossy, uniform blanket that holds the chopped onions and pickled jalapeños securely in place without breaking into an oily slick. Crisp green jalapeño peppers contribute acetic acid from their pickling brine, which cuts through the dense, heavy fats of the dairy and meat sauce. Pair this heavily spiced dish with crisp, unseasoned raw celery sticks or a bitter green salad dressed simply in lemon juice. Acidity and crunch from fresh produce reset the palate between bites of dense, salty starches and rich cheese.
