2 pounds ground beef
3/4 cup sliced sweet pickles, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1-1/2 cups Thousand Island salad dressing, divided
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 package (32 ounces) frozen Tater Tots
2-1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided
Preheat the oven to 350ºF and grease a 13×9-in. baking dish. If you have a pretty baking dish that will look nice on the table, that’s the one to use! I like to grease pans with softened butter, but you could also use olive oil or a neutral oil such as grape seed, sunflower or canola.
Place your Dutch oven over medium heat and add the ground beef, pickles, onion and garlic. Cook, stirring, until the onions have softened and the beef is no longer pink, 6-8 minutes. While you’re stirring, make sure to break up bigger hunks of ground beef into smaller crumbles.
Remove the beef mixture from the heat and stir in 1 cup of the salad dressing and the salt and pepper. Then, add the frozen Tater Tots and 2 cups of the shredded cheddar cheese. Mix everything together and pour the combo into the greased baking dish.
Bake, uncovered, until the Tots are hot, around 35-40 minutes. Top with the remaining cheese, and bake until the cheese is melted, an additional 5 minutes. Drizzle the top of the casserole with the extra 1/2 cup dressing, garnish with extra pickles if desired, and serve.