Amish Potato Haystack Recipe
A hearty, yummy one-dish meal casserole that is ideal for large gatherings.
Cooking Temperature 175 C / 350 F / Gas Mark 4
Ingredients
- 5 Potatoes
- 1 Onion small
- 1/4 pound Cheddar Cheese
- 2 cups Milk
- 6 tablespoons Flour
- 1/2 pound Cheese Velveeta ®
- 1 package Ranch dressing mix
- 1/2 cup Sour Cream
- 2 pounds Ground Beef
- 1/2 package Tortilla Chips
Instructions
- Boil the potatoes in their skins. Drain and set aside to cool.
- While the potatoes are cooling, peel and chop the onion; set aside.
- Shred the cheddar cheese; set aside.
- Prepare the cheese sauce heating 1 cup of the milk on the stove in a pot. Off the stove, whisk the flour into another half cup of milk. Add to the heated milk, and whisk frequently until it comes to a boil. Remove from stove. Chop up the Velveeta ® cheese into a few pieces, add it to the milk, and cover the pot to help the cheese melt better. Set aside. When you go to use it later, give it a final whisk to blend smooth.
- Mix together the ranch dressing mix with the sour cream and the remaining 1/2 cup of milk; set aside.
- When the potatoes have cooled enough to handle comfortably, peel and shred them. Set aside.
- Start oven heating to 175 C / 350 F / Gas Mark 4.
- Fry the minced beef with the onion. Give this a head start of a few minutes, then stir in the taco seasoning mix, then the shredded potato. Season as desired to taste (salt, pepper, etc.)
- In a largish, deep, casserole dish, make alternate layers of the meat / potato mixture with the ranch dressing mixture. Top with the cheese sauce.
- Bake for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, remove from oven, sprinkle with the grated cheddar, and return to oven for another 10 minutes to melt the cheese.
- While it is baking, roughly crush the tortilla chips (with a rolling pin, etc.)
- When casserole is done, remove from oven, sprinkle with crushed tortilla chips, and serve hot.
Notes
The recipe is easily doubled for two casserole dishes.
Use a deep casserole dish; you have several layers of items going on here.
Instead of the cheese sauce given here, you may make the cheese sauce from a package mix, or buy a jar, or use another cheese sauce recipe of your preference.
Instead of tortilla chips you can use potato chips.
When seasoning to taste, bear in mind that there will be a lot of salt already in the dish from the commercial ingredients used.
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