Vegan Tater Tot Hotdish

Inspired by the classic dish from the U.S. Upper Midwest, this easy vegan tater tot hotdish recipe has ground seitan, a flavorful homemade mushroom sauce and frozen mixed vegetables. It’s one hearty, savory seitan casserole that keeps you coming back for more.

Across the U.S.’s Upper Midwest, hotdishes are commonly served at potlucks, family gatherings, church events and funerals. They are usually made with ground beef, canned mushroom soup, frozen vegetables and either potatoes, wild rice or macaroni. This vegan tater tot hotdish preserves all of the comforting qualities of the original dish without the meat and dairy.

Two things…

• ・You can either use store bought seitan (two 8 ounce packages will do the trick) or make seitan from scratch.
• ・For the ground seitan, you can either finely chop up the seitan with a knife or pulse it in a food processor.

Please enjoy this tasty vegan tater tot hotdish recipe! And don’t miss more UVK recipes, like Vegan Cheesy Tater Tot Casserole with Broccoli and Mushrooms, Slow Cooker Vegan Italian Beef, Arugula and Butternut Squash Salad or Vegan Slow Cooker Seitan and Green Pea Stew 💚

Vegan Tater Tot Hotdish

2 cups chopped onion, divided

5 large garlic cloves, finely chopped

5 Tbsp vegan butter

⅓ cup all purpose flour

¼ cup reduced sodium tamari (OR reduced sodium soy sauce)

2¼ cup unsweetened vegan milk (I used Good Karma Unsweetened Flax Milk)

2 Tbsp nutritional yeast

2 cups coarsely chopped mushrooms (OR an 8 ounce package of sliced mushrooms coarsely chopped)

1 lb ground seitan (see note above)

1 lb bag of frozen mixed vegetables

1 lb bag of frozen tater tots

Black pepper, to taste

1. Preheat the oven to 350º F. Grease a 9″ X 13″ baking pan and set aside.

2. Next, you’ll work on the vegan hotdish mushroom sauce. In a medium saucepan, add 4 Tbsp vegan butter, 1 cup onion, and the garlic. Sauté over medium-high heat for ~5 minutes or until the onions are soft. Then, stir in the flour until it makes a paste.

3. Next, whisk in the tamari and vegan milk. Whisk constantly over high heat until the sauce thickens. Then, stir in the nutritional yeast, mushrooms and black pepper. Taste, and adjust the flavor, if needed (more tamari?). Set aside.

4. In a large skillet, add 1 Tbsp vegan butter and 1 cup onions. Sauté over medium-high heat for ~5 minutes or until soft. Add the ground seitan and stir around for another minute. Remove from heat.

5. Now, it’s time to build the layers of the vegan hotdish. Spread ⅓ of the mushroom sauce across the bottom of the 9″ X 13″ baking pan.

6. Next, spread the ground seitan in an even layer across the mushroom sauce. Then, dump the frozen vegetables on top of the seitan layer, and spread them in an even layer over the seitan.

7. Spread the remaining sauce over the frozen vegetables. Finally, top the vegan hotdish with tater tots.

8. Bake uncovered at 350º F for 60 minutes or until the vegan tater tot hotdish is fully cooked through. Serve.