Minnesota Ground Beef and Wild Rice Hotdish Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is the difference between a Hotdish and a casserole? ›

Definition: Casserole is the name of the dish used to cook with, whereas hot dish is the meal itself. Ingredients: Casseroles can contain any ingredients under the sun practically, where hot dishes have set ingredients they have to have.

Everyone knows that in Minnesota, we call it hot dish. Here's how to make this specialty hot dish at home—wherever you are. Minnesota hot dish: It's hot and creamy with a hint of crunch. If you live in St. Louis or Cedar Rapids, you probably call it a casserole.

Wild rice is also a cultural resource to many, particularly members of Minnesota's Dakota and Ojibwe tribal nations, and it is an important economic resource to those who harvest and market it.

In Fargo, ND, a hot dish is basically a warm-ya-up, comforting casserole that's bursting with goodness. We think we hit the nail on the head with our recipe for Fargo Hot Dish. It's a layered casserole that features hearty noodles, ground beef tossed with tomato sauce, a savory cheese filling, and more.

A hotdish or hot dish is a casserole dish that typically contains a starch, a meat, and a canned or frozen vegetable mixed with canned soup.

What is known, though, is that the term "hotdish" first appeared in a 1930 Mankato cookbook, published by Grace Lutheran Ladies Aid. "What's clearer is that the dish has become a symbol of Minnesotan identity," Deustch said. "That is exactly why there are so many debates over what a hotdish can be."

Macaroni and cheese is the oldest written casserole recipe found in 1250.

So, did John Wayne himself invent his eponymous casserole? Not exactly. The actor did submit the recipe himself, but the original dish detailed in Connery's cookbook described a more understated egg and cheese casserole than the dish folks enjoy today.

Hotdish is an anything goes one-dish meal from the Upper Midwest, but it's especially beloved in Minnesota and North Dakota. A creamy sauce binds three essential hotdish components together: starch, protein, and vegetable.

Since 2007, a group of residents of Pigeon Lake have been fighting Whetung's seeding of wild rice, claiming their shorelines are filled with the marshy plant that makes boating difficult. They've protested, held community meetings, contacted politicians, petitioned, and formed a group called Save Pigeon Lake.

What is the motto for Minnesota? ›

L'etoile du Nord (translation: “Star of the North”) was adopted formally as the official state motto in 1861. Henry Sibley selected this motto to be used on the state seal and the Legislature approved both the seal and the motto at the same time.

Wild rice (Zizania aquatica or Zizania palustris), called manoomin in the Ojibwe language, has been a staple food for Minnesota's Indians for centuries. It was adopted as the official state grain in 1977. It is an aquatic grass not related to common rice.

(And, in case you were wondering, a hot dish is just like a casserole -- they just say "hot dish" instead of "casserole" over in Minnesota.)

What is the Minnesota tater tot Hotdish? Tater tot hotdish is a casserole dish that contains starch, meat, cheese, and veggies mixed with soup. The most classic example is ground beef, topped with tater tots and flavored with thick cream of mushroom soup sauce.

According to Eater, the elements that are absolutely necessary to include in hotdish are a starch, protein, and vegetable bound together by a creamy sauce, usually cream of mushroom soup. It's all baked in one dish and served piping hot.

(And, in case you were wondering, a hot dish is just like a casserole -- they just say "hot dish" instead of "casserole" over in Minnesota.)

In the United States, a casserole or hot dish is typically a baked food with three main components: pieces of meat (such as chicken or ground meat) or fish (such as tuna) or other protein (such as beans or tofu), various chopped or canned vegetables (such as green beans or peas), and a starchy binder (such as flour, ...

But, while anything baked in a casserole can be called a casserole, the Midwestern preparation known as "hotdish" is much more specific. A hotdish always consists of meat, vegetables, a starch, and sauce—it's not a side dish, but an entire meal unto itself.