CROCK POT CHEESY CHICKEN, BACON, & TATER TOT BAKE

Original recipe

CROCK POT CHEESY CHICKEN, BACON, & TATER TOT BAKE

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Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

3 hours

Total time

3 hours 10 mins

Crock Pot Cheesy Chicken, Bacon, & Tater Tots is a delicious and super easy meal to put together! Your whole family will love it!

Author: Real Housemoms

Recipe type: Main

Serves: 6 or more

INGREDIENTS

• One 32 ounce bag frozen tater tots
• 6 slices thick-cut bacon
• 3 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 2 cups (8 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese or Colby jack cheese blend
• 2/3 cup 2% milk (whole milk would be fine too)
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Cook bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until crispy. Remove to a paper towel lined plate to drain. Once bacon cools, crumble it into small pieces, and set it aside.
2. Coat the inside of your crock pot with non-stick cooking spray.
3. Dump half the frozen tater tots into the crock pot, and spread into an even layer. Top tots with 1/3 of the cheese and 1/2 the crumbled bacon.
4. Place uncooked chicken on top of the tater tot layer. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Top chicken with 1/3 of the cheese.
5. Spread remaining tater tots over the chicken layer. Top with remaining bacon and cheese. Pour milk over the top of the dish.
6. Cover your crock pot and cook on HIGH on 3 hours, or until chicken is no longer pink in the center. Serve warm.

NOTES

You can cut down on your prep time buy using ready to serve (cooked) bacon as well.

Alright so this is a decent recipe BUT I made the mistake of doing it on low for 7 hours instead of high for 3. This was a critical error! The chicken ended up VERY dry because of this. I'd say if you want to go this route leave your chicken breasts whole instead of cutting them up. I also used pre-cooked bacon bits instead of cooking fresh just because it was easier before heading out the door for the kids first basketball tourney of the year. I used 1% milk and don't think it made a lick of difference. 

Overall this was tasty but I should have seasoned the chicken layer with some garlic (YES, I forgot garlic BAH) and when I make it again I will cook on HIGH for 3 hours as directed instead of trying to make the recipe fit my schedule!