It’s always nice to have a quick, easy, and fun meal that you can fall back on, and this is one of my new favorites.
We usually have pizza on Friday nights, but once a month I have a celiac support group meeting that requires me to leave by 6:00 p.m. Another week I play cards with girlfriends and have to leave by 6:30 p.m. or earlier. Then sometimes I’m just not feeling up to making gluten-free pizza from scratch.
The kids like to have something special on Friday nights, though. They like something a little more fun than our usual weeknight meals. Cheeseburger fries are pretty fun.
Cheesy fries are nothing new. They aren’t something I make, but I know they exist, and I could have figured this idea out from knowing that. However, it took a recipe from Lynn for Tater Tot Nachos (which sound great too) to get me to make this.
Of course, I’m dairy free so cheese is out for me. While I do prepare a lot fewer meals with cheese than I used to, I don’t rule it out altogether. In this case, I made a separate small dish of fries and used Daiya cheese substitute. It worked well.
Please remember that not all frozen French fries or tater tots are gluten free. You should read the label and call the manufacturer if you are unsure. You can see a list of Ore Ida’s gluten-free products here.
- 2 lbs. frozen gluten-free French fries
- 1 lb. ground beef
- shredded cheese (about 2 – 3 c.)
- salt & pepper
- ketchup (for serving)
- Preheat the oven to 400°.
- Cook and drain the ground beef.
- Place the frozen fries in the bottom of a large baking dish. Use two dishes if needed.
- Place the ground beef evenly on top of the fries.
- Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.
- Put enough cheese on top to cover the meat and fries well.
- Bake at 400° for 20 – 30 minutes until the cheese is melted and the fries are hot in the middle.
- Serve with ketchup.
I could really, really go for these right now, Linda!
Bet they’d also be good with some salsa added to the mix. Yum!
Shirley
I love messy potato fry dishes. One of my favorite recipes is Poutine. I’ll put your recipe in my backlog and make it with TVP instead of ground beef for a vegetarian version. Thanks for sharing.
Mmmm…these look good!!! I’m a big fan of sloppy joe sweet potato fries (with gf sweet potato waffle fries), chili fries … I think I may do this recipe this week, but make them bacon cheeseburger fries.
Bacon would be a great addition!
Those look soooo good Linda! Really hoping that I warm up to vegan cheese one of these days!
My college roommates worked at Lonestar Steakhouse and I used to love their fries with bacon, cheese and Ranch dressing!
Happy New Year!
Heidi
Heidi, I know what you mean about vegan cheese. It took me a while to warm up to it. I still really miss cheese, but I do occasionally eat goat cheese.
This is perfect. I was trying to think of something different to do w/ the ground beef I bought the other day, and this is great! I can’t wait, and the great thing is I think my kids will eat it too…we’ll see
Thanks!
This is perfect! I was trying to think of something different to do w/ the ground beef that I bought the other day, and this will be great..I think my kids will love it too, which is wonderful! Thanks for sharing.
Hey sweet lady! Tried a variation of this last night! yum! Question for you…I am wanting to try dairy-free in addition to my gluten free diet…what advice or suggestions for substitutes do you have? Thanks for all your help!
Hi Erin! Here is part one of a three part series I did on going dairy free. You’ll find links to the other two parts at the end of the post.
Which brand of fries do you use? I’d like a gluten and soy free option.
Thanks!
I use Ore Ida or a store brand, but both could potentially contain soybean oil. I wish they would say exactly what oil they use rather than “one or more of the following…”
Love the simplicity of this recipe! Thank you for adding this to 5-Ingredient Mondays. A perfect choice!