This was also a nice thrown together weeknight meal in the ole Dutch Oven. The cold weather and snow had us eating a lot of comfort food. We loved it!
The entire meal can be prepared in one single Dutch oven.
Start out by hooking up some Dutch oven chicken. I’ll link you to another post where I cover that in detail.
Prepare about 3-4 lbs. chicken, cook it, shred it, and set it to the side (covered).
While the chicken is cooking, fry up about 8oz. of chopped bacon end pieces, or 12 oz. bacon slices chopped up. The bacon end pieces are a bit more chewier I think. Fry them just until they’re almost browned. Don’t over cook this because it will finish cooking in the Dutch oven later.
Load down the ole Dutch oven.
Go ahead and preheat your Dutch oven inside your oven to 350°.
When it’s good and hot, pull it out and get ready to load it down. Drizzle a touch of olive oil into the bottom then layer it with about 3 inches of tater tots, half of your bacon pieces, and a generous sprinkling of shredded cheddar cheese.
Next add the shredded chicken, a generous sprinkle of pepper jack shredded cheese, and some cracked pepper and seasonings.
Now, start a new layer of tater tots with everything else repeated again. Don’t be scared to drizzle portions of olive oil as you build your layers. That will make sure it gets nice and crispy all the way through.
Finally, top it with a mix of both cheeses generously and then cover the Dutch oven with the lid and place in your preheated oven. Bake covered for about 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes.
Let chill for about 10 minutes, then cut in and enjoy!!
It goes even better topped with your favorite sauce!
