Debate Night Dinner: Tim Walz’s Turkey Trot Tater-Tot Recipe

• Minnesota Governor Tim Walz will debate Ohio Senator JD Vance on October 1st.
• Walz discussed his culinary skills during the 2024 campaign.
• I made Walz’s Turkey Trot Tater-Tot Hotdish, a no-fuss recipe perfect for family gatherings.

As Gov. Tim Walz and Sen. JD Vance try to woo American voters this election season, they’ve deployed a classic strategy: identifiable foods.

Vance shared his love of food on his social media accounts, posting photos from local Ohio restaurants and county fairs. In an August interview with The Wall Street Journal, his wife, Usha Vance, praised his culinary prowess, saying he was adept at making cookies, chocolate mousse and vegetarian Indian dishes.

However, Vance came under fire from social media users after an awkward visit to a donut shop in Georgia that same month.

Walz has also presented himself as a foodie on social media, sharing posts showing sandwiches and telling his followers about his love for corn dogs. He has even won the Minnesota Congressional Delegation Hot Dish Competition three times since 2013.

Walz faced flak in August after the Harris campaign released a YouTube video of the Minnesota governor telling the vice president that he eats “white boy tacos” and is “not a spice guy.” The Daily Beast reported that some conservative figures derided the comments, suggesting that Walz was playing into inaccurate racial stereotypes, while others pointed to his similar-sounding Turkey Taco Tot Hotdish recipe as evidence that he used spices.

A recipe Walz previously shared on X for Turkey Trot Tater-Tot Hotdish then went viral, racking up 1.5 million views.

Walz and Vance will go head-to-head in the vice presidential debate in New York City on October 1. Before the event, I made Walz’s viral hotdish, a tasty meal that uses simple ingredients and is easy to recreate.

Representatives for Vance and Walz did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

Here’s how to make Turkey Trot Tater-Tot Hotdish by Tim Walz

ingredients

• 1 kg fresh green beans, diced
• 4 slices of bacon
• 1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
• 6 tablespoons of butter
• 5-6 tablespoons of flour
• 2 1/2 cups whole milk
• 1/2 cup half and half
• 2 teaspoons of salt
• 3 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 lb. ground turkey
• 1/2 teaspoon sage
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• 1/2 cup green onions
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1 1/2 cups chopped baby bella mushrooms
• 1 package of tater tots

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.

2. Place the ground turkey in a medium bowl and toss with the garlic, sage, green onion, egg, pepper, and 1 teaspoon salt.

   
   

   
   

3. Heat olive oil in a 10-inch skillet, cook the seasoned turkey mixture at 165°F until well done, then place the cooked turkey in a 9-by-13-inch baking dish.
4. Blanch the green beans in boiling water for 2-3 minutes, then plunge into ice water. Once they cool, drain them completely and mix them gently in a baking tray.

5. Fry the bacon until crisp, then cut into 1/4-inch pieces before adding to the baking dish.

   
   

   
   

6. Heat 2 tablespoons of butter. Once the butter foam subsides, add mushrooms to the melted butter.
7. Gently stir-fry the butter and mushrooms for 4-5 minutes, or about 2 minutes past the browning point. Take it off the heat and add it to the baking tray.

8. In a saucepan, melt the remaining butter over medium heat and sprinkle the flour into the butter. Let simmer for 2 minutes, then slowly stir in the milk and half and half. Cook for another 2 minutes, then add the diced onion, salt and pepper. After a minute, stir in 2 1/2 cups of cheese until melted.

   
   

   
   

9. Pour the cheese mixture over the ingredients in the baking dish.
10. Spread tater tots and remaining cheese over baking dish.
11. Bake for 45 minutes or until golden brown.

Walz’s recipe takes a lot of preparation, but the payoff is delicious

We recreated several recipes at Business Insider — including homemade butter. However, my favorites have always been simple, no-fuss meals that pack a punch and don’t take half a day to prepare.

From this point of view, Walz’s hot dish recipe is a winner.

The process took about 55 minutes in addition to the 45 minute baking time, so the recipe took almost 2 hours to complete.

Those who want to try it at home should know that most of the work of the recipe is preparing the ingredients. You’ll need to chop green beans, chop bacon, mince garlic, cook ground turkey, chop onions, and chop mushrooms.

Once prepared, the recipe is simple. Place everything in a 9-by-13-inch baking dish and bake in an oven. Ground meat acts as the base of the hot dish, topped with layers of green beans, bacon and mushrooms.

When I first read the recipe, I assumed it would be pretty simple, but I was pleasantly surprised by some of the choices Walz made with the hot dish. I liked that he used a cheddar cheese sauce for one of the layers because it helped to combine all the ingredients.

I also liked that she used butter instead of oil throughout the recipe. Granted, it’s not healthy, but it added a rich flavor and reminded me of old southern cooking.

Taste-wise, I thought the hot dish had good spice evenly proportioned in every bite. The tater tots were crispy after baking in the oven, adding a needed crunch to an otherwise bland entree.

The only thing I would change is to add a few drops of hot sauce to the roux for extra kick, which may be too much for the Walz itself. Overall, the recipe is solid. Based on my experience, it’s a great weeknight meal for large families or people tuning in for debate night.