A good friend of ours makes something she calls “Chili Crack,” which she brings to every party. It is simply cream cheese topped with a can of chili, then shredded cheese, and popped into the ‘wave until heated through and all melty goodness.
It is very popular, served with corn chips.
This is a similar idea, but with shredded hashed brown potatoes piled on some chili, baked, then topped with cheese; and it is also pretty popular.
The nice folx at Southern Living call for cooked ground meat mixed with a can each of chili and sloppy joe sauce; but I needed to make certain that the dish was gluten free, so I made my own Maid Rite Sammich filling and Bloody Mary Chili.
I even made my own gluten free Bloody Mary Mix for the chili, but you can feel free to follow their recipe.
INGREDIENTS
•1-1/2 lb ground meat, cooked and drained
•1 can chili with beans
•1 can sloppy joe sauce
•1 bag frozen shredded hash browns
•2 cups shredded cheese
Note: the Southern Living folx called for baking this in a 13×9 pan and using just 1/2 of the hash browns. I used a deep 11 inch round baking dish and used the whole bag.
Heat your oven to 425º and apply cooking spray to a baking dish.
Combine the cooked and drained meat with the chili and sloppy joe mix and spread on the bottom of the baking pan.
Cover tightly and bake for 30 minutes.
Uncover and bake for another ten minutes or so, until the hash browns are crispity.
Top with the shredded cheese and pop back into the oven for another five minutes or so, until the cheese is nicely melted.
Serve as you will.
I served ours topped with chopped scallions and Kielbasa Vinaigrette Salad with Blanched Asparagus on the side.
And it was all pretty tasty.