Hotdish is a Minnesota culinary institution. A traditional recipe typically consists of ground meat, a creamed soup, and a vegetable (usually canned), topped with tater tots and baked in an oven. Hotdish, however, is much more than a food: it is a cultural touchstone in the Upper Midwest, and an important part of how Minnesotans gather.
Every Minnesotan will tell you that hotdish is not a casserole—it just has casserole-like qualities. Inventive chefs and home cooks have adapted it over the years to suit different cuisines and preferences. In the 1930s and 1940s, they developed many of the elements we know and love today. Early hotdish recipes contained a meat; a starch such as noodles or rice; cheese; a vegetable; and soup cooked in an oven. It was a dish served at large gatherings (especially church luncheons) because it was cheap and easy to make.
The earliest known hotdish recipe comes from the 1930 cookbook of the Ladies Aid Society of the Grace Lutheran Church in Mankato, Minnesota. Contributed by C. W. Anderson, it calls for ground beef, tomato soup, Creamette pasta, and canned peas, baked in the oven at moderate heat. Other recipes from the period largely follow suit, but the type of meat, cheese, and soup can vary, highlighting the adaptive quality of the dish.
There is a misconception that hotdish originated among Swedish immigrants. The truth is more complicated. Some of the earliest hotdish recipes do come from the Swedish community, but the dish was also popular among other groups. All that can be said for certain is that hotdish comes from western Wisconsin, Minnesota, northern Iowa, and the eastern Dakotas—an area now christened Hotdish Country.
Hotdish was an easy, cost-effective meal to feed a large crowd, and in the midst of the Great Depression (1929–1940), these qualities were essential. Even for Americans who remained employed, cost was a major consideration in food choices. During this period, many cheap dishes—hotdish, creamed chipped beef, tuna noodle casserole, and peanut butter sandwiches—became part of the American diet.
After World War II, hotdish moved out of the church rec room and into Minnesotans’ kitchens and dining rooms. It served an important cultural purpose, not only as a dish served at social gatherings to express care, but as a recipe to be exchanged with both friends and strangers. Minnesotans served hotdish at bridal showers, funerals, political rallies, ethnic society events, dances, and, of course, church functions. Women exchanged hotdish recipes they found in cookbooks and newspapers, creating new connections and community.>
In the 1950s, hotdish acquired its iconic topping: tater tots. The Ore-Ida company first developed tater tots in 1953, and the product hit supermarkets in 1956. Tots were slow to connect with buyers but eventually developed a following, and by the 1960s, they were the go-to topping for hotdish. Some argue that a true hotdish must have tater tots.
In the twenty-first century, hotdish remained a beloved (though misunderstood by the uninitiated) piece of Minnesota culture. It maintained its cultural relevancy by remaining cheap, easy to prepare, and capable of feeding a large crowd. It is also proved adaptable—able to incorporate new cuisines and tastes as the demographics of Minnesota changed.
In 2011, Senator Al Franken instituted a hotdish cooking competition for the Minnesota congressional delegation. Starting in 2014, all ten members of the delegation participated. Senator Amy Klobuchar, Representative Tim Walz, and Representative Tom Emmer won the competition in 2011, 2016, and 2018, respectively. Representative Ilhan Omar won praise (and second place) for her “Little Moga-Hot-dishu” in 2019.
Recently, prominent Minnesota chefs have taken to making hotdish more in line with contemporary taste as well as more representative of the state. Food Network star and East Grand Forks resident Molly Yeh featured hotdish recipes in her blog and in her cookbook Molly on the Range, published in 2016. And in 2021, Chef Yia Vang contributed a Hmong hotdish recipe to the Food Network. Interviewed in 2020, Yang said, “Hotdish was created out of necessity. How do I feed a family of ten with one pound of meat? That is also the Hmong narrative....Hotdish tells the story of struggle and poverty, and that makes it soul food.”