There are plenty of reasons to go to the fair — the rides, the games, the animals and the people watching — but we all know the food deserves a category of its own.
The Piedmont Interstate Fair returns to Spartanburg Oct. 13-18, and this year’s lineup includes more than 30 food vendors. Fair organizers specifically tease favorites including hamburgers, funnel cakes, candy apples and cotton candy, along with plenty more throughout the midway and food court.
Personally, I have one fair food rule: I never leave without a foot-long corn dog. I don’t need one any other time of the year. But once a year, at the fair, that oversized corn dog covered in mustard is happening.
While we wait for the real thing, this week’s recipe takes another kind of over-the-top fair food and makes it easy enough to serve at home: Buffalo chicken loaded tater tots.
It has everything good fair food should have — crispy, cheesy, a little messy and definitely not something you need a fork and knife to eat properly.
Buffalo Chicken Loaded Tater Tots
Ingredients:
• 1 (32-ounce) bag frozen tater tots
• 2 cups cooked shredded chicken
• 1/2 cup Buffalo sauce, plus more to taste
• 2 cups shredded cheddar or cheddar-Jack cheese
• 4 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
• 1/4 cup sliced green onions
• Ranch or blue cheese dressing, for drizzling
• Crumbled blue cheese, optional
• Sliced jalapeños, optional
Directions:
Heat the oven according to the tater tot package directions, usually around 425 degrees.
Spread the tots in a single layer on a large sheet pan and bake until very crispy. Don’t rush this part. You want them sturdy enough to hold all those toppings.
While the tots cook, toss the shredded chicken with the Buffalo sauce.
Once the tots are golden and crisp, pile the Buffalo chicken evenly over the top. Sprinkle generously with shredded cheese and bacon, then return the pan to the oven for about 5 minutes, or until the cheese is completely melted.
Finish with green onions, a drizzle of ranch or blue cheese dressing and, if you like them, crumbled blue cheese and sliced jalapeños.
Then put the pan in the middle of the table and let everybody dig in.
Feeding a crowd?
Turn the same recipe into a Buffalo chicken tater tot casserole. Layer the crispy tots in a 9-by-13-inch baking dish, add the Buffalo chicken, bacon and cheese, and bake until everything is hot and bubbly. Add the dressing and fresh toppings after it comes out of the oven.
Double it for a party or game day and you have an easy crowd-friendly dinner that still has that gloriously excessive fair-food feel.
Make it kid-friendly
If Buffalo sauce is a little too spicy for your crew, make a second pan with barbecue chicken loaded tots.
Toss the shredded chicken with your favorite barbecue sauce instead of Buffalo sauce. Top with shredded cheddar and mozzarella, bacon and a little extra barbecue sauce. Skip the blue cheese and jalapeños, and serve ranch on the side for dipping.
You could even divide one sheet pan in half — Buffalo for the adults and barbecue for the kids.
Of course, homemade loaded tots aren’t going to stop us from eating our way through the real thing.
The Piedmont Interstate Fair runs Tuesday, Oct. 13, through Sunday, Oct. 18, at the Piedmont Interstate Fairgrounds in Spartanburg. Along with all that fair food, expect carnival rides, games, livestock and exhibits, live entertainment and plenty of reasons to make a full day — or night — of it.
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