Potato Chili Cheese Haystacks – a Mennonite Classic

Potato Chili Cheese Haystacks are essentially a “stack” of crushed tortilla chips, mashed potatoes, chili soup, specific toppings and cheese sauce; it’s a traditional classic in the Mennonite culture.

Mashed potatoes, chili soup, and cheese sauce all made from scratch are key ingredients in haystacks; despite the extra work it takes to cook it all, it’s worth it!

Everything all together with the specific toppings for haystacks (shredded lettuce and diced tomatoes), and crushed tortilla chips beneath everything to add a delightful crunch, haystacks have unique and tasty textures and flavors.

Why is it called a haystack?

Good question.

All the different ingredients all piled on one stack, might resemble a hay stack somewhat if you use your imagination I guess? 

Night-before-Christmas dinners would not have been complete without haystacks on the menu. 

Growing up, I always looked forward to eating supper by candle light, something we did every year on Christmas Eve. And it was our little tradition to always have haystacks that night to eat! 

Haystacks are delicious any time of the year. They’re a great meal idea for large gatherings, family dinners, summertime get-togethers, parties of all kinds, etc.

Ingredients for Potato Chili Cheese Haystacks

Tortilla Chips – to crush for the base layer of your haystack

For the chili soup

Onion – regular white onion, diced finely

Ground Beef – thawed 

Tomato Juice – we use home canned tomato juice but bought works great!

Chili beans – rinsed and drained. Sometimes we use black beans instead.

Chili powder

Black pepper

For the mashed potatoes

Potatoes – russet, Yukon gold, or red 

Salt 

Butter – salted

Milk – whole milk

For the Cheese Sauce

Butter – salted

Flour – any kind since this is simply to thicken the cheese sauce

Milk – whole milk

Velveeta cheese

Salt

Toppings

Shredded lettuce

Diced tomatoes

Supplies we used 

• Large skillet or soup pot
• 2 large saucepans
• Cutting board
• Kitchen Knife
• Wooden Utensils
• Whisk
• Electric handheld mixer or potato masher
• Strainer
• Measuring cups and spoons

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How to make Potato Chili Cheese Haystacks

First step: Make the Simple Chili Soup

First, cook and brown the ground beef with the onion in a large skillet or pan or soup pot. Drain off the excess grease and return the cooked and browned ground beef back to the pan.

Rinse and drain the chili beans and add them into the pan or pot along with the tomato juice, chili powder, and pepper. Simmer the simple chili for 20 – 30 minutes.

Second step: Make the cheese sauce.

You can find our recipe for homemade cheese sauce here, or follow these simple steps:

Melt butter in a saucepan and whisk in the flour.

Slowly add the milk, whisking all the while. Whisk and cook until slightly thickened. Add the salt and Velveeta and move to the warm zone at the back of the stove to allow the cheese to melt, stirring occasionally.

Third step: Make the mashed potatoes.

Peel and dice the potatoes and cook in a large saucepan or pot of water on medium heat for 15 to 20 minutes or until they’re soft.

Once the potatoes are soft, drain off the water, leaving the potatoes in their cooking pot. Then add the salt and the butter. Use an electric hand mixer (my favorite way!) or a potato masher to mash the potatoes directly in the cooking pot.

After the potatoes are mashed to your liking, (lump-free, ideally!) add the milk and stir, creating creamy and smooth mashed potatoes. Place a lid on the pot and set the mashed potatoes back on the burner with the burner turned on the lowest setting or off.

Fourth and final step: prepare the toppings.

Chop the lettuce and dice the tomatoes. (This can totally be done ahead of time, if you wish!)

If you made it this far, yay! You’re ready to transfer everything to serving dishes if you desire and serve your haystacks!

Crushed tortilla chips go on the bottom then add a serving of mashed potatoes, chili, and toppings of lettuce and tomatoes. Add a drizzle of cheese sauce and enjoy a Mennonite classic – Potato Chili Cheese Haystacks!

Notes

Store leftovers in airtight containers in the refrigerator.

With the leftovers, sometimes I’ll make a haystack casserole: layer the mashed potatoes on the bottom, followed by the chili soup and cheese sauce. To serve, add crushed tortilla chips, lettuce and tomatoes on top!

This recipe may challenge your multi-tasking skills! The total time it takes isn’t that much, but there are a lot of steps and dishes involved in making this recipe for haystacks recipe from scratch, the tradtional Mennonite way.

Potato Chili Cheese Haystacks are a great recipe option for get-togethers and organized potlucks. Have everyone bring a dish of one of the haystack ingredients and place them all together in a cafeteria serving line, or pass each dish individually around the table.

Potato Chili Cheese Haystacks Variations

Obviously, you could take an easier route and use canned chili soup, instant mashed potatoes and canned cheese sauce to simplify this recipe and save time! 

Corn chips make a fine substitute for tortilla chips.

Some people prefer cooked rice instead of mashed potatoes in haystacks. (Our favorite is mashed potatoes!)

For a thicker chili, use half tomato sauce and half tomato juice.

Instead of Velveeta cheese in the cheese sauce, you can use freshly grated cheddar cheese from a block although it may result in a more string-y cheese sauce.

The two traditional toppings for haystacks are lettuce and tomato; however, there a alot more delicious things you could add: salsa, ranch dressing, sour cream, fresh chives or green onions, dill pickle, black olives, or hot sauce even!

Have you tried Potato Chili Cheese Haystacks?

We’d love to know, leave a comment!

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Check out some more favorites from our small town

Pizza Casserole

Cheeseburger Soup

Gold Rush Breakfast Casserole

Thanks for visiting our small town!

’til next time,

Julie