Slop!

We've tried for years to come up with a better name for this yummy meal, but with no luck. We finally gave up...it's been Slop for years, and so it will stay!

This was originally written and posted November 7th, 2010, but I made Slop again last week and decided to repost the recipe now. I kept the pictures like they were last year (with a tiny bit of tweaking,) but I will insert other ideas and thoughts as they come to me. :) Enjoy!

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away (350 miles..wow!) there lived a man with a mother-in-law. (Weird, I know) This mother-in-law was cooking supper one evening, when the son-in-law peered over her shoulder at the pot on the stove, and said “What is that??? Looks like slop!”

Well, the mother-in-law is my grandmother, the son-in-law is my dad, and Slop is now a multi-generational favorite meal around here. Over the years it has evolved into what I’m posting today. Slop was originally a bunch of leftover stuff from the fridge, and it is now a complete recipe, sometimes still containing leftovers, in the Mexican family. Slop is a wonderful party food; it makes a lot, everyone loves it, and everyone wants the recipe. And, it’s an incredibly easy meal to throw together in a hurry! If you’ve never had slop (and I’m pretty sure you probably haven’t, unless you’ve been guests in our house!) you really need to give it a try. It’s better than it sounds…I promise!

Start off by browning 2 pounds of ground beef…

While that’s cooking, I mix up a homemade taco seasoning sort of thing…

2 teaspoons chili powder…

A teaspoon of cumin…

A teaspoon of garlic powder, and another of oregano…

Then season the meat with Tony Chachere’s (notice the lack of salt in the seasoning we mixed up…) and then the taco seasoning…

After the meat’s cooked, drain if neccessary, and return to the pan. Here’s what we’re going to put in…

A jar of salsa…I usually mix mild and medium salsas when I cook. You can adjust the amount of salsa to the desired thickness of the finished product, but start with 24 oz. You can thin it up later, if you want…

Now, we used to put a can of cheese soup in here, and then we switched to a jar of the “Lays” cheese dip, and now I started using the “Mexican Dipping Cheese” found in Walmart over by the cream cheese. It’s a block of cheese stuff, and I’d chop it up and put it in. I was a blondey here and I heated it up with milk first. Mom came in and said “why didn’t you just chop the cheese up and throw it in???” Um…yeah! What a smart idea! I ended up putting in the whole block of that cheese. (I know just cut it up in small chunks and throw it in with the meat and stuff. I get smarter as I get older, I guess.)

2 cups of cheese. This was leftover in the fridge, already grated up, and it’s a mix of regular cheddar and raw cheddar. Use whatever you like…

Now 1-2 cups of rice. This rice was also leftover, a Mexican rice that Mom had made earlier in the week. You can use white, brown, mexican…or just leave it out! It does make if go further, though! (We like to take a cup or so out any time we cook rice and put it in the freezer, just to have on hand.)

A can of refried beans…

Yes, I did have to get a spoon to get that out.

And some cilantro! This was leftover, so I don’t know how much I used. The more the better, I’d say! I’d put in a whole bunch usually. A whole bunch, like the bunch it comes in in the store… :)

2 cups of sour cream…

And that’s it! Stir it all in very carefully, if your pan is the size of mine!

Now it has to do is heat through, and it’ll be ready! Don’t worry if it’s a little thick now, because it will get thinner as it heats. This is how we serve it…use your imagination!

Some of us like it on top of tortilla chips with sour cream…

Others like everything separate, and assemble while they eat… (sour cream, jalapenos, and guacamole pictured)

Still others like their’s right out of the pan…

He’s real excited…he’s bananas.

You need to try it…Slop is really good!

Printable Recipe!