The usual Tater Tot Casserole is made of ground beef, a canned soup or two, cheddar cheese, seasonings, and frozen tater tots. I used to eat this a lot in my 20s; now it’s a family favorite.
You can create endless variations of this recipe by adding frozen vegetables or switching up the seasonings, like in our Tater Tot Enchilada Casserole.
What goes in this tater tot casserole recipe?
Tater tots – It doesn’t matter what brand of tater tots that you buy but I do recommend leaving them frozen until the last minute. They will be easier to arrange on top of the dish if they aren’t soft. This doesn’t impact the flavor. It just makes putting it all together a little bit easier.
Cream of mushroom soup – You can swap other condensed cream soups to use up what you have on hand.
Sauteed onions – When I was younger I didn’t saute the onions for this recipe but my goodness does it add such wonderful flavor.
If you are in a hurry you can skip this step. Every time that I saute onions, whomever in the house finds their way to the kitchen to see what I am cooking.
Sauteed garlic – Just like with the onions this is an optional step but it is so worth it. Mincing garlic is a bit annoying if you are in a hurry in the kitchen.
This is why we cheat a bit and keep minced garlic jars in the fridge. This saves us a nice chunk of time but fresh garlic is always best.
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Sharp cheddar cheese – This cheese really complements the dish well. Some people just prefer cooking with a milder cheddar and that is perfectly fine. Try it sometime with an extra sharp cheese—it really adds a nice tang!
Ranch dressing mix – We use this so often in recipes and it adds a tasty flavor kick. If you don’t have any on hand, here is our homemade ranch mix recipe. When I discovered that I could mix in a few tablespoons of this mix here and there it really added a depth of flavor to dishes.
Tips on making tater tot casserole and variations
- Try different cheeses with this casserole. While sharp cheddar is our favorite cheese for this casserole you can experiment with a Mexican blend cheese or a Colby blend. Get creative with the cheeses and feel free to even add more in the bottom of the pan for a little surprise when people dig in.
- Considering adding a layer of frozen veggies to your tater tot casserole. Some people like to add frozen broccoli or frozen green beans. Add the frozen vegetables to the skillet and mix it right in before adding it to the baking dish.
- Back in the day when I had a long commute, I would make this dish in advance cover it and store it in the freezer. If you like to meal prep in advance this is a perfect dish for that. My tip is to pull it from the freezer and place it in the fridge before work in the morning. Then when you get home just pop it in the oven.
- Turn this into a single pan recipe by cooking it all in your cast iron skillet. You can fry up the meat and saute the onion and garlic in the same skillet. Then when everything is done and mixed, place the tater tots on top. Transfer the entire skillet in the oven and bake. This will reduce clean up time and cast iron skillets provide an extra layer of flavor. Plus this is a beautiful way to present your meal when it is done.
What sides to serve with tater tot casserole
Tater tot casserole is a heavy meat and potatoes dish so the best sides to serve with would be light in nature. Here are our suggestions for the best side dishes.
Green salad – A simple green salad that includes romaine lettuce, cucumber, and some diced tomatoes. The best salad dressing to compliment the tater tot casserole would be a light vinaigrette.
Green beans – Simple green beans can complement this casserole quite well. Don’t be shy about popping open a can of green beans, heating them up and serving them. Sure you could saute them or even cook them with bacon.
Canned corn – You can do so much to spice up a can of corn. Corn complements the flavors of tater tot casserole so well. It is often my favorite go-to side dish. Try our skillet fried corn or skillet creamed corn.
Tater Tot Casserole Recipe
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Ingredients
- 1 24 oz package of frozen tater tots If you want full tot coverage, go with a 32-oz package
- 1 T olive oil
- 1 lb ground beef
- 2 c sharp cheddar cheese
- 1 10.75 oz can cream of mushroom soup
- 1 small onion
- 1 T minced garlic
- 3 T ranch seasoning mix
- cooking spray
- 4 T milk or water
Instructions
- Prep the ingredients – Shred the cheese, dice the onion and mince the garlic.
- Preheat the oven to 350 F. Spray a 9×13 casserole dish with cooking spray. Set aside.
- Brown the ground beef in a large skillet on medium high heat. Using your spatula, break up the meat into small pieces as it is cooking.
- Drain the ground beef. Set aside.
- Wipe out the skillet with a paper towel. (Be careful; it will likely still be warm.) Add the olive oil to the skillet and turn it back to medium high heat.
- Add in the onion. Stir often. Sauté until onions start to turn translucent.
- Turn temperature to medium low. Add the minced garlic and ranch seasoning mix. Stir to combine.
- Add ground beef back to pan. Spoon in the cream of mushroom soup and 4 T of milk or water and stir to combine. Remove from heat.
- Transfer the beef mixture into the 9×13 baking pan and level it with a spoon or spatula.
- Sprinkle 1 ½ cup of cheddar cheese over mixture making sure to evenly coat.
- Arrange tater tots in rows across the top of the mixture.
- Bake for 30 to 45 minutes or until tater tots start to brown.
- Remove the casserole from the oven and sprinkle the remaining cheese on top.
- Bake for another 10 minutes or until cheese is fully melted.
- Serve while hot!
Notes
- We keep a jar of minced garlic in our refrigerator. We use it so often and this makes life easier.
i must make this
Just finished dinner! My tweaks: I only had Italian dressing packet and cream of chicken soup so I used those. It doesn’t say how big of a tater tots bag so I had half of a 32-oz bag of tots from Aldi and it made a perfect single layer on top of the 9×13 pan. My ground beef wasn’t fatty so I didn’t drain or rinse it. I used less onion, garlic paste cuz it’s what I had on hand. Plus I had white and yellow cheddar so I used both. This came out so good and it was super easy! Feeds an army haha so be prepared for leftovers. I was tempted to keep peeking but let it bake for that first 45 minutes so your tots get crispy.