Tasty Tater Tot Casserole

This straightforward consolation meals begins with a flavorful and meaty, made-from-scratch sauce. Topped with crispy tater tots and shredded cheese, then baked to perfection. It’s a straightforward, hearty dinner that everybody loves.

For simpler dinners, strive our One Pot Queso Chicken and Rice or our Ground Beef Tacos.

Why Our Recipe

Prepared in underneath an hour, good for busy weeknights.
Loaded with meat, veggies, crispy tots, and all of the melty cheese.
No canned cream of something right here! Our fast and simple sauce is do-it-yourself.

A piece of Tasty Tater Tot Casserole being dished out of pan.

Don’t knock the tater tots! Whereas tater tots would possibly remind you of your youthful years, there’s nothing infantile about this meal. It’s hearty, comforting, and full of taste. Plus, I really like the hidden veggies—it’s so scrumptious and creamy that children gained’t even discover they’re in there! This straightforward consolation meals casserole is ideal for busy weeknights and potlucks. Plus, it’s the proper easy-to-transport meal if you end up needing to make dinner for a neighbor or pal.

Ingredient Notes

Ingredients for Tasty Tater Tot Casserole.

Floor Beef: Go for lean floor beef (85/15 or 93/7) to attenuate extra grease. You can too substitute with floor turkey, pork, or rooster.
Onion: We used a white onion, however yellow onions work nicely too.
Flour: That is the thickening agent for the sauce. Cornstarch may also be utilized in half the quantity so for this recipe, you’d use 1/4 cup of cornstarch.
Beef Broth: Use low-sodium broth to raised management the flavour.
Milk: Use entire, 2%, 1%, skim, and even milk alternate options. No matter you’ve obtained readily available.
Worcestershire Sauce: Can substitute with soy sauce with a splash of vinegar.
Corn Kernels: Canned corn works completely, simply make sure to drain the liquid. You can too use frozen.
Inexperienced Beans: Canned inexperienced beans work nice. You should use minimize or French-style inexperienced beans. Frozen works too!
Tater Tots: Discovered within the frozen aisle close to the French fries.
Shredded Cheddar Cheese: We advocate freshly shredded cheddar cheese because it melts higher than pre-shredded, which comprises components.

Selfmade Sauce

Casseroles are supposed to be straightforward, however they typically comprise a can of cream of rooster or cream of mushroom soup. It’s handy, however right here at The Keep At Dwelling Chef, we prefer to feed our households entire meals wherever doable.

Plus, do-it-yourself sauces are straightforward! It’s actually only a matter of blending butter with flour and including a liquid. You have already got to brown the bottom beef for this recipe. That implies that making a do-it-yourself sauce as an alternative of utilizing cream of rooster soup provides lower than 5 minutes to your cooking time.

A collage of nine images showing the process of making tater tot casserole from start to finish.

Make Forward

This tater tot casserole is already extremely straightforward to assemble proper earlier than baking, however you’ll be able to simply make this forward of time. Merely put together the dish, however skip the baking half. As an alternative, cowl it up good and tight with plastic wrap or aluminum foil, then pop it within the fridge for as much as 24 hours.

When it’s time to bake, pull it out and let it cling at room temperature for 20 minutes whereas the oven preheats. Then bake as directed, including an additional 5–10 minutes to verify it’s scorching and cooked during.

A bite of Tasty Tater Tot Casserole on a fork.

Make it A Freezer Meal

Make this meal forward of time and freeze it for future use! Assemble the casserole however don’t bake it but. Wrap the dish tightly in two layers of plastic wrap, adopted by a layer of aluminum foil to maintain it contemporary and stop freezer burn. Be sure you label it with the date and baking directions—it’ll keep good for as much as 3 months.

Whenever you’re able to take pleasure in, bake as directed, including 10–15 additional minutes to make sure it’s totally heated by way of.

Professional tip: Freeze in smaller parts for handy, particular person meals. Merely reheat within the microwave or oven at any time when starvation strikes!

Storage & Reheating

Refrigerate leftovers in an hermetic container for as much as 3 days.

Freeze leftover parts in a freezer-safe container or coated completely with 2 layers of plastic wrap and a layer of aluminum foil for as much as 3 months.

Reheat parts within the microwave on excessive in 30-second increments or within the oven at 350°F till heated by way of, about 20 minutes.