Kid-friendly cheesy baked tater tots that are “Oh So Good” adults will love them too!
Whether you eat them with ketchup, dunk them in a spicy remoulade sauce or eat them naked straight from the oven, kids of all ages will love these homemade tater tots that are way better than store-bought ever hoped to be.
How to Make Crispy Homemade Tater Tots Baked from Scratch
We begin by choosing Wisconsin Russet potatoes for their thicker skins and flaky texture, thanks to their high starch and low moisture content. This quality allows our selected potatoes to absorb the oil, seasoning, and flavors from the bacon, cheese, and chives, making them the perfect potato for grating and staying intact without becoming mushy, giving us a creamy yet firm potato inside as they bake.
Leave the Skins On
The potato skins are left on so that we keep the added extra fiber (about 2 grams per ounce), and the B and C vitamins and other nutrients are retained. To make them easy to grate, we parboil the potatoes. Then once they are about halfway cooked and cooled, they’re grated into a large bowl, where grapeseed oil is added as a flavor natural oil and a small amount of flour to help hold things together. Next, simple spices are added and gently combined with all those ingredients, fluffing everything together by hand to keep things from becoming overworked and pasty.
Loads of Irresistible Flavor
To give these tots loads of irresistible flavor, we’ve chosen hickory-smoked home-cooked bacon, chopped into tiny bits, then combined off-the-block freshly grated cheddar cheese and garden-fresh cut chives in just the right amounts to spike the creamy potato insides while they bake.
How to Bake Tater Tots
Lastly, the tot mixture is divided into mini muffin tins that are generously coated with nonstick cooking spray before they’re baked. Each cavity is filled with about one tablespoon of the flaky potato mixture, then gently pressed into the muffin cup and flattened. Placing them in the oven, they bake until the first side is golden and crispy brown at the edges. Immediately, the tots are turned and then sprayed with oil afterward to finish baking to crisp perfection before serving.
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How to Parboil Potatoes
Scrub and remove any bad spots from russet potatoes and cut them into large chunks, placing them in a large pot. Continue by covering them with 1-inch cold water, then bring them to a boil over high heat. Immediately reduce the heat to medium to simmer for 6-7 minutes (the potatoes will only be halfway cooked). Drain and rinse with cold water until easy to handle.
Picture the recipe step-by-step...
Our Best Gfree Quick Tips
1) Make Them Ahead
You can speed up the making and baking process if you own multiple mini muffin tins. But despite whether you have one tin or many, the process is the same. Spray the tin generously with nonstick cooking spray, scoop the potato
mixture into each muffin cup cavity, press the mixture down, then cover each filled tin with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator until you’re ready to bake them. Before baking, let the tin(s) come to room temperature, then bake as directed in the recipe card.
Alternatively, the potato mixture can also be stored in a covered bowl in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours. When ready to bake, let the mixture come to room temperature, then bake as described.
2) Reheating
Leftover tater tots may be stored in the refrigerator, then slowly reheated in a 350°F (177°C) oven until warm and crispy.
3) How to Freeze Tater Tots
Prebake tater tots; reduce the time by half on each side as you bake, then freeze for up to three months. To freeze, arrange prebaked tater tots on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Place in the freezer for about an hour or until firmly frozen. Transfer the frozen tots to a tightly sealed, airtight container or tumble loosely into a freezer-safe zipper bag until needed.
Prepare frozen tots directly from the freezer in just the amount you need for a meal or a snack. Arrange frozen tots on a baking sheet. Place in a 425°F (218°C) oven and bake for 18-20 minutes or until crispy.
4) Create Some Mealtime Fun!
We know you’re all in for having fun in the kitchen and at the table, so why not try out a shaped muffin tin? The muffin tin method for making tater tots leaves lots of room for being creative in the kitchen. Because the potato mixture is packed into the muffin cups with your fingers, kids would love to help make these tots in different shapes and sizes. They’re also perfect for serving with other kid-friendly foods like homemade fish sticks!
Our heart-shaped mini muffin tin worked perfectly for making tots extra filled with l♥ve. Let your creativity flow; besides heart shapes, there are undoubtedly other shapes that could work just as well!
For more healthy recipes that you can make in advance, check out our round-up of ideas in the Meal Prep Collection!
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Kick ‘Em Up a Notch
Want to take these tater tots to the next level? Try a few of our favorite variations for doing it:
- Serve them cheesy hash brown style – Sprinkle with shredded cheddar cheese, then cover until the cheese melts. When covering, use a large dome skillet lid so the cheese won’t stick. To add some extra kick, garnish with sliced or diced jalapeños!
- Fully loaded – Top with your favorite freshly grated cheese, and crumbled bacon, then cover until the cheese melts.
- Poutine style – An “Up North” cousin to biscuits and gravy only with cheese curds and hash browns. Instead of using hash browns, top hot baked tater tots with either mozzarella or cheddar cheese curds and hot beef gravy for a Canadian-inspired treat that’s super delicious!
Tater Tots as a Breakfast Basic
There are so many ways to use tater tots to elevate the taste, even incorporating them into casseroles and probably creating zillions of other dishes we haven’t even thought of yet. But for now, here are a few of our favorite go-to ways to enjoy tater tots for breakfast:
Idaho Sunrise Style –
Make tater tots part of your breakfast by arranging baked tater tots in a skillet to form a large circle big enough to crack an egg into the middle. Season with salt and pepper. Cover the skillet and fry until the egg is cooked to your desired doneness.
Serve ‘Em Up Like Hash Browns –
Use leftover tater tots as you would hash brown potatoes to save you time on busy mornings. They make a delicious side to serve with scrambled eggs, pancakes, or waffles.
Make Hash Brown Patties –
If you’re a fan of the fast-food favorite, you might like to try making hash brown patties. Use several leftover tater tots or frozen tater tots that you want to use up. Chop them, then mix in an egg and a little biscuit or pancake mix, enough for the mixture to stay together. Form them into patties, then fry in a skillet with a bit of oil (sort of how you would do for a hamburger). When they’re golden brown on the first side, flip them to continue cooking the other side until it’s crispy, golden brown, and thoroughly cooked through.
Have you tried these homemade tater tots?
Let us know how you like them! Leave a comment below, share it, and rate it – it’s super helpful for other readers and us. Just click the blue-green comment bubble on the bottom right of your screen to jump to the comment area below. And as always, don’t forget to take a picture and tag it #CookingGfreeDeliciously on Instagram. We love seeing what you cook up!
XXO
Kymberley
P.S. For more healthy recipes that you can meal prep, check out our round-up of ideas in the Meal Prep Collection!
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Homemade Tater Tots
@ GfreeDeliciously
EQUIPMENT
- 1 Large pot or saucepan
- 1 Large mixing bowl
- 1 Mini Muffin Pan(s)
- 1 Box or Hand Grater or Food Processor with Grater Disc
- 1 Cutting Board
- Utensils (Cooks Knife, Measuring Cups & Spoons, Rubber Spatula or Large Spoon)
INGREDIENTS
- Nonstick cooking spray
- 6 strips Bacon cooked, chopped [1] (optional)
- 3 pounds Russet Potatoes
- 1 ½ tablespoon Grapeseed Oil
- 1 ½ tablespoon all-purpose gluten-free Flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons Kosher Salt
- 1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
- ½ teaspoon black Pepper
- ⅔ cup Cheddar Cheese grated (about 2 ounces)
- 4 tablespoons fresh Chives chopped, (or include any of these other substitutions [3])
INSTRUCTIONS
About the Bacon
- Cook bacon according to your favorite method until each strip is uniformly crisp, then dice into small pieces. [1]6 strips Bacon
For the Potatoes
- Preheat your oven to 425°F (218°C). Meanwhile, scrub and remove any bad spots from the potatoes and cut them into large chunks [2]. Next, parboil the potatoes by placing them in a large pot. Cover them with 1-inch cold water, then bring them to a boil over high heat. Immediately reduce the heat to medium to simmer for 6-7 minutes (the potatoes will only be halfway cooked). Drain and rinse with cold water until easy to handle.3 pounds Russet Potatoes
- Once cooled, grate the potatoes into a large bowl. Add the grapeseed oil, flour, salt, garlic powder, and black pepper. Using your hands, gently fluff and turn the ingredients into the potatoes until evenly distributed. Add the bacon, cheese, and chives, gently combining again. Don’t overmix, as the potatoes will become very starchy and pasty.6 strips Bacon, 3 pounds Russet Potatoes, 1 1/2 tablespoon Grapeseed Oil, 1 1/2 tablespoon all-purpose gluten-free Flour, 1 1/2 teaspoons Kosher Salt, 1 teaspoon Garlic Powder, 1/2 teaspoon black Pepper, 2/3 cup Cheddar Cheese, 4 tablespoons fresh Chives
To Make the Tater Tots
- Generously coat a 24-cup mini muffin tin with nonstick spray. This recipe will make about three batches. To form the tots, scoop about one large tablespoon of the potato mixture into each mini-muffin space, using your fingers to help press the potato mixture within the muffin cup, then flatten. When the cups are filled, bake for 12-15 minutes until the potatoes are golden browned around the edges. Remove from the oven, spray the top with more cooking spray, then turn each tot over using a spoon or table knife. Coat the tot tops again with cooking spray and return to the oven to continue baking for 12-15 minutes until golden browned.Nonstick cooking spray
YOUR OWN NOTES
KITCHEN NOTES
Footnotes:
[1] While including bacon in this recipe is purely optional, we highly recommend it for adding loads of flavor. To make bacon that turns out expertly cooked with uniformly crisp-cooked strips every single time, try one of our easy bacon cooking methods (posts coming soon):- Classic skillet-cooked bacon
- Crispy Air Fryer Bacon
- How to Make Oven-Baked Bacon
Our Best Gfree Quick Tips
Make Them Ahead
If you own multiple mini muffin tins, you can speed up the making and baking process. But whether you have one tin or many, the process is the same. Spray the tin generously with nonstick cooking spray, scoop the potato mixture into each muffin cup cavity, press the mixture down, then cover each filled tin with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator until you're ready to bake them. Before baking, let the tin(s) come to room temperature, then bake as directed above. The potato mixture can also be stored in a covered bowl in the refrigerator for one day. When ready to bake, let the mixture come to room temperature, then bake as described.Reheating
Leftover tater tots may be stored in the refrigerator, then slowly reheated in a 350°F (177°C) oven until warm and crispy.How to Freeze Tater Tots
Prebake tater tots; reduce the time by half on each side as you bake, then freeze for up to three months. To freeze, arrange the prebaked tater tots on a parchment-lined baking sheet and place them in the freezer for about an hour or until firmly frozen. Transfer the frozen tots to a tightly sealed, airtight container or tumble them loosely into a freezer-safe zipper bag until needed. Prepare frozen tots directly from the freezer in just the amount you need for a meal or a snack. Arrange frozen tots on a baking sheet. Place in a 425°F (218°C) oven and bake for 18-20 minutes or until crispy.Create Some Mealtime Fun!
We know you're all in for having fun in the kitchen and at the table, so why not try a shaped muffin tin? The muffin tin method for making tater tots leaves a whole lot of room for creativity in the kitchen. Because the potato mixture packs into the muffin cups with your fingers, kids would love to help make these tots in different shapes and sizes. Our heart-shaped mini muffin tin worked perfectly for making tots extra filled with l♥ve. Let your creativity flow; besides heart shapes, other shapes undoubtedly could work just as well!Suggested Serving Size
Please note: The nutrition calculations (below) are based on one tater tot. 180 Calories per 1 Serving = 6 Tater TotsNutrition
Recipe Card with Nutrition powered by WP Recipe Maker
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