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Tater Tot Casserole

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Here’s one that the entire family is sure to love! This hearty tater tot casserole is quick and easy to throw together, so it’s perfect for the busy work-week. Tater tots are bite-sized morsels of grated potatoes. For this casserole dish, you can use store-bought or these easy homemade tater tots.

Tips to Make this Tater Tot Casserole

If you’re really trying to stretch a dollar and cut back on expenses you can use ground turkey or textured vegetable protein in place of the ground beef this recipe. Add 1 tsp beef bouillon to the meat as it’s browning to give it that “beefy” flavor.

Ground turkey may or may not be inexpensive in your area, for us it about $1.65 a pound at Aldi. Depending on your area it can be as much as $4 a pound.

Homemade Tater Tot Casserole

TVP is textured vegetable protein and is often used as an “extender” in recipes.

 

tater-tot-casserole

Budget101 Tater Tot Casserole

You’ll Need:

2 lbs ground beef or ground turkey
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 small onion, finely diced
10 oz-can cream of mushroom soup (Low sodium & homemade are fine to use as well!)
1 cup sour cream (low fat is okay)
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided
frozen tater tots (if you’re not using homemade you’ll need a 32oz pkg of store-bought tater-tots)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly spritz a 9 x 13 baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.

In a skillet, saute the onion in 2 teaspoons of olive oil until translucent. Add the ground beef or turkey, Season with salt and pepper, and cook until no longer pink. Carefully drain off any fat. Spread the cooked, hot ground beef in the prepared baking dish.

Whisk together the condensed soup and sour cream, then evenly spread the mixture over the browned meat. Sprinkle one cup of cheddar cheese over the soup layer. At this point, you can add 1-2 cups of frozen vegetable such as peas, corn, etc if you’d like.

Top with tater tots. Bake 30 minutes. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top. Bake another 5-10 minutes until cheese is melted.

Tater Tot Casserole

Casserole Flavor Variations

To alter the flavor of the casserole consider adding one of the following:

    • 1 Tbs Fresh Chopped Chives
    • 1 Tbs. Chipotle Pepper  (add this while browning the beef)
    • 1 finely chopped fresh jalapeno (seeds removed unless you want it incredibly spicy!!)
    • 1/4 c. Bacon Pieces, finely chopped
    • 1-2 cups of frozen veggies such as corn, peas, carrots, green beans, chopped broccoli
    • Love Cheese? Substitute Campbells condensed cheddar cheese soup in place of the cream of mushroom soup to a create a super cheesy casserole

If you don’t have the cream of mushroom soup, you can try cream of chicken soup, cream of broccoli soup, or cream of bacon soup as a substitute, or change of pace for flavor.


Tater Tot Breakfast Casserole

This delicious tater tot breakfast casserole is reminiscent of Cracker barrels cheesy hash brown potato casserole! It offers great flavor and feeds a crowd cheaply.

You’ll Need:

1 lb breakfast sausage
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 small onion, finely diced
10 oz-can cream of chicken soup
1 cup sour cream
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided
frozen tater tots (if you’re not using homemade you’ll need a 32oz pkg of store-bought tater-tots)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly spritz a 9 x 13 baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.

In a skillet, saute the onion in 2 teaspoons of olive oil until translucent. Add the ground sausage, and cook until no longer pink. Carefully drain off any fat. Spread the cooked, hot ground sausage in the prepared baking dish.

Whisk together the condensed soup and sour cream, then evenly spread the mixture over the browned sausage. Sprinkle one cup of cheddar cheese over the soup layer. If you’d like additional meat, crumble add a few slices of cooked bacon over the soup layer.

Top with tater tots, then season with salt and pepper.  Bake 30 minutes. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top. Bake another 5-10 minutes until cheese is completely melted.

© Can Stock Photo Inc. / DreamBigPhotos

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11 thoughts on “Tater Tot Casserole”

  1. wowzer, that would be some cheap ground beef or ground turkey!! we are in the $4/pound area 🙁 and our area isn’t “rich” by any means.
    Can’t wait to make this though!

    Reply
  2. the first time i tried this… i had hardly anything on hand. so, i did it simply with ground beef, onions, creamed corn, s&p, and tots.

    was very tasty!!! dubbed it “quick and easy shepherds pie” in our house because it didn’t seem like a “casserole” per se.
    have also used a can of beans to get the ground beef to stretch a bit further when funds were low (added bonus it upped the nutritional value).

    Reply
  3. i have used rice to stretch the ground beef. i don’t use sour cream but just use a bit more cream of anything soup. and i use a cheese type of soup.

    in other words, very adaptable. and chicken works too.

    Reply
  4. i have found about a half-a- dozen recipes for tater tots. they all sound great ground beef and spaghetti sauce, ground beef and sloppy j mix and this one with chicken, chicken and broccoli soup and cheese. i think the family will like the new ides.:2cents:

    Reply
  5. Made this yesterday, the family loved it!! my husband even took the leftovers for lunch today. He’s NOT a leftover person.

    Reply
  6. My wife makes this recipe and brings it to our church gatherings, I have to say, This tater tot casserole is always the first dish to be scraped clean at the church potluck!
    Sometimes she uses ground venison, sometimes a mixture, it just depends what we have on hand.

    Reply

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