The Cozy Cookbook is here! 
Tater Tot Casserole is a classic comfort food made with a flavorful beefy base, canned or frozen vegetables, an optional addition of cream of mushroom soup, cheese, and crispy tater tots. It’s easy to make ahead of time, freezer friendly, budget friendly, and a great way to feed a crowd!
When it comes to easy comfort foods, there’s nothing better than tater tot casserole. Especially this recipe. You’ll never taste one quite like this. Check out the ingredients compared to others out there. This can be made completely from scratch, with an optional addition of cream of mushroom soup to keep it traditional.
Scroll down to see what makes my casserole different from all the rest out there.
What is Tater Tot Casserole
- Tater Tot Casserole originated in the Midwest United States. It’s also referred to as “Tater Tot Hotdish”, or even just “Hotdish”.
- “Hotdish” is a combination of starch, meat, canned or frozen vegetables, and canned soup that are all baked together in one dish.
- “Tater Tot Casserole” specifically includes ground beef, vegetables, canned soup, and tater tots.
- It’s easy to make, budget friendly, and great for feeding a crowd.
My Tater Tot Casserole
- I like to make my tater tot casserole a bit differently than most recipes I’ve seen. It’s still super easy, but has much more depth of flavor to it than just ground beef, seasoning, and canned soup. In fact, the canned soup is completely optional in this recipe.
- I took inspiration from my easy shepherd’s pie, homemade sloppy joes, and my brown gravy recipe to create a beefy base that is FULL of flavor. Top it off with corn (or your veggie of choice), cheese, and tater tots.
- When I say that this beefy base is full of flavor, I’m talking ketchup, mustard, tomato paste, onions, garlic, bell peppers, and a homemade gravy with simple seasonings.
- This is baked at the perfect temperature to ensure super crispy tater tots on top of this delicious casserole.
How to Make It
See recipe card below this post for ingredient quantities and full instructions.
Cook/crumble ground beef and onions until cooked through. Add garlic and bell peppers and cook for 2 minutes. Drain grease.
Mix in salt/pepper, ketchup, yellow mustard, and tomato paste. Sprinkle in flour and stir to combine. Cook for 2 minutes.
Add the beef broth/seasoning mixture in small splashes and use a silicone spatula to “clean” the bottom of the pot, as this will add more flavor to the sauce.
Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer. Let it thicken and reduce for 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
Top with corn, then with cheese.
Add tater tots in an even layer on top. Bake for 40 minutes. Remove from oven and add additional ½ cup cheese. Bake 5 more minutes.
Optional: Garnish with chives and crispy bacon or bacon bits prior to serving.
Make Ahead Method
Refrigerator (up to 2 days ahead):
- Prepare the filling, add the vegetables, and add the cheese. Don’t add the tater tots. Cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days.
- Cover and bake it at 375° for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and add frozen tater tots.
- Bake it uncovered for 40 minutes. Sprinkle additional 1/2 cup cheese, bake for 5 more minutes. Serve.
Freezer (up to 3 months ahead):
- Prepare the filling, add the vegetables, and add the cheese. Don’t add the tater tots. Cover, label, and freeze for up to 3 months.
- Let it thaw overnight in the fridge. Cover and bake it at 375° for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and add frozen tater tots.
- Bake it uncovered for 40 minutes. Sprinkle additional 1/2 cup cheese, bake for 5 more minutes. Serve.
Pro Tips
- Don’t bake this any higher than 375°, otherwise the base gets too hot/bubbly and the tater tots sink down into it. (Trust me. 🥴)
- To control the sodium: Use low sodium broth and soy sauce. The bouillon can be omitted as well, but it does add a nice depth of flavor.
- Bell Peppers aren’t traditionally included in tater tot casserole but they add a nice flavor and texture to the recipe. Feel free to omit if preferred.
- Canned or frozen green beans or mixed vegetables can also be used instead of corn.
- Ground turkey can be used instead of ground beef.
- A variety of cheeses work well in this recipe. Feel free to experiment. Monterey Jack would be an excellent choice as well as some Parmesan or Mozzarella.
Storage
- Store in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
Tools For This Recipe
(Amazon affiliate links)- Check out all of my kitchen essentials here.
- This is the skillet I used in this recipe, (and in 90% of my recipes). It’s pricey, but it conducts heat really well and is oven safe. The size is perfect and the quality is great.
- Better Than Bouillon is my brand of choice for broth. Add 1 tsp. of it with 1 cup of water to create 1 cup of broth. It’s easy to customize the amounts that you need to cook with and it takes up very little storage space in the fridge.
Try These Next
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- Ground Beef and Noodles
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- Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole
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- One Pot Spaghetti
-
- Tuna Noodle Casserole
-
- Salisbury Steak
-
- Chicken Noodle Casserole
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Tater Tot Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 lb. Ground Beef
- 1 small yellow onion, diced
- 2 cloves Garlic, minced
- 1 cup bell peppers, diced- any color
- 2 teaspoons Ketchup
- 3 teaspoons Yellow Mustard
- 1 Tablespoon tomato paste
- 2 Tablespoons Flour
- 1 cup frozen corn
- 2 ½ cups Cheddar Cheese, separated
- 32 oz. Tater Tots, frozen
For the Gravy/Sauce:
- 2 cups Beef Broth
- 1 chicken bouillon
- 1 teaspoon Soy Sauce
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
Optional
- 10.5 oz. low sodium cream of mushroom soup
Instructions
Prep Work:
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Combine the gravy/sauce ingredients and set aside. (2 c. beef broth, chicken bouillon, 1 tsp. soy sauce, 1 tsp. onion powder, and ½ tsp. garlic powder.) Set aside.
Prepare the Beef Mixture:
- Cook/crumble the ground beef with the onions over medium-high heat until browned and cooked through. Add minced garlic and bell peppers. Cook for 1-2 minutes. Drain grease well.
- Season lightly with salt/pepper, ketchup, yellow mustard, and tomato paste. Stir to combine.
- Sprinkle flour over the meat mixture and stir to combine. Cook for 2 minutes, until you can no longer smell flour.
- Add the beef broth mixture in small splashes and use a silicone spatula to “clean” the bottom of the pot, as this will add more flavor to the sauce. Don’t add the liquid too quickly in order to keep the base nice and thick.
- Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer. Let it thicken and reduce for 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
- Optional: Spread cream of mushroom soup over the top of the beef if preferred.
Assemble Casserole/Bake
- If your skillet isn’t oven safe, transfer to a lightly greased 9 x 13 casserole dish. Top with corn, then with 2 cups of the cheese.
- Top with an even layer of frozen tater tots.
- Bake for 40 minutes. Remove from oven and add additional ½ cup cheese. Bake 5 more minutes.
- Optional: Garnish with chives and crispy bacon or bacon bits prior to serving.
Notes
- Don't bake this any higher than 375°, otherwise the base gets too hot/bubbly and the tater tots sink down into it. (Trust me. 🥴)
- To control the sodium: Use low sodium broth and soy sauce. The bouillon can be omitted as well, but it does add a nice depth of flavor.
- Bell Peppers aren't traditionally included in tater tot casserole but they add a nice flavor and texture to the recipe. Feel free to omit if preferred.
- Canned or frozen green beans or mixed vegetables can also be used instead of corn.
- Ground turkey can be used instead of ground beef.
- A variety of cheeses work well in this recipe. Feel free to experiment. Monterey Jack would be an excellent choice as well as some Parmesan or Mozzarella.
Make Ahead Method Refrigerator (up to 2 days ahead):
- Prepare the filling, add the vegetables, and add the cheese. Don't add the tater tots. Cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days.
- Cover and bake it at 375° for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and add frozen tater tots.
- Bake it uncovered for 40 minutes. Sprinkle additional 1/2 cup cheese, bake for 5 more minutes. Serve.
- Prepare the filling, add the vegetables, and add the cheese. Don't add the tater tots. Cover, label, and freeze for up to 3 months.
- Let it thaw overnight in the fridge. Cover and bake it at 375° for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and add frozen tater tots.
- Bake it uncovered for 40 minutes. Sprinkle additional 1/2 cup cheese, bake for 5 more minutes. Serve.
- Store in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
- Leftovers can be reheated in the microwave or baked at 350 in a lightly greased/covered casserole dish until heated through. (Amount of time depends on serving size.)
this is a comfort classic, wld recommend only using 1/2 C of sauce mixture if you want a thicker meat mixture, also have for few years now, used frozen shredded hashbrowns instead of tater tots just bcuz the tater tots are tedious, the shredded hashbrowns toast up nice & crunchy as well.
I’m so glad that you love the recipe Karlin, thanks for sharing your thoughts! 🙂
Y’all! You need to make this – it is so good! I’ve always been kind of “meh” about the ones made with the cream of mushroom soup. You may be tempted to use the soup but please try it with the homemade sauce, it made such a difference.
I’m thrilled to hear you say that Jill, I can’t get over the homemade sauce either, SO good! 🙂 Thank you so much!
Made the tater tot casserole on a rainy day and the family loved it. I only ended up using 1/2 cup of the gravy/sauce mixture to keep the meat mixture thicker and added extra seasoning to the beef. Very cozy meal!
I’m so happy you liked it Arianna, definitely a cozy meal. Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a review❤️