Tater Tot Casserole is the ultimate comfort food, combining a creamy, savory filling with golden, crispy tots for an easy, family-friendly meal. It comes together with simple ingredients and plenty of hearty flavor, making it perfect for busy weeknights.
I love to serve it with a simple green salad, and homemade garlic bread to soak up every bit of the sauce!
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Holly’s Recipe Highlights: Tater Tot Casserole
- Flavor: Creamy, savory beef and vegetable filling with melted cheddar and a crisp tater tot topping.
- Why Make It: This all-in-one casserole is hearty, budget-friendly, easy to customize, and perfect for feeding a family or making ahead.
- Make Ahead: Assemble the casserole, leaving off the tater tots, up to a day in advance. Then top with frozen tater tots just before baking.
Cook Time: 1 Hr (15 Min Prep!) Serving: 6 Cook Method: Skillet and Oven
Ingredient Notes
- Tater Tots: Use regular frozen tater tots, keeping them frozen until you’re ready to bake. Swap for potato crowns or mini tots.
- Ground Beef: Use lean ground beef and drain it well after cooking. Ground turkey or chicken can be substituted for a leaner option.
- Mixed Vegetables: Use a frozen mixture with peas, carrots, corn, and green beans. Thaw and drain them first, or cook fresh vegetables until just tender.
- Cream of Mushroom Soup: Use condensed cream of mushroom soup straight from the can. Replace with condensed cream of chicken soup, celery soup, or cheddar soup to change up the flavor.
- Oregano and Parsley: These herbs add a light, savory flavor to the casserole. Both can be replaced with an Italian seasoning blend.
How to Make Tater Tot Casserole
- Brown the ground beef and the onion.
- Combine the filling ingredients (full recipe below).
- Sprinkle with more cheese and top with tater tots. Then bake until golden brown.
Storing Tater Tot Casserole
- Refrigerate: Cool leftovers, transfer them to an airtight container, and refrigerate for up to 4 days.
- Freezing: Freeze the assembled casserole (minus the tater tots) before baking, or freeze cooked leftovers for up to 4 months.
- Baking From Frozen: Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then add freshly shredded cheese and top with tater tots before baking according to the recipe instructions.
More Comfort Food Casseroles
Did you enjoy this Tater Tot Casserole Recipe? Leave a comment and rating below.
Tater Tot Casserole
Seasoned ground beef and vegetables are baked in a creamy sauce with cheddar cheese and a crisp, golden tater tot topping.
Ingredients
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1 medium yellow onion diced
- 2 cups frozen mixed vegetables thawed, or fresh diced vegetables
- 1 (10.5 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
- ⅓ cup milk
- ¼ teaspoon dried oregano
- ¼ teaspoon dried parsley
- salt and black pepper to taste
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese divided
- 1 (28 to 30 ounce) bag frozen tater tots
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F.
- In a large skillet over medium-high heat, brown the ground beef and onion until no pink remains. Drain any fat.
- In a medium bowl, mix the thawed vegetables, soup, milk, seasonings, beef mixture, and ½ cup shredded cheese.
- Spread the beef mixture into a 3QT or 9×13-inch baking dish. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top.
- Top with tater tots and bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until the sauce is bubbly and the tots are golden brown.
Video
Notes
- Frozen vegetables should be thawed first. Any variation or mixture of vegetables can be added.
- Canned mushroom soup can be substituted with other “cream of” soups, gravy, or even a can of gravy or tomato soup.
- Any size casserole dish can be used for this recipe. A deeper dish may need a little bit of extra cooking time.
- This casserole can be assembled ahead of time and refrigerated. If chilled from the fridge, it will require extra baking time.
- Leftovers will keep for 4 days in the refrigerator and 4 months in the freezer.
Nutrition Information
Calories: 675 | Carbohydrates: 49g | Protein: 29g | Fat: 42g | Saturated Fat: 16g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 15g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 94mg | Sodium: 1280mg | Potassium: 817mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 3491IU | Vitamin C: 17mg | Calcium: 338mg | Iron: 3mg
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Beef, Casserole, Dinner, Entree
Cuisine American© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
Yum…thank you
Glad you liked it, thanks for leaving a comment Teresa!
I’m gonna put hot sausage in my attempt. I’m not really sure what veggies would pair best with spicy sausage?
Sounds delicious Rex! I love bell peppers, zucchini, carrots, and onion with hot sausage. Let us know how it goes!
I feel its a better dish if its assembled with the tots on the bottom of the baking dish… the amount of moisture in the recipe will make a big difference in the quality and taste of the finished product..
Even with chopping fresh veggies this recipe was in the oven in 15 minutes! So easy to prepare and everyone loved it! SWP Employee
delicious! yummy and easy. have you ever frozen this? looking for make ahead meals and we love this!
Hi Emily, we have frozen the leftovers with great results.
Can I use hashbrowns instead of tater tots? It’s not avalaible in my country…
While I haven’t tried it, I can’t see any reason it wouldn’t work!
I added mushrooms and next time would also throw in some garlic. Broiled the last couple of minutes to crisp up the tots. A bit shallow in a 9×13 pan, might try it in a 9×9 dish next time for some density.
So good! I made this for supper tonight, it was quick easy and so delicious. We are just two people so I put it into two 8×8 Pyrex. I have to take a lunch every day, so I can’t wait to heat up leftovers and put them into my thermos for lunch.
So good! My husband told me 3 times already today how much he loved this casserole! Every recipe I have made from this site has turned out amazing! I get so many compliments when I make these recipe’s! Thanks Holly!
This turned out so well! I split the recipe in half in 8×8 foil pans so I could give half to my mom. I skipped the veggies in mine because I’m not a fan of mixed vegetables and didn’t have time to substitute. Anyway, it was declicious.
This sounds very good. Making it tomorrow
Decadently delicious, and super easy to put together. My grocery store has fresh chopped veggies which made it even more convenient. Yum! A winner of a pure comfort meal!
That’s a great shortcut tip Julie! I am so glad you enjoyed this recipe.
This recipe is a favorite in our house! We added some shredded cheese ontop towards the end of baking because you can never go wrong with more cheese. Thanks for the delicious recipe! SWP Employee
That sounds delicious Samantha! I am so glad you enjoyed this recipe!
More recipes please! Thank you, so good!
So glad you’ve loved the recipes Anna! You can sign up for our newsletter here or or scroll down to the bottom of any post and you will see a signup box.
Delicious – the best tater tot casserole recipe that I have found!
Thank you!
So glad to hear you loved it, Connie!
I just made your Tater tots casserole and my 3 yr Great Granddaughter loved it! And she is a very picky eater as her mom only fixes her junk food, frozen pizzas and such! Thank you so much for sharing your recipes! Plan to try several more too
So happy to hear she enjoyed it, Carolyn!
Excellent recipe. Very tasty!
Thanks, Jim! Glad you enjoyed it.
I always add a couple of cans of mushroom stems and pieces
Sounds delicious Jim, thanks for sharing!
We use cream of chicken soup, corn and French green beans. We add the cheese before the tots. We like them crispy.
Yum, thanks for sharing Kathy!
It specifies “one bag tater tots”. Bags of tater tots come in a variety of sizes. Is it one pound, two pounds, five pounds?
I look forward to making this!
We used a 16 oz bag for this recipe, hope this helped!
Single layer. My OCD has me line them up