Tater Tot Hotdish is a quick, no-fuss crowd-pleaser. This tasty family-friendly recipe that layers ground beef, mixed veggies and tater tots in a rich and cheesy sauce.
Prepping is a breeze, and you can cut your work down to almost nothing if you use frozen mixed vegetables.
What is Tater Tot Hotdish?
Hotdish is another name for a casserole, and most have some kind of starch as a central ingredient. In this simple recipe, tater tots take center stage. Not only are these bite-sized and pre-cooked potato tidbits easy to work with, (requiring no prepping) they are delicious and always a favorite with kids (who am I kidding, adults too).
- Meat This tater tot hotdish calls for ground meat but you could sub in any kind of meat or even shredded chicken.
- Veggies Keep it simple and easy… frozen veggies are great in this recipe.
- Sauce The creamy sauce is a simple mixture of canned cream of mushroom soup (or homemade condensed mushroom soup), sour cream, and shredded cheddar. There’s room for variation here too. A basic white sauce could substitute for the soup. Colby or Asiago, or Monterey jack are also good cheeses to use in this casserole.
Keep the ratios the same but swap up the veggies and sauces to create your own hotdish recipes. This pairs well with taco inspired flavors to create a taco Tater Tot casserole or
How to Make a Tater Tot Hotdish
Easy peasy!
- Brown the ground beef.
- Combine the sauce ingredients with the shredded cheese.
- Pour over the sauce, top with cheese and bake until bubbling and browned on top.
- Layer tater tots with meat and vegetables in a casserole dish.
This easy recipe works as a Slow Cooker Tater Tot Casserole as well!
What to Serve it With
Tater tot hotdish is such a hearty, filling one-pot meal that you won’t need to fuss too much with side dishes.
I love serving it with easy cornbread or buttermilk biscuits. A simple tossed salad dressed with balsamic vinaigrette is also a nice accompaniment. A salad will provide some welcome freshness and crunch while cutting through the savory richness of the casserole. Broccoli salad would also pair well for the same reason.
How To Reheat Leftover Tater Tot Hotdish
Leftovers will keep in the refrigerator for up to four days or in the freezer for as long as four months.
To reheat, first, thaw in the refrigerator. Then pop in the microwave or in a foil-covered dish in a preheated oven at 300°F for as long as it takes for the amount in your portion to be piping hot throughout.
Easy Casseroles
- Cheesy Broccoli Casserole – easy, cheesy side!
- Green Bean Casserole – classic holiday side!
- Zucchini Casserole – no-fuss dish
- Baked Mac and Cheese Casserole – favorite comfort foods!
- Sweet Potato Casserole – sweet & savory masterpiece
- Classic Tater Tot Casserole – savory comfort food
Easy Tater Tot Hotdish
Ingredients
- 1 bag Tater Tots approx 32 oz
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1 small onion diced
- 2 cups mixed vegetables fresh or frozen
- 10 ½ ounces cream of mushroom soup
- ½ cup sour cream
- ¼ cup milk
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon dry mustard
- salt & pepper to taste
- 2 ½ cups cheddar cheese shredded and divided
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F and grease a 9x13" casserole dish.
- Brown ground beef and onion over medium heat until no pink remains. Drain any fat.
- In a bowl mix together soup, sour cream, milk, garlic powder, dry mustard, ½ cup of cheese, and salt and pepper.
- Mix together beef, soup mixture, and mixed vegetables in the casserole dish. Layer tater tots on top and sprinkle with remaining cheese.
- Cover and cook for 30 minutes. Remove foil and cook an additional 20 minutes or until golden and bubbly.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Casserole, Side Dish
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Did you thaw the tater tots or were they frozen when you added them on top? Thank you!
We add them frozen.
This recipe was almost too good. Everyone loved it but especially my toddler who inhaled it and then cried because he had to wait for more to cool off. 5 stars from both of us!
Not sure if it’s all cooked on the stove or if only meat on stove then the rest in the oven. No times or temps included in instructions. Very disappointing
Hi Pk, the entire recipe is available by using the Jump to Recipe button at the top or by scrolling to the bottom. There you will find the cooking times and temperatures. I hope that helps!
Fun fact, hotdish and casserole are actually different.
Thanks, Julia. That’s good to know.
Can this be made in advance?
Yes Rachel, this can be made ahead of time.
Just tried it today it was very good. But i made a few adjustments. First, i used mini tater tots instead of full sized, and i put the cheese under three tater tots instead of over them. The tots did not end up mooshy. The only other adjustment i would make next time is to cook the frozen vegetables for a while before adding them to the mixture. I like hotdishes with a little less texture.
Delicious but I came to agree that the time was way off. Had to cook an extra 20+ minutes without the cover on for it to be remotely done. Still would have kept it in longer but we were too hungry to wait!
We don’t like mushrooms, can cream of broccoli soup be substituted?
Yes, any “cream of” soup should work just fine in this recipe.
Did not bake evenly after 30 min, was cold in the middle. easily needed at least 30 more minutes. Also the soup/cream mixture to meat ratio was off…there was just too much dairy compared to beef!
Sorry this recipe didn’t work out for you, Amy. It was definitely a hit when we tested it in our kitchen!
The steps confused me on How to make a tater tot hot dish steps 1,2,3 and 4. For me it makes no sense. However, the recipe by Holly makes much better sense. So I think the confusion is the 4 step recipe.
Hi Sandra, the steps are meant to be a basic overview of the recipe. The actual recipe will have all the proper measurements & details. Let us know how this recipe turns out for you!
Is this recipe written correctly. The instructions do not match the photos. The written recipe indicates that the sauce is poured over the tator tots in the last step, while the photos show the tator tots placed over meat, sauce veggies etc. Thank you
Sorry for the confusion Evi, we tried it both ways and loved the crispier topping with mixing the sauce into the meat and veggies before topping with tater tots. The recipe has been updated to reflect this.