Tater Tot Taco Casserole is going to be your new favorite way to enjoy taco night!
This easy casserole has layers ground beef and veggies topped with Tater Tots & cheese.
Once this Taco Tater Tot Casserole is baked and bubbly we top with with our favorite taco toppings to make this a meal that the entire family loves!
There’s a good reason my kids have dubbed this the BEST Tater Tot Casserole!
This was so easy to make (yay for me) and a HUGE hit with the family… even with little Miss I-don’t-like-melted-cheese-lasagna-casseroles-or-spaghetti. (Double yay for me)!
In fact, she had two helpings!
This cheesy tater tot casserole is made with veggies (like peppers and corn) with a zesty beefy taco inspired sauce and it is super easy to make!
The whole thing is crowned with Tater Tots and baked until they’re golden and crispy on top… adding the sauce and cheese at the very end keeps them from getting soggy as they do with some casseroles!
How Do You Make Tater Tot Casserole?
I’ve been making Tater Tot Casserole for as long as I can remember.
It’s almost like shepherd’s pie in a way with a saucy meaty layer, a potato layer (tater tots in this case) and a bit of cheese all baked until bubbly and hot!
This recipe starts with a layer of seasoned lean beef (I usually use a Homemade Taco Seasoning Recipe). I then add in either frozen (or fresh) veggies and sometimes beans. This helps stretch out the meal and is the perfect way to use up any veggies I have in the fridge.
While this is Taco inspired, you can mix in any sauce from mushroom soup to gravy (or in this case, a delicious taco inspired mixture). We’ve even made an awesome Sloppy Joe Tater Tot Casserole and Classic Tater Tot Casserole with mushroom soup.
Allowing the tater tots to cook for a while first (before adding the final toppings/cheese) helps to keep them crisp and delicious!
Are hash browns and tater tots the same thing?
While they’re not technically the same thing, you can certainly use either for this tater tot casserole (or even sub in mashed potatoes if you have them on hand)!
We serve this with a deliciously fresh Cucumber Avocado Salad for a perfect weeknight meal!
As far as we’re concerned, you can’t go wrong with any Mexican inspired dish in my house.
The zesty seasonings in the meat, baked with cheese until bubbly and hot and an array of fresh crisp toppings! Add whatever your toppings you love, we usually do sour cream, lettuce and tomatoes but this is great with jalapenos, avocados and of course more cheese!
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Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1 onion diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 ounce taco seasoning 1 packet
- 1 cup enchilada sauce divided
- 1 ½ cups frozen corn kernels thawed
- 1 ½ cups bell pepper red, yellow or green, diced
- 15 ounces canned black beans 1 can, drained and rinsed
- 3 cups shredded cheddar cheese divided
- 16 ounces frozen tater tots
- ⅓ cup salsa
- toppings as desired see notes
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- Brown ground beef, onion and garlic over medium high until no pink remains. Drain any fat.
- Stir in taco seasoning, ½ cup water, ⅔ cup enchilada sauce, corn, bell pepper & beans. Cook until thickened (about 5 minutes).
- Transfer the beef mixture to a 9×13 baking dish. Sprinkle with 1 ½ cups cheese and arrange tater tots on top.
- Bake 30 minutes. Combine salsa and remaining ⅓ cup enchilada sauce. Spread over tater tots and top with remaining cheese.
- Bake an additional 10 minutes or until cheese is melted & bubbly.
- Serve with desired toppings
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Main Course
Cuisine Tex Mex© 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.
Repin this Fantastic Casserole!
What kind of salsa do you use ❤ im makin this 2nite
I like a good medium salsa, any brand you like will be great in the recipe!
Everyone in my family loved this casserole. Easy recipe, even made good leftovers.
Made this taco tater tot casserole tonight, 3 words… O.M.G. !!!
You can put this in a soft shell, corn shell, eat it out of the dish, it doesn’t matter, it’s amazing and simple.
Thanks for sharing this recipe !!!
I’m so glad you loved it Sonny! :)
Boyfriend doesn’t like a lot of sauce on things, he asked if it would work to leave the salsa on the side and he can put how much he wants..would that work for this recipe? Just making sure, I’m gonna try making this tonight for the very first time! Hopefully it will turn out for me! :) please let me know!
I think it would be fine with the salsa on the side. I hope he enjoyed this recipe!
Could you use tortilla chips instead of tator tots?
I’ve only tried this recipe as written but I’m sure you could.
Holy smokes! This was the BEST recipe I ever made from online and I use a lot of online recipes. I modified it using Trader Joe’s vegetarian ground beef and used Trader Joe’s Hatch Valley Green Chili Salsa. Orange Bell Peppers make a huge difference as well. This one is a keeper I will be making for many years to come. Thank you for sharing your recipe to such a delicious meal.
I’m so glad you loved it! Thank you for sharing your vegetarian substitution for other readers!!
Can’t wait to make tyhis
Nice recipes. Thank you
This will be dinner tomorrow, thanks!
This was wonderful! I used chili beans because I didn’t have the black beans (and I don’t like them). Really really good.
So glad you enjoyed it!
This looks like pure comfort food! Would be great for potlucks or even as a freezer make-ahead meal!
Yes, perfect for potlucks… everyone loves this dish!!
I made this last night and loved it. I put 1/2 the salsa in with the ground beef mixture before baking and used an entire 32 oz. bag of tater tops on top . Turned out delicious and easily made 8 generous portions with the addition of more tater tots. Thank you for this delicious and easy recipe!
So glad you enjoyed it Jan!!
I just joined im going to try taco tater tot cass
This sounds and looks great. We’re having a family potluck soon and I think this would be just the thing to make! Thanks!
I would like this converted for 60 children and 12 adults. is that possible?
As written the recipe feeds 8. For 60 children and 12 adults I would think you would want to make 8x the recipe. Depending on the dish size, the cooking time would most likely have to be increased as well.
I am going to try this recipe with enchilada sauce instead of salsa. I have also made this without taco seasoning & used a cream of celery soup (or what ever kind of “cream of” soup you want) poured over the tater tots. It’s delish!
How many can this typically feed?
This will serve 4.
Hello,
Can anybody tell me what “tater tots” are? I’m from Belgium and even the translator doesn’t know what it means….
Thanks,
Tater Tots are a potato product. The potatoes are grated and deep fried into little “nuggets”. http://www.oreida.com/products/t/tater-tots#.UwOKR0JdUZc
I started making this before I realized I had no toco seasoning so I used chili seasoning and chili beans instead of the black beans. It was so good!
That sounds like a delicious variation! Thank you for sharing!
Yum :) Made this after seeing it on your blog. I made a few changes (no olives and I got rid of the salsa because I really don’t like it much) and it’s still really tasty. I’d suggest a little more taco seasoning if you forgo the salsa though. Thanks for sharing!
I’m so glad it worked out for you! :) It’s a nice easy dish and I love that you were able to make it your own!