11 Brilliant Techniques For Cooking With Frozen Tater Tots

You probably already have a bag of tater tots in your freezer. And, while they're delicious as a side, crispy and lightly salted, eating the same old thing over and over soon gets tiresome. Perhaps you're looking for some brilliant, creative techniques for cooking with frozen tater tots. You might want some inspiration for new ways to use these freezer favorites — and we have it for you.

We spoke to five recipe developers and cookbook authors who love tots to find out their favorite ways to cook with them. You might have heard of some of these techniques, but plenty were new to us, so we hope you'll find some fresh dishes to use these delicious potato treats in. Whether you're cooking for yourself or your family, or you're looking for a fun and creative dish to take to a potluck, there's more you can do with tater tots than you might realize. Not only will you get through the bag you already have sooner than ever before, but you'll be racing to the store to get more. Here are some expert-approved tot techniques.

Making totchos isn't anything new, but it's a classic for a reason. For the uninitiated, totchos are basically nachos but using tots instead of corn chips. They're covered in melted cheese and topped with salsa, guac, sour cream, and any other nacho toppings you like.

Cookbook author and recipe developer at Lana's Cooking, Lana Stuart explains how to prepare the dish. "Make loaded totchos by spreading a layer of crispy baked tater tots on a baking sheet and top with seasoned ground beef, black beans, shredded cheese, jalapeños, and any other favorite nacho toppings," she says. "Bake until the cheese is melted, then garnish with sour cream, guacamole, and salsa."

Another fan of totchos is Allie Hagerty, food blogger and recipe creator at Seasoned and Salted. "I swap out traditional tortilla chips for crispy tater tots, and top them with melted cheese, ground beef or turkey, jalapeños, sour cream, guacamole, and my favorite nacho toppings," she tells us.

There are basically endless variations of this dish, so choose your favorite nacho toppings and go wild. You can even make air fryer totchos. There aren't any rules, and they're meant to be broken, anyway, so pile those tots high with your fave toppings, even if you wouldn't usually find them on nachos.

You've heard of Buffalo wings — and even the vegetarian alternative, Buffalo cauliflower – but what about Buffalo tots? Spice fans will love these hot tots, best served with a creamy dip to balance out the fieriness.

This dish was recommended to us by Whitney Cardosi, who's a nutrition coach, cooking instructor, and cookbook author, as well as the founder of Wellness With Whit. "Cover crispy tater tots in some Buffalo sauce with some blue cheese and chives for the perfect appetizer," she says. They're also great with ranch as a dip, instead of blue cheese and you might choose to serve them with some cucumber and celery crudités to help cool off between spicy mouthfuls.

The only potential downside of the dish is mixing the cooked tots with Buffalo sauce could turn them soggy. To combat this, get your tots as crispy as possible before coating them in sauce and serve them as soon as possible. More time sitting around before serving equals more chance to go mushy.

Poutine is often considered Canada's national dish. In fact, it's so popular that you can find fast food poutine all over Canada. It might be considered sacrilege by some, but using tots instead of fries for poutine is delicious. Their crispiness provides a solid base to be loaded up with those ionic toppings.

But, if you aren't in-the-know, you might be wondering what exactly poutine is. Usually, it's made from french fries (but in this case, you'd use tater tots instead), with cheese curds and gravy on top. Cheese curds are made from coagulated milk. They're mild, since the curds aren't aged like cheese, and have a slightly squeaky texture, like Halloumi. The gravy is a brown gravy, usually made with beef stock — or simply an instant gravy mix. It provides some saltiness and helps to melt the curds when poured over the top.

"My favorite way to use tater tots is for poutine," says recipe developer Allie Hagerty. "I love the crispiness of the edges of the tater tots. I top them with cheese curds and smother them with hot gravy for a comforting treat."

Nicole Johnson — recipe developer and blogger at Or Whatever You Do – says that these tasty little potato bites are delicious turned into "a big pile of loaded tots." Basically, that involves piling them high with toppings of your choice. Yes, it's a simple way to cook with them, but the beauty lies in how adaptable this option is.

You can load up your tots with anything your heart desires. Top them with chili for a hearty dinner, use them in place of pasta with a topping of Bolognese sauce, or try something Japanese-inspired with Kewpie mayo, teriyaki sauce, spring onions, and edamame beans. But, this is just the tip of the iceberg. The potential topping combinations are pretty much endless.

If you're looking to go dairy-free, you could try this vegan loaded tater tot recipe that uses cashew queso instead of cheese, plus other delicious ingredients, including avocado and black beans. Or, you might want them baked potato style, with spring onions, cheese, and sour cream. Ever seen loaded fries on a menu that took your fancy — you can make a tater tot version of that. What's cool is that tots hold up to toppings even better than fries do. It takes more to make them go soggy, so you can enjoy them nice and crisp even when smothered in sauces and other ingredients.

You can make breakfast hashes quickly and easily with tots — in fact, this was one of the most popular cooking methods with our experts. It takes the effort out of peeling and chopping potatoes and speeds up the cooking time. We love that you can easily adapt hashes depending on what you like, there's no need for a fixed recipe. But, let's find out how the pros do it.

"For my family, I often mix tater tots with scrambled eggs, bacon or sausage, cheese, and veggies for a hearty breakfast hash," says food blogger Allie Hagerty. "We also do a killer breakfast tater tot casserole that is so good. Full of sausage, cheese, and eggs, this is a brunch favorite," recipe creator Nicole Johnson tells us. Cookbook author Lana Stuart also loves a breakfast casserole: "Layer frozen tater tots with scrambled eggs, crumbled cooked sausage, shredded cheese, and diced bell peppers."

"We are big campers so these are great ... you can cook in the skillet over an open fire," remarks nutrition coach Whitney Cardosi. She and her household love using tots for a camping breakfast. She makes a hash by cooking diced onions, peppers, and sausage or bacon in a cast iron skillet. Then, she adds tots, eggs, and cheese to finish things off. "Top with green onions or chives, and any other toppings," she adds. "We love fresh salsa and avocado."

If you've ever tried a classic shepherd's pie recipe, you'll know that it consists of mince, veggies, and gravy topped with mashed potatoes and baked. It's good, but can be a little boring, especially after you've tried it a few times. So, how about giving it the tater tot treatment? "Give a classic shepherd's pie recipe a twist by using tater tots instead of mashed potatoes," suggests recipe developer Lana Stuart. "Bake until the tots are crispy and golden."

Melinda Keckler, a blogger and recipe writer at Crinkled Cookbook, has a similar technique for cooking with tots. "I like to use them in place of mashed potatoes as a topping for a main meal that's similar to shepherd's pie," she tells us. "My mom made this recipe a lot when I was growing up. The tots are arranged as a top layer and bake crispy and crunchy on top of the hamburger casserole that includes veggies and a smooth, savory sauce."

What we love about this idea is that you can make it your own. Sure, you can make a standard shepherd's pie, but you can also get more creative. Make it vegan or vegetarian by using lentils or meat-free mince. Give it a Mediterranean twist by adding a can of tomatoes and some herbs to the sauce. Add another dimension of savory goodness by topping the tots with cheese.

Another brilliant technique for cooking with frozen tater tots is turning them into waffles. That's right, with just a trusty waffle maker, you can turn them into amazingly crispy potato waffles. You get even more surface area and less interior when they're cooked this way, which means they're even crunchier.

This suggestion came from cookbook author Lana Stuart. "For a fun treat, make cheesy tater tot waffles," she says. "Arrange frozen tater tots in a single layer in a preheated waffle iron. Close the iron, pressing the tots down to form a waffle shape. Cook until crispy. Top with shredded cheese, bacon bits, and a dollop of sour cream." Sounds amazing! Got a waffle iron? You know what to do.

It's easier to pull this off if you defrost your tots before putting them in the waffle maker. It lets them squish down into a waffle shape better. You can get away with partially defrosting them until they're malleable, but fully thawing them makes them cook more evenly, so there aren't some frozen parts and some chilled parts.

And, of course, you don't have to top them with Stuart's suggestion of cheese, bacon bits, and sour cream. There are so many options for topping tater tot waffles — a poached egg and dill yogurt or smashed avocado are also tasty choices. Or, you can eat them as a side with a range of breakfast foods.

Looking for a simple way to cook these delicious potato nuggets? All you need to do to make them even tastier is cover your tater tots in cheese. Yes, it's essentially just a tot version of cheese fries, but what's wrong with that? Cheese fries are amazing, so it follows that cheesy tots are too.

Cheddar is a classic choice for this dish. If that's how you want to roll, bake your tots as normal for 25 minutes, then remove them from the oven, throw a load of shredded cheddar on top, and return it to the oven for 10 minutes, until the cheese is fully melted. Like your cheese slightly browned or crispy? Just leave them in the oven a bit longer, keeping an eye on them to gauge when to take them out.

But, you don't have to go with cheddar. It's a whole wide world of cheese out there and you can top your tots with any one that you like. Spicy pepper jack, pungent Stilton, mild Edam, or oozing Camembert — they're all fair game for cheesing your tots. Don't let anybody tell you a cheese is too fancy for melting onto tater tots. They couldn't be more wrong. Go forth and live your best cheese-loving life.

If you want a hearty way to enjoy tots, consider a casserole. It's the kind of meal you can throw in the oven and forget about until it's ready and it's widely adaptable to fit what you like. "I'm from Minnesota, and tater tot casserole is basically a food group in the Midwest," recipe developer Nicole Johnson remarks.

It's quite common for these types of casseroles to use cream of mushroom soup, or other canned creamy soups. However, this doesn't have to be the case. "I change mine up by skipping the canned 'cream of' soups and making it from scratch," Johnson tells us. By making your own creamy sauce, you have more control over the finished dish. Let's face it, canned soup isn't always the greatest, so it makes sense to take matters into your own hands.

Generally, the base of the casserole consists of ground beef, onions and other aromatics, and the creamy sauce. But, there are many ways to make a tater tot casserole. You could have a creamy vegetable base, use lentils in place of mince, or make a creamy mixed mushroom concoction using a range of varieties. You could choose to make the base of the casserole tomatoey, rather than creamy, or add some hot or fragrant spices. The only must is that layer of tots on top, which get crispy and delicious in the oven.

Made from shredded potatoes, fried until golden and crispy, latkes are amazingly delicious. But, you might not have the time or inclination to make them from scratch all that often. Thankfully, there's a shortcut to making tasty mini latkes that involves frozen tater tots. It saves time and effort but still leaves you with something pretty delicious.

Normally, to make latkes, you have to shred potatoes and onions, squeeze all the moisture out of the potatoes, bind the ingredients, season them, and fry them. It can take a while, especially if you don't have a food processor to do the shredding for you. But, making mini latkes from tots is a breeze.

You start by cooking them in the oven or air fryer for around 10 minutes so that they're soft enough to work with. Then, remove them and press each one into a half-inch thick circle using a flat-bottomed glass or even a sturdy spatula. Finally, return them to the oven or air fryer to cook until they're crispy. Alternatively, once you've formed them into latke shapes, finish cooking them in a skillet with ⅛- to ¼-inch of oil. This gives them a crunchier, more latke-like finish.

Yes, tots are delicious with just salt, but seasoning them with other herbs and spices can take them to another level. Not only does it make a change, but it can also help you tie them in with whatever meal you're eating. For instance, if you're pairing them with a spicy bean burger, then seasoning your tots with cumin, cayenne, and smoked paprika would work brilliantly. Or, if you're eating them with bhajis or samosas, you could season them with garam masala.

Nicole Johnson recommends that you "air fry them until they are crispy with your favorite seasoning." Although, you certainly don't have to air fry them. They cook up perfectly in an oven — or you can deep fry them for some extra crunch. "I like to experiment with seasoning blends too," says Johnson. "One of our favorites is to use a Buffalo ranch seasoning blend before we cook the tots. Everyone is going to love them," she adds.

You can season them before putting them in the oven or air fryer, but even better is to season them around halfway through, when you'd usually flip them or shake the basket. This gives the herbs and spices time to toast and meld with the tots without burning. Alternatively, if you're deep frying your tots, you can coat them in seasonings when they're fresh out of the fryer. The residual heat will toast the herbs and spices nicely.