Best Ever Tater Tot Casserole is a classic comfort food recipe that everyone loves! This casserole is packed full of meat, green beans, corn, soup, and cheese for a totally satisfying dinner!
This post first appeared over at I am Baker, where I am a contributor. Be sure to try out my Chicken Tater Tot Casserole and my Tater Tot Breakfast Casserole too! We also love our Classic Tuna Casserole so much for an easy weeknight dinner.
What is Tater Tot Casserole?
Tater tot casserole is also sometimes known as tater tot hotdish depending on where you live! It’s a simple and comforting casserole with a few main components. Typically in these casserole recipes, you will find meat, potatoes or some other kind of starch, along with a combination of vegetables, cheese, and canned soup.
Tater tot casserole has been popular around family dinner tables for years because they are convenient to make using only one pan. They are also a favorite meal because they are very budget friendly! You can feed a crowd with a single 9×13 inch pan of tater tot casserole, or, you can easily get two meals from one casserole for a family of four.
How to Make Tater Tot Casserole:
My tater tot casserole recipe is so simple to make. A lot of times you will see hotdish made by the layering of ingredients with the meat first, then the soup, then the tater tots.
My version varies a bit from the traditional layering. But, I have found after making this casserole for years, that my way makes for the most flavorful casserole with the most accurate cooking time!
I start by cooking my ground beef with seasonings, then draining the grease if necessary. Instead of layering the casserole, then I mix the cooked beef together with two cans of soup, sour cream, the vegetables, and cheese.
Then, spread the beef mixture in the pan, and top with an even layer of tater tots. By mixing everything together, the meat has excellent flavor, and you don’t have to worry about it drying out!
Tater Tot Casserole with Green Beans:
Feel free to use canned or frozen vegetables in this recipe, both work just fine. I typically always use canned green beans and canned corn, because those are my family’s favorites. Tater tot casserole is also great with peas, carrots, broccoli, or whatever veggies your family likes best!
Same goes for the cheese for this recipe. I typically like to use sharp cheddar but have added parmesan as well and it adds great flavor. You can experiment with a mixture of cheeses to make this casserole your own.
How Long to Cook Tater Tot Casserole:
You will want to cook your tater tot casserole at 350 degrees. As tempting as it might be to cook this casserole at a higher temperature, it is best to go a little lower and slower.
Baking at 350 ensures that the casserole will be hot and bubbly, the cheese melted, and the tater tots perfectly light brown and crispy! This will take about 50 minutes total. Next, you will add your extra shredded cheese right on top of the casserole and place it back into the oven for about 5 minutes, just until the cheese is melted.
Enjoy!
~Nichole
Tater Tot Casserole
Ingredients
- 32 Ounce Package Frozen Tater Tots
- 1 Pound Lean Ground Beef
- 1/2 White onion, Diced
- 1/2 Teaspoon Garlic Powder
- 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
- 1/2 Teaspoon Pepper
- 2 Teaspoons Worcestershire Sauce
- 1/3 Cup Sour Cream
- 1 10 Ounce Can Condensed Cheddar Cheese Soup
- 1 10 Ounce Can Cream of Mushroom or Chicken Soup
- 2 Cups Shredded Cheddar Cheese, Divided
- 1 15.2 Ounce Can Corn, Drained
- 1 14.5 Ounce Can Green Beans, Drained
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.
- In a large skillet brown the ground beef along with the onion, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and Worcestershire sauce until the beef is no longer pink. Draine grease if necessary.
- In a large bowl mix together the beef mixture with the sour cream, both cans of soup, corn, green beans, and 1 cup of the shredded cheese.
- Spread the beef and soup mixture into the prepared pan. Top with an even layer of tater tots and bake in the preheated oven for 50 minutes, until tater tots are brown and the casserole is bubbling.
- Top the casserole with the remaining shredded cheese and bake for 5 minutes longer until cheese is melted.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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My husband loved this! He is from Germany and was skeptical about eating this, but he ended up asking me to make it again!
I make this every couple weeks. It is a household favorite, even with two picky teenage boys. It is so easy to make. I always make extra for leftovers. I have found that using mini-tots or the round tots helps for a more even cook on the tator tots. That is simply a preference because I like them more crispy. Thank you for sharing this recipe! It is delicious!
Great comfort food! I only added half the cheese soup and opted for mushrooms rather than green beans. Everyone loved it!
Followed recipe to the letter. There really was no texture because of all the liquid. Meaning the 2 soups and sour cream. It fell apart lifting it with a spatula. Feel like there is no need for the cheddar cheese soup. I liked it but I would make it again with out the cheese soup. Even after letting it rest a couple minutes from oven, It was very runny. Also would increase the temp to 375 from 350
It was a huge hit with friends. I made the recipe as is except I didn’t add any salt.
Some of the comments sound good so I will use frozen veggies and mushrooms next time.