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
- ½ White onion, Diced
- ½ Teaspoon Garlic Powder
- ½ Teaspoon Salt
- ½ Teaspoon Pepper
- 2 Teaspoons Worcestershire Sauce
- ⅓ 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.
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Nutrition
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If you're looking for other easy weeknight dinners give these a try:
I loved tater tot casserole growing up so had to make again, this version as a base sounded delish, but I felt it needed a bit more seasoning to elevate it a little more, and I also added another 0.5 lb burger. After adding about a tsp of cumin, a half tsp Aleppo chiles, and 2 gloves fresh garlic minced, and used johnnys seasoning salt to taste instead of salt it was excellent. I also added a bit more cheese, using 1.5 C sharp to the mixture and a Mexican blend under the tots so as not to lose the crispy tots.
So easy and delicious!
So easy, and so delicious! I will say, I use ground turkey and we did not like the taste of the Worcestershire sauce in the casserole. The next time, I left it out and it was so delicious! If I ever make this with ground beef, I will add it back in, but with the ground turkey, we like it much better without.
Easy to make and tasted great! What else could you ask for in a recipe. I made this as written, except I cut it in half as there are only two of us. I definitely would make this again. Thanks for posting.
I made this tonight for my husband and myself. I had to leave a review. Great recipe!
I normally use recipes as just ideas, inspiration. And then I just do my own thing. But I looked at this one and decided to just follow it. It made sense! We don't always have to reinvent the wheel. 😉
My husband (normally a cracker jack shopper) did the shopping. Unfortunately, I ended up having to use mini-tots. I adjusted the time/temps to make that work, and it did. Whew! He also grabbed lower sodium cream of mushroom and lower sodium green beans. That turned out to be a good thing. I say this because I also dialed back the recipe salt just a hair and it turned out perfect. I think some people might find it a little too salty, as written, but that could depend on if there is salt in your brand of tots, and how much.
Other than the sodium levels there, and the smaller tots, the only thing I changed was I added some scallions on top. Not because it needed it. It's just what we do.
Anyway, I can't picture anyone not loving this recipe. Thank you for sharing it!
I added some of those canned crispy fried onions to the top layer yummy
Fun and easy to make. Love this recipe it is a favorite I will always continue to make for my family!
I used a combination of regular and sweet potato tots. OMG delicious!!!!!!
I made this exactly how you advised and it turned out AMAZING!! It was delicious and we ate the whole thing in one sitting. Have to make double next time 😅. It also came out looking pretty, it made it look like I was a knowledgeable chef but it was super easy to cook. Highly recommend if you don’t enjoy cooking, this is perfect.
This is similar to the one I make. I was out of a couple of things so googling to see what I could do & ended up running to store anyway. I didn’t think of using the cheddar cheese soup or sour cream though. I had sour cream on hand so that worked out but will def try the cheese soup next time. I add Lipton onion mushroom soup mix
This recipe was delicious. Instead of potato tater tots, I used cauliflower tater tots. As I said delicious. Can this be frozen???
That’s an excellent idea!!!! Thanks for sharing
Easy and delicious! I didn’t change a thing and it was perfect. Son loved it and came back for thirds (teens?)
This was very good but I didnt have cheese soup and used 2 cans of cream of mushroom. I didnt have sour cream so I left that out. Only thing it was a little salty.
I also used 2 cans of cr. of mushroom soup instead of the other two called for and loved it! I left out the salt called for in the recipe since there is plenty in the cheese and in the soup. Mine came out perfect that way.
This was by far the best tator tot casserole I've made. The tator tots are perfectly browned. I always precooked my tator tots but not this time. I don't like sour cream so I just substituted a half can of cream of chicken soup. I cooked the onions with the meat and drained it. Then I added seasonings with a bit of water and cooked that down. I think it was perfect.
Delish?!! Best tater tot casserole we have had by far. I didn't have plain mushroom or cheddar cheese soup so I tried to use what I had on hand, beefy mushroom soup and not quite a half of a jar of ragu cheddar cheese sauce. Followed the rest of the recipe to a tee and it still turned out great ?.. Thank you Nicole for the wonderful recipe!
Nichole,
You really do know your stuff!
You helped a mom with health problems out who doesn’t always have the energy to cook.
My daughter absolutely loves the nights I can actually make us dinner over just snacks and cereal. I love this recipe because it’s pure comforting. Had other tot casseroles but this by far does it.
I cooked the ground beef with seasoning salt, garlic salt, garlic powder and added a tablespoon of wistishire just before it was done cooking. Drained and did exactly everything else you said to do plus a bit more seasoning salt to the mixture and placed it all in the glass pan, pam sprayed. Cooked it one hour and turned the broiler on with a good eye on things as not to burn them and just enough to golden and crisp up a bit more about 3 mins. Removed and added about a cup of additional cheddar grated cheese across the top and back into the oven 5 more minutes.
You really did right on this one. I’ll do this every couple weeks now on. Just me and my 10yr old daughter so be great leftovers the next few days. So happy to of found such an incredible recipe. Absolutely blessed to know this gift of a recipe. You just blessed a mom who actually needs delicious and warm comforting meals that are simple and basic. Just know your recipe blessed a lady and her kiddo.
As for you people who always completely change the recipe and comment, just go make your own recipe and post it on its own page.
This one is absolutely perfect as is. Way to go!
Much appreciated by us!!!
Thanks bunches, Nichole!!! Be well
My tater tot casserole is still in the oven so I can't rate it yet, but I wanted to say "Bravo!" to your comment "As for you people who always completely change the recipe and comment, just go make your own recipe and post it on its own page."
Recipe "reviews" which talk about all of the changes the reviwers have made, the added ingredients, the substitutions, the omissions, the changes in the amount of an ingredient, the changes in technique, oven temperature, etc etc. are a huge pet peeve of mine, ubiquitous though they are. I want to hear about how THIS recipe turned out, not the one the reviewer decided ahead of time wasn't right and re-wrote, or the one made because the reviewer didn't have the correct ingredients on hand and couldn't be bothered to obtain them.
I find it helpful when someone shares their substitutions!
This is the best tater tot casserole l have tried so far. I think mixing the ingredients together instead of layering made it more flavorful. I didn't have cheddar cheese soup, so l cubed velveeta cheeses and mixed it with a little milk to substitute. Comfort food at it's finest.
This was really tasty! A very filling and hearty dish. I had to tweak the recipe a bit based on what i had. Sadly i didn't have the cheese soup so i used cream of mushroom and cream of chicken. Used cottage cheese instead of sour cream. I sauteed a green pepper instead of green beans. I also added fried onions on top when i added the cheese. Probably would be 5 star with the cheese soup, i will definitely try that next time.
I love the fact of the fried onions, did u?
I substituted some of the ingredients with what I had around. I used ground turkey instead of beef, cream of chicken soup instead of cream of mushroom soup. I added some portobellos and additional seasoning to the turkey because it’s so bland. But the whole thing came out great. My 11 year old who is super fussy when it comes to food LOVED it and made me promise to make it again. Thanks for the recipe.
THE BEST tater tot casserole I've ever had! I sub the cheese soup mix for chicken so it's a chicken/mushroom mix, but it's still amazing. (I can never find the cheese soup!) I also add in some extra worcestershire. I live in Wisconsin and have grown up with subpar tater tot casseroles. This by far beats them all!
Love this! My friend made similar when I visited her in MN and so I’ve been looking for a recipe to use. I tried others but this is the best one! Think it’s the two kinds of soup that help. Make this when we need something warm and yummy! Thank you!