Taco Tater Tot Casserole Recipe
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This scrumptious taco tater tot casserole recipe includes a layer of tater tots loaded with your favorite taco flavors, like taco seasoning, melted cheese, beef, and the toppings of your choice.
This recipe is quick and easy to prepare. Start with a layer of tater tots at the bottom of your casserole dish, then cook the seasoned ground beef and layer it on top. Add a generous layer of cheese, bake it to golden perfection, and serve it with your favorite taco toppings. The result is a comforting, delicious dish that’s sure to be a crowd-pleaser.
For an even faster meal next time, prepare double the taco meat (through step 2) and freeze half. It makes assembling this casserole even easier when you’re short on time.
How to Make Taco Tater Tot Casserole
Ingredients
- frozen tater tots
- ground beef
- taco seasoning
- barbecue sauce
- shredded cheddar cheese
- taco toppings of your choice
How to Make Taco Tater Tot Casserole Recipe
Prepare an 8 x 8 casserole dish by spraying with non-stick cooking spray.
Place a layer of frozen tater tots in the bottom of the casserole dish and set aside.
In a large skillet, brown the ground beef until it’s no longer pink.
When the ground beef is browned, add the water, taco seasoning mix, and barbecue sauce.
Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until thickened. The beef mixture will be very saucy.
Spoon the taco beef mixture over the tater tots.
Sprinkle with shredded cheddar cheese.
Cover with foil and bake at 400 for about 30 minutes.
While the casserole is baking, prepare your favorite taco toppings.
When the casserole is finished baking, remove from the oven.
Top the casserole with your favorite taco toppings.
Enjoy Taco Tater Tot Casserole immediately.
Storage
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
- You can freeze the casserole for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight before reheating briefly in the oven.
Recipe Notes for Taco Tater Tot Casserole
- Here are some taco toppings you might want to add on top of your taco tater tot casserole: green onions, shredded lettuce, Pico de Gallo, salsa, hot sauce, crushed tortilla chips or tortilla chips, sour cream, olives, cilantro, and guacamole.
- You can use whatever shredded cheese you prefer or have on hand. Mexican blend, Monterey Jack, and Pepper Jack cheese would all work well.
- Think it can’t be tacos without corn and beans? Feel free to add a can of black beans or pinto beans, and either a can of corn or a cup of frozen corn kernels to your meat mixture.
- Add some spice with a can of diced green chiles.
- Want to add more flavor? Feel free to add 2 cloves of minced garlic, 1 chopped onion, and some bell pepper.
- Substitute the ground beef for ground pork or ground turkey.
More Taco-Flavored Recipes You’ll Love
- Taco Soup (The World’s Easiest Supper)
- Taco Pizza – Fast, Fresh, Delicious!
- Fiesta Taco Salad
- Greek Chicken Tacos
- Sweet Potato and Black Bean Tacos
Ingredients
- 1 bag frozen tater tots small bag, you won't need them all
- 2 pounds ground beef
- 2 packets taco seasoning mix
- 1.5 cups water
- 1/2 cup barbecue sauce
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese I use sharp
- Taco toppings of your choice
Instructions
- Place a layer of frozen tater tots in the bottom of an 8x8 casserole dish. Set aside.1 bag frozen tater tots
- In a large skillet, brown the ground beef until it's no longer pink. Then add the water, taco seasoning mix, and barbecue sauce. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until thickened. It will be very saucy and that is fine.2 pounds ground beef, 2 packets taco seasoning mix, 1.5 cups water, 1/2 cup barbecue sauce
- Spoon the ground beef mixture over the tater tots. Sprinkle with shredded cheddar cheese. Cover with foil and bake at 400 for about 30 minutes. Top with your favorite taco toppings and enjoy!1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, Taco toppings of your choice
Hi, Christy, from Canada!
When your latest collection of goodies arrived in my mailbox, I had a real yen to try this taco tater tot recipe. Alas, the store had sold out of tots. What to do?
I thought about it and concluded that tots are really mashed potatoes with a crunch. So I spread a 3/4 inch layer of mashed where the tots woul go and scored it every inch or so (just to create how a tater tot would be instead), then followed the recipe as directed. I made only half a recipe, because i had only one packet of taco seasoning.
Wonderful. It really fit the bill because a relative who lives with me has dysphagia and extreme difficulty swallowing anything in chunks or with sharp edges. I’m always trying different recipes from you to give him decent meals.
I think others desiring the crunch could always give the mashed a quick grilling.
Kind thanks!
PS: My maternal grandma made a wonderful sauce with onion, butter and water. I still can’t duplicate it. But it was fab on meats and potatoes.
PS. I made the mashed potatoes on the dry side because there is enough liquid to trickle through. I make mashed spuds from russet potatoes – the best – at least twice a week. We are potatoes family. Mashed freezes very well and can always be more liquidy by adding such
I am so glad you could make the casserole work for you!! I am intrigued by the sauce your Grandmama made. If you can think of any more details about it let me know 🙂
I do recall that grandma and mom melted a 1/4 cup of butter and then caramelized about 1/2 cup of ordinry chopped yellow onion. They then added about 1/2 cup water to it and maybe salt. They used basic ordinary ingredients, not having the income to add all kinds of seasonings.
This is a rather runny sauce.
We used to boil the potatoes in their skins and each would peel their own and chop it up. Then the sauce on top.
I think the butter makes it so good. Butter is wonderful!
My mom made something similar. She used the fats and grease leftover in the pan when she fried meats, medium-high heat, added butter, salt and pepper…. Then added about half a cup of flour, stirred until the color of peanut butter, then slowly added two cups of cold, cold water. Stir continuously as it thickens quickly. Once it was thick enough, she removed the pan from the heat and stirred in milk slowly until it was the desired consistency…. I make it all the time and when not using the grease, I just start it with a stick of butter and some canola oil. I add parsley so it’s pretty but you don’t need it as far as flavoring goes. We’ve always called it poor man’s gravy. Been a staple in our family for generations now.
Survive without air conditioning!!
Oh goodness yes!
Noreen, neither one of my grandmothers learned to drive.
One thing I forgot to mention was my dad’s mother’s homemade biscuits!
My grandmother made the yummiest tea cakes and plain sweet muffins. She used a cast iron muffin pan. Of course, no recipe.
I also cannot make the jellies or jams even though I helped her at times.
One other, homemade dumplings from scratch. Her chicken and dumplings were the best. I use the frozen dumplings, but no comparison.
She was born in 1910.
Yummmmmm…..this looks amazing! Two of my favorite things are tater tots and tacos so this casserole is certainly “right up my alley”!!
🙂 Enjoy!!
I can remember as a small child my parents and my father’s mother, my mamaw, would head off to work at the local shoe factory. They would leave me with my father’s father, my papaw, while they were gone to work. Papaw sold and delivered door-to-door products by Raleigh, sort of like Watkins today. He had his own business doing this and it was rather strong, so he didn’t work for the shoe factory. He would take me with him and afterwards we would stop at Tony’s Diner at the edge of town and share a caramel milkshake together. Having said that, I also remember that Mamaw would always go to the door every morning and retrieve the milk that was delivered, and a little later on in the morning, about twice each week, there would be a Charles Potato Chip man delivering cans of potato chips to the door. I wish we could have certain things delivered like that again. But, most of all, I remember times being simpler back in their very small town and the pharmacist giving us candy and treats when we would be with Mamaw or Papaw when they would stop by to pick up their medications. We could also roam free through the town as everyone knew everyone and things were much safer and simpler.
On the other hand, this cake recipe is absolutely delicious! Thanks so much for sharing the recipe!
Oh to be able to go back to those simpler times. Wouldn’t it be wonderful!!
My grandmother on my moms side made the best ham ever. She passed about 28 years ago and I still crave that ham.
Your taco recipe sounds good so Ill be making it soon.