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This recipe for tater tot casserole is going to be one that is highly requested and approved by everyone in your home. This vintage recipe is so simple to make and combines tater tots, ground beef, cream of mushroom soup, and frozen veggies. Take care of all of the food groups with this quick and easy 10-minute prep meal.
Why we love this tater tot casserole
This great recipe is packed with potato in the tater tots so that’s your portion of starch. The lean ground beef is your healthy protein. Then you mix in your frozen veggies, and onion to get one of your five a day. The sprinkling of cheese counts as your portion of dairy and calcium so you’re all set and good to go!
If you are looking for more easy weeknight meals, check out our crockpot lasagna, turkey chili and air fryer cheeseburgers!
Ingredients
Every single one of the ingredients used to make this tater tot casserole recipe is oh-so-simple but when you put them all together, they make something absolutely incredible.
- Ground beef
- Diced Onion
- Minced garlic
- Cream of mushroom soup
- Sour cream
- Worcestershire sauce
- Frozen mixed vegetables (I used a blend with green beans, carrots, peas, and corn)
- Shredded cheddar cheese (I prefer to use freshly shredded cheese rather than the pre-shredded bagged cheese.
- Frozen tater tots
Feel free to add more or less veggies to make this recipe suit your family’s tastes. I use a blend with green beans, carrots, peas, and corn but you can use whichever mixture of veggies you like.
Substitutions
Protein: Lean ground beef isn’t for everyone, you can substitute it for ground turkey or ground chicken. Lean ground beef is healthy… But chicken and turkey are just a little bit healthier and less saturated fat.
Vegetarian: You can also go vegetarian using a meat substitute. We love this dish with Beyond Meat! You won’t even notice a difference.
How to make tater tot casserole
There are only a few steps to making a tater tot casserole. You are basically dumping everything in a casserole dish and popping it in the oven!
- Before you begin spray your 9 x 13 casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Using a large skilllet, brown the beef with the onion and garlic. Cook until the beef is no longer pink. Drain if needed.
- Mix in the soup, sour cream and Worchestershire sauce with the ground beef mixture. Next add the frozen vegetables.
- Place the ground beef mixture in your prepared baking dish and top with freshly shredded cheese and a layer of frozen tater tots. (save some cheese for the end)
- Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. 5 minutes before done baking (around 40 minutes in), top with remaining cheese and bake for a few more minutes (about 5 minutes or until cheese is melted).
Tips
- To get your tater tots nice and crispy on top, you want to do most of the baking without the final cheese topping. This will allow you to get those crispy tater tots on top! In the last 5 minutes add the cheese on top and bake it just until it is melted.
- Freshly shredded cheese is a game changer. I strongly recommend using fresh shredded cheese. It makes all of the difference in the end!
- Bake uncovered. You want the tater tots to get crispy and crunchy on top. If you cover your baking dish, they won’t be crispy.
Tater Tot Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1 small onion diced
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- 1 can cream of mushroom soup
- ½ cup sour cream
- 1 tbsp worcestishire sauce
- 1 cup frozen mixed vegetables I used a blend with green beans, carrots, peas, and corn
- 8 ounces cheddar cheese freshly shredded, divided
- 32 ounce bag of frozen tater tots
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9×13 baking dish with cooking spray.
- In a large skillet cook ground beef, onion, and garlic until beef is cooked through. Drain if needed.
- Add cream of mushroom soup, sour cream, and Worcestershire sauce to the ground beef and mix thoroughly.
- Stir in vegetables.
- Place the beef and vegetable mixture in the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish. Top with 4 oz of freshly shredded cheddar cheese.
- Place frozen tater tots, in a single layer, on top of the cheese layer. Depending on the size/shape of your dish, you may have some left over.
- Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes. Remove from oven and top with remaining 4 oz freshly shredded cheddar cheese. Bake for another 5 minutes, or until cheese is melted
- Serve warm
