The Cookin Chicks

Taco Tater Tot Bake

by 68 Comments

I have always been SO intrigued with tater tot casseroles. I came across this one and loved the fact that it was “taco like”. The only part of this that I hesitated with, was the tater tots. I wasnt sure how they would add to the flavor, and if they would get soggy, etc. The tater tots actually ended up being the one thing that made it amazing!! My son ate two plates and asked for it again the next night. It made so much, that we had leftovers two nights in a row haha!!! It was quick and simple, and fed an army….well….not quite, but it could I guess LOL!

 

Ingredients:

  • 1 lb ground beef or ground turkey
  • 1 small onion, diced
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 package taco seasoning, or 3 tbsp homemade taco seasoning
  • 1 (16oz) bag frozen corn
  • 1 (4oz) can green chiles, diced/drained
  • 1 (12oz) can black beans, drained
  • 2 cups shredded Mexican cheese
  • 1 (16oz) package frozen tater tots
  • 1 (10.5oz) can red enchilada sauce

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 375. Lightly grease a 9×13 baking dish. Heat a skillet to medium high heat.
  2. Add in ground beef/turkey, onion, and garlic. Cook until meat is brown and onion is tender. Drain fat.
  3. Add in taco seasoning, frozen corn, green chiles, and beans.
  4. Cook until heated through.
  5. In a large bowl, combine the meat mixture, 1 cup cheese and tater tots. Mix until combined.
  6. Pour about 1/3 of the enchilada sauce on bottom on 9×13 baking dish.
  7. Add in tater tot meat mixture and smooth to flat.
  8. Pour remaining enchilada sauce on top and bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes.
  9. During the last few minutes, sprinkle remaining cheese on top of dish and cook until melted.
  10. Serve warm! *If you are a fan of black olives, you can add 1 small can to the mixture to change it up a bit.

 

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Comments

  1. Jen

    I tried this last week, and I’m making it again tonight! I loved this meal. The only thing I did differently was that I layered the ingredients – layer of sauce, tots, half cheese, meat/corn/bean mixture, rest of cheese and more sauce. While I think it looks absolutely disgusting, it’s so delicious!

  2. Kristin, Tammy and Adriana

    Great idea on layering it!!! We’ll need to try that too!!! I was a little afraid to make this at first since it definitely isn’t a “pretty” dish hehe. It is definitely delicious though!! So glad you enjoy it!!

  3. Anonymous

    This looks super yummy! Is it spicy though? I don’t mind but my kids don’t care for anything spicy.

  13. Anonymous

    I just put mine in the oven…I used potato oles instead of Tator tots…omitted the corn because my family would turn their noses up at it and added refried beans…topped of with sour cream….I hope it is a hit with my family.

  15. Kristin and Adriana

    Oh yes, little ones can be so picky. My two year old barely eats my dinner, if he takes one bite, I consider it a success hehe!! I will say though, my little guy loved this casserole, so hopefully yours will too. Let us know how it turns out!!

  16. Anonymous

    I have a picky eater in the house and he loved this the first time I made it! Tonight I am doing a veggie mix (corn, carrots, and green beans) instead of just corn.

  20. Foodie Portal

    We love your pictures and recipes, they are mouth watering. Would love for you to share them with us at foodieportal.com. We are new but at foodieportal.com we are not photography snobs, we are just foodies.

  23. Veronica Noel

    I have made this several times and my family loves it. We like to top ours off with some shredded lettuce and sour cream. I also love taco sauce or salsa with mine and we like eating tortilla chips along with it. It is a big hit with us!!!!

  24. anyonita green

    Tater tot casserole?! How have I not heard about this?!?!?! I can’t wait to make; it looks delicious & I have a feeling my toddler would love it too! Thank you so much for linking up with me this week at Tasty Tuesdays! I’ve pinned this & shared it with my followers!

  25. Anonymous

    Thanks for the recipe starter! The idea really appealed to me and was really quick and easy to make, the only thing that really needed “work” was grating the cheese. I subbed Quorn (meat substitute) mince for beef because I wanted to make a veggie meal. I added a tiny bit of fennel head because it needed to be used up and black beans and topped it with red chilis because we like it spicy! I will finish it with fresh coriander and sour cream and maybe avocado. Can’t wait till it’s done -looks tasty!

  26. Casey

    In the oven now! I used ranch style beans instead of black beans cause I didn’t have them, and made homemade enchilada sauce. Hope this turns out good!! 🙂

  27. daisylover

    I made this recipe last nite and WOW! I was afraid my husband would not like it but was I wrong! It is already half gone! He told me to make sure I added this recipe to our “favorites” file. I agreed with him.
    Thanks for sharing!

  34. Anonymous

    This sounds really good, thanks for posting it!!! May have to wait to make it for a pot luck since there’s only 2 of us and our dinner’s are small (that’s how we lose weight (100 lbs between the 2 of us so far)!!! Or might see if I can 1/2 the recipe since I really don’t want to wait!! ALSO — when you had the Rotel, do you cut the sauce or it’s in addition to all the liquid going in??

  35. Kristin and Adriana

    Wow! Great job on loosing weight, that is quite an accomplishment 🙂
    This recipe is quite tasty, my family loves it!!!
    When using the Rotel, I just dump the whole can in without draining 😉

  36. rkjb85

    I’m making this for the first time for a church potluck. One suggestion, could you please make it so the pictures don’t print on a separate page? Without them the recipe prints on one page which is great! Love your blog and can’t wait to try more of your recipes.

  37. Kristin and Adriana

    Oh yum! Hope you all love it! As for the printing, we have the option up to not print the photos at all and print only the recipe itself. If you look at the top of the screen, there should be a button that allows you not to print photos 🙂
    Hope that helps!!! Thanks

  40. Anonymous

    Your recipe says to use a bag of tater tots, but then says (16oz)…a bag of tater tots is 32oz so am I to use the whole bag or just 16oz(half bag)?

  42. Mar he'll

    I topped with black olives and green onions before baking. After it cooked and cooled slightly, I topped with shredded lettuce, shredded cheese, crumbled tortilla chips and dollop with sour cream,salsa, and pickled Jalapeños. Really good, and helped with eye appeal.

  44. William

    Im going to give this a shot but instead of the enchilada sauce I’m going to try picante. I always use salsa in my meatloaf and it turns out wonderful and I think with the taco taste in this dish salsa may be a positive substitution.

  49. Kristin

    I have never tried it like that, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t be just as yummy, 🙂 Keep us posted on how it turns out!!

  50. Cyndi Gunz

    I’m trying this out tonight. Looks yummy! I didn’t have enchilada sauce so I used homemade salsa with just a little spiced tomato sauce. I also used crispy crown tots. And I added a little hot sauce to spice it up just a little.

  52. Laura

    This was a huge hit with my whole family. So, now I’m cooking this for a homeless shelter tomorrow. I prepared the recipe up through the baking part, and I’ll refrigerate, and bake tomorrow.

  62. Iris

    Delicious. There is no other word for this casserole. It’s severe weather here so I had to make my own enchilada sauce. It turned out so good that I will always make my own. This is definitely a recipe that I will make again. Thanks for sharing.

  66. Nottoill

    The zesty seasonings in the meat, baked with cheese until bubbly and hot and an array of fresh crisp toppings!  Add whatever your toppings you love, we usually do sour cream, lettuce and tomatoes but this is great with jalapenos, avocados and of course more cheese!

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