Truly the BEST Tater Tot Casserole recipe around! Layers of amazing flavor combine for an easy and delicious dinner any night of the week! This fantastic casserole recipe will quickly become a family favorite! Love casseroles as much as we do? Make sure to try this Twice Baked Potato Casserole and Cheesy Chicken Broccoli and Rice Casserole soon!
Best Tater Tot Casserole
Easy dinners are my favorite and I’m a big fan of casseroles, as you well know 🙂 As a mom with two active boys, I’m all about fast and easy dinners that my boys will actually eat. The boys play sports year-round and with me or my husband always running in run direction or another with various practices, our family relies on recipes like this delicious and easy Tater Tot Casserole.
I love this easy tater tot casserole recipe because it takes only a handful of ingredients and most can be found in my pantry. I frequently have ground beef and tater tots in the freezer so this meal is one I can pull together quickly and easily.
You may have a Tater Tot Casserole before and chances are you were less than impressed. There are so many variations out there but I truly believe that this one is the best.
I make my tater casserole with green beans but if I don’t have those on hand, my second favorite is a tater tot casserole with corn. Both are delicious!
What Ingredients Are In a Tater Tot Casserole
I start with really lean ground beef and brown it nicely before adding in diced onion and garlic. I season with salt and pepper and add some Worcestershire sauce before throwing it all into a prepared casserole dish. Now it’s time for the easy layers. A can of cream of mushroom soup goes on next. Please, use the “healthy” or “low-sodium” option. (This tater tot casserole with cream of chicken is also a good option.)
Next a can of green beans and again, low-sodium works perfectly. Finally lots of cheddar cheese followed by the frozen tater tots.
It really is that simple.
Now, here’s the trick: season every single layer as needed. If you were serving green beans by themselves, you’d season them, right? So do it for the casserole too! The worst thing that can happen is taking a bite of a casserole and thinking it’s bland – yuck!
I don’t add cheese to the top because I want those tater tots perfectly crisp and crunchy. It’s essential to the overall texture of this casserole. Season the tater tots when the casserole is removed from the oven and get ready to enjoy a delicious dinner!
What You Need To Make This Tater Tot Casserole
- With all those layers you need at least a 2-inch deep 8 or 9 inch baking dish. Square, round, oblong – doesn’t matter!
- You don’t want large pieces of garlic in this casserole so you can either buy minced garlic or use a garlic press. This is the one my husband bought me for Christmas and I love it!
- I think freshly grated cheese makes the cheese melt so much nicer so grab a cheese grater and get to work!
- When dinner is this is, I think clean-up should be too! Make sure to spray your baking dish with a good quality non-stick cooking spray before assembling your casserole.
How To Make Tater Tot Casserole Recipe
The BEST Tater Tot Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 lb lean ground beef (the leaner the better)
- 1/2 onion , diced
- 2 cloves garlic , minced
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 15 oz can green beans , drained
- 10.75 oz can condensed cream of mushroom soup
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
- 2 cups frozen tater tots
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375F.
- Lightly grease an 8 or 9-inch baking dish with cooking spray. Set aside.
- Brown the ground beef in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Drain excess fat.
- Add the onions to the skillet and sauté for 4 to 5 minutes until translucent.
- Add the garlic and cook, stirring frequently, for an additional minute.
- Stir in Worcestershire sauce and season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Transfer ground beef mixture to the prepared baking dish and spread evenly.
- Top with cream of mushroom soup, followed by green beans, followed by the cheddar cheese. Make sure to season the green bean layer.
- Finally, top with tater tots.
- Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until tater tots are golden brown and cheese is melted.
- Serve immediately.
Video
Nutrition
Easy dinner the family will love!
Loaded BBQ Pork Potato Casserole
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Dominic Miller says
So I am single dad with 2 growing boys (14/15)… They won’t stop begging for this recipe! Quick, simple, and delicious! Thanks Trish! Please don’t forget Dads need time out too!
Keep up the great work and I am excited to see what recipe we choose next!
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
Oh you are so right about that Dominic! Glad you guys are enjoying this recipe and Merry Christmas!
Cris says
I used broccoli and cauliflower tots and mixed meat mixture with auju sause packet and omg delicious
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
That is such a fabulous idea! Need to try that next!
Mary Ann says
This really is the BEST tator tot casserole and deserves the FIVE STAR rating!! My family loved it and asked if I’d make it again soon!! YUM!!!
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
Mwah!! Thanks so much Mary Ann!
Rebecca says
Mom here with a very picky husband and very picky 5 kids. Pleasing them all is impossible! I came across this in a bout of dinner desperation and everyone loves it! We now have it for dinner about 2 or 3 times a month, sometimes weekly. My favorite thing about it, is that it is so easy to tweak and play with, so no matter what I have on hand, i can always throw this together and know my family won’t fuss about what’s on their plates. Thank you!
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
Oh my goodness! This just makes me so happy! And that’s exactly what we love about it, you can totally customize this to whatever you happen to have on hand. Thank you so much for stopping by!
Melanie says
This was the best Gator Tot Casserole! I’m going to make the pumpkin cupcakes today!
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
Thanks so much Melanie! Hope you’re having a great week!
Christi says
Can’t beat a good tater tot casserole!
ADS says
Such a great recipe to make on a cool autumn evening for dinner.
ADS says
my favorite kind of dinner!
Katie says
Great recipe. I tweaked it a little. I added an envelope of beefy onion soup mix and a little ketchup to the meat. I added a can of corn and used ore ida extra crispy tots.
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
Great adjustments Katie! I love this recipe because you can totally make it your own. Add some seasoning or spices, a different veggie, etc. Thanks so much for stopping by!
Kathy says
Try using golden mushroom soup instead of cream of mushroom!! Delish!!!
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
Excellent suggestion Kathy – thank you!
B. Burdick says
Just made it, thank you it supplemented our recipe well. Oh! Turned out nice. I really browned the GB first with only some fried garlic. Then I added 1/2ea red/green bell peppers and half an onion, fried for 5 min. Then Season and add to buttered baking pan while warming up 1 can cream of broccoli and 1 can cream of celery. I sprinkled some parmesan on the beef mix and slathered the soup mixes on top then put a can of chopped black olives then the cheese, some papeika, then the tater tots. mmm
Randi says
I made this but I didn’t have tator tots so I used the shred hash brown. Also included aneheim chili, sauted with the onion & garlic. My very picky husband loved it. Next time I might use whole kernal corn instread of the green beans. Can’t wait to try it with the tator tots.
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
Sounds like some seriously yummy modifications!
Dawn says
Hi Trisha, I have never made tater tot casserole before. Your recipe was so easy for a busy mom’s life. I had my family be the guinea pigs before I made it for a potluck at work. I followed you directions exactly but I added mushrooms and bellpeppers to the hamburger and onion mixture. My family raved about it and my co-workers couldn’t stop saying how yummy it was. This recipe will go into my recipe box. Thanks again!!
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
I love the additions of mushroom and bell peppers – I need to try this!
Rae says
This will be my supper tonight. I’m using cream of celery soup in mine. But I’m now wondering how broccoli cheese soup would taste. Hmmm……..
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
I would say AMAZING 🙂
Carol Snyder says
In your recipe to print, you don’t say where to add the Worcestershire sauce. I made this yesterday and got everything in the pan and looked up and saw the sauce sitting there – Oops! But it still tasted great! I had to chuckle about it. Next time I’ll add it.
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
You are SO right Carol! That is my bad 🙂 Just fixed it but I’m glad you loved it! It’s even better with the Worcestershire sauce 😉 LOL!
Laurie Ann Cox says
Here’s our version. Layer of hamburger, frozen peas on top of that, sprinkle onion soup mix over the peas, layer of cream of mushroom soup topped with tater tots. The onion soup and mushroom gravy make a nice sauce, and also seasons the whole dish. I look forward to reading through the comments to see other peoples variations. Happy hotdishing everyone!
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
Sounds amazing Laurie!
Gina says
I made Laurie’s version, but also added some green beans with the peas. And I mixed some Worcestershire sauce in the golden mushroom soup before pouring it over the veggies. I got a lot of compliments. My daughter had 3 helpings! It was delicious.
T. Ford says
For the Tater Tot Casserole, do you prepare the soup as per can instructions or use undiluted?
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
Undiluted!