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!
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Cynthia says
Thanks for the wonderful recipe! I made it into a one pan dish by using an oven-safe frying pan to cook the beef and then added the remainder of the ingredients except for the frozen tater tots and kept it in the fridge until I baked it several hours later. At the end of my day it was so great to just have to add the frozen tater tots and bake!
Julie says
This was so easy, and SO GOOD! The adults enjoyed it as much as the kids. Will double the recipe next time
Tam says
I’ve made this a few times. I usually end up adding an extra veggie in the onion/meat layer!
Stephanie says
me too! This time I “riced” some cooked broccoli and stirred it into the meat mixture.
Abby says
Can this be frozen and reheat at a later time?
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
Yes! Just assemble, bake or leave unbaked, wrap with foil and then place in a freezer bag. To bake after freezing, place the frozen tater tot casserole in the fridge to thaw overnight. Bake at 400ºF for 15 – 20 minutes.
You can also bake it from frozen. Remove from freezer, place in a COLD oven and turn to 300°F and bake for 1 hour or until heated through. If you broil it for the last few minutes, the tater tots will get nice and crispy. Hope that helps!
Alexis says
OMG this recipe was so amazing I tweaked it a little bit but the results were out of this world thank you so much!
Kelly says
This has become part of our regular rotation. We add a little more tots than called for due to the size of the dish we use but otherwise follow the recipe to a T. Thank you for the yummy recipe! I agree, season generously and often 😁
Alex from michigan says
I mix my cream of mushroom soup with my ground beef. I mix my ground beef with Italian seasoning, rosemary, chili powder and garlic salt the I put it in the pan to brown the when that’s done and still hot I mix the cream of mushroom soup in it and shread some velveta cheese (it’s difficult but pays off) the layers are tator tots then mushroom soup mix then cheese then tots then soup mix then cover the entire thing so no soup is showing then cheese and bake that’s my recipe hope you enjoy. Yummy 😃😃😃😃😃
Devin says
I’ve made this numerous times and it is a regular in my dinner rotation, especially in cooler season casserole weather. I have four teenage boys and I like to have enough for some leftovers, so I generally triple the recipe. My mods include: some crumbled bacon added to the beef mixture, some broccoli and/or corn added to the green bean layer along with some chopped parsley, mix of cheeses based on what I have in the fridge. I generally start with a recipe as a base and modify with what I have on hand and may be looking to use up.
mary says
when adding the mushroom soup -do you add milk with the soup as can calls for.thanks
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
No, just the can of mushroom soup.
shiloh lane says
I made this with a bunch of different veggies and used Beyond meat instead of animals and my 7-, 5-, and 3-year olds all chowed down. Great recipe, super easy, and next time I’m doubling the recipe for leftovers-thanks!
ashok says
Thanks For Sharing this amazing recipe. My family loved it. I will be sharing this recipe with my friends. Hope the will like it.
Joyce says
I’m allergic to mushrooms so I can use the cream of mushroom soup. Would a cream of broccoli work well in this casserole?
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
Any cream soup will work in this recipe.
Jane says
SO GOOD! AND EASY ! COMFORT FOOD 101, thanks so much for this recipe!
Judy says
Delish! Similar to Mom’s Poor Man’s Casserole we grew up on. That used Velveeta and fresh potatoes. Otherwise same delight. I used two cans soup because I had 1 1/2 lb ground round so added a bit more garlic and onion.
Linda Kulish says
Do you cover when you put in oven?
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
No I don’t, I like the tater tots to get golden brown and crispy.