Cheesy Tater Tot Casserole
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The best part of tater tot casserole is the crunchy top, and most of them don’t have one. Not this one. Think a tight layer of tots baked until they’re deep golden and crisp, over seasoned beef in a thick cheesy gravy with corn stirred through. My Cheesy Tater Tot Casserole stays crunchy all the way across. Real gravy, 3 layers of cheddar, no can of soup.
Tater Tot Casserole Without The Canned Soup
Here’s how tater tot casserole has gone for about 60 years. Brown some beef. Open a can of cream of mushroom soup. Pour it in. Bury the whole thing in tots. Bake.
It works. Millions of people have been fed that way and I’m not about to insult them.
But you can make the sauce yourself in 5 minutes, in the same pan, with nothing extra to wash. Butter and flour go into the empty side of the skillet, you stir them around for a minute, then in goes beef broth and milk. That’s gravy. Real gravy that tastes like beef.
The fancy word for the butter and flour bit is a roux. I only bring it up so you can say it out loud and feel good about yourself. All it’s really doing is cooking the raw taste out of the flour.
Then there’s the cheese, and I’d like to be upfront about how much of it there is. Three cups. A cup stirred into the beef, a cup under the tots, a cup melted over the top at the end. If that seems like a lot, the recipe is called Cheesy Tater Tot Casserole and I did warn you.
Last thing. The tots bake uncovered the whole time. No foil. I know the urge to cover a casserole is strong. Fight it.
What Is A Tater Tot Hotdish?
Same dish, different name, depending on where you grew up.
In Minnesota, North Dakota and most of the upper Midwest, this is a hotdish. The word covers any one dish casserole with a starch, a meat, something creamy to hold it together, and a vegetable if you’re being good. Tater tot hotdish is the most famous one by a long way, and it turns up at church suppers, potlucks and funerals all over the region.
Everywhere else, it’s a tater tot casserole.
The traditional hotdish uses canned soup as the binder. Mine makes a gravy instead, so technically it’s a hotdish, but better.
Ingredients in Tater Tot Casserole
- Ground beef (2 pounds): Two pounds, which is a serious amount of beef. This feeds 8 and it feeds them properly.
- Onion (1 small, diced) and garlic (3 cloves, minced): The onion goes in with the beef at the start. The garlic goes in at the very end and gets exactly 1 minute, because garlic burns if you look at it funny.
- Salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and paprika: Season the beef while it’s browning. Much easier now than later, when there’s gravy over everything.
- Butter (3 tablespoons) and all purpose flour (3 tablespoons): The same amount of each. Together they thicken the gravy.
- Beef broth (2 cups): Low sodium. There’s salt in the seasoning already and a great deal more in the cheese.
- Milk (1 cup): Without it you’d have gravy. With it you have something creamy.
- Worcestershire sauce (1 teaspoon): One teaspoon, and it makes the beef taste more like beef.
- Frozen corn (1½ cups): Straight from the freezer. It warms through in the gravy.
- Shredded cheddar (3 cups): Used in 3 places, a cup at a time. Shred it yourself if you have the patience. Bagged shredded cheese is dusted with starch so it doesn’t clump, and that starch gets in the way of a smooth melt.
- Frozen tater tots (32 ounce bag): Frozen. Not thawed. Thawed tots go soft and a little greasy and there’s no coming back from it.
- Green onions (2, sliced): Something green, so the whole thing isn’t beige.
How To Make Tater Tot Casserole
Get Set Up: Oven to 400°F, and grease a 9 by 13 inch baking dish.
Brown The Beef: Beef and diced onion into a large skillet over medium high heat. Break the meat up as it cooks, until it’s browned all the way through.
Season it with the salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and paprika. Then stir in the garlic and give it 1 minute. Drain the fat off.
Make The Gravy: Push the beef over to one side of the pan and drop the butter into the empty half. Once it melts, sprinkle the flour in and stir it around for a minute.
You’ll smell it change. Raw flour smells like raw flour, and then suddenly it smells toasty. That’s your cue.
Now pour in the beef broth and milk slowly, stirring the whole time, and add the Worcestershire. Bring it to a simmer and let it bubble for 3 or 4 minutes, until it thickens into a gravy that clings to the beef.
If it looks thin, give it another minute. It keeps thickening as it goes.
Add The Corn And Cheese: Stir in the corn and 1 cup of the cheddar until the cheese melts through. Taste it and add salt if it needs it.
Layer It Up: Spread the beef into the baking dish in an even layer. Scatter another cup of cheddar over the top, then arrange the tots in a single layer over everything.
Pack them in tight. Tots with gaps between them don’t brown as well, and you want the whole top covered.
Bake Uncovered: 40 to 45 minutes, until the tots are golden and crisp. Leave the foil in the drawer.
Finish The Cheese: Scatter the last cup of cheddar over the hot tots and put it back in for 3 to 5 minutes, just until it melts.
If you want them crispier still, run it under the broiler for the last 2 minutes. Stand there and watch it. Broilers turn golden into black in about 30 seconds and they do it while you’re answering a text.
Rest It: Green onions over the top, then let it sit for 5 minutes. It firms up while it rests and you’ll get neater scoops.
How Long To Bake Tater Tot Casserole
40 to 45 minutes at 400°F, uncovered, plus 3 to 5 more for the last of the cheese.
A few things change that:
- A deeper dish takes longer. If yours is deeper than a 9 by 13, the beef layer is thicker. Add 10 minutes and check.
- Cold from the fridge takes longer. If you assembled it ahead, add 10 to 15 minutes. Letting it sit on the counter while the oven heats up helps too.
- The temperature is more important than the time. 400°F is high for a casserole and that’s deliberate. Tots need real heat to crisp. At 350°F they’ll cook through but stay pale and soft.
Go by the tots, not the clock. Golden brown on top, and you can hear them sizzling when you open the oven door.
Make It Ahead and Storage
Assemble ahead: Make the beef and gravy layer, spread it in the dish, cool it completely, then cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days. Add the tots and cheese right before it goes in the oven, and give it 10 to 15 extra minutes since it’s starting cold.
Don’t put the tots on early. They soften sitting on warm gravy and they never fully recover.
Fridge: Up to 4 days in a sealed container.
Reheating: 375°F for 15 to 20 minutes, uncovered, which brings the tots back. You can microwave a portion, but the tots come out soft.
Freezer: Freeze the beef and gravy on its own for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight, then add fresh tots and cheese and bake. I wouldn’t freeze it fully built, because tots that have been frozen, thawed and frozen again turn to mush.
More Casseroles You’ll Love
- One Pot Cheesy Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole – The most made recipe on this whole site, and it earns it.
- Chicken Bacon Ranch Casserole – Three things nobody has ever argued about, in one dish.
- Cabbage Roll Casserole – Everything good about cabbage rolls and none of the rolling.
- Beef Tamale Casserole – Another ground beef bake, going somewhere completely different.
- Million Dollar Beef Casserole – Rich, cheesy, and very hard to stop eating.
- French Onion Chicken Bake – Over on All My Cravings, another one the oven does for you.
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Cheesy Tater Tot Casserole
Ingredients
- 2 pounds ground beef
- 1 small onion (diced)
- 3 cloves garlic (minced)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 3 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 2 cups beef broth (low sodium)
- 1 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1½ cups frozen corn
- 3 cups shredded cheddar cheese (divided)
- 1 bag frozen tater tots (32 ounces )
- 2 green onions (sliced)
Before You Begin! If you make this, please leave a review and rating letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business thrive & continue providing free recipes.
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400°F (200°C) and grease a 9 by 13 inch baking dish.
- In a large skillet over medium high heat, cook the 2 pounds ground beef with the diced onion, breaking up the meat, until browned. Season with the 1 teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon black pepper, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon onion powder, and 1 teaspoon paprika, then stir in the 3 cloves minced garlic and cook for 1 minute more. Drain off the excess fat.
- Push the beef to one side and add the 3 tablespoons butter to the empty part of the skillet. Once melted, sprinkle in the 3 tablespoons flour and stir it into the butter for 1 minute, until it loses its raw smell. This is what makes the sauce creamy instead of thin and watery.
- Slowly pour in the 2 cups beef broth and 1 cup milk while stirring, then add the 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce. Bring to a simmer and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, until thickened into a gravy that coats the beef.
- Stir in the 1½ cups corn and 1 cup of the shredded cheddar until melted through. Taste and adjust the salt.
- Spread the beef mixture into an even layer in the baking dish. Scatter another 1 cup of cheddar over the top, then arrange the tater tots in a single tight layer over everything.
- Bake uncovered for 40 to 45 minutes, until the tots are golden and crisp. Leave it uncovered the whole time, since foil traps steam and gives you soft, sad tots instead of crunchy ones.
- Scatter the last 1 cup of cheddar over the hot tots and return to the oven for 3 to 5 minutes, just until melted. For extra crispy tots, run it under the broiler for the last 2 minutes, watching closely.
- Sprinkle with the sliced green onions and let it rest for 5 minutes before serving.
Notes
- Stir the flour into the butter for a full minute. That’s what makes the sauce creamy instead of thin and watery.
- Leave it uncovered the whole time. Foil traps steam and gives you soft tots instead of crunchy ones.
- Use the tots straight from the freezer. Thawed tots go soft and a little greasy.
- Pack the tots in tight. A close single layer browns better than one with gaps.
- Shred your own cheese if you can. Pre shredded cheese is coated in starch and doesn’t melt as smoothly.
- Make ahead: Assemble the beef and gravy layer up to 2 days early, cool and refrigerate. Add the tots and cheese just before baking and give it 10 to 15 extra minutes.
Nutrition Information
Notice: Nutrition is auto-calculated for your convenience. Where relevant, we recommend using your own nutrition calculations.
Can I just use cream of mushroom soup?
You can. Swap the butter, flour, broth and milk for 2 cans of condensed cream of mushroom soup plus about ½ cup of milk. It’s faster and it’s how most people make it. The gravy takes 5 extra minutes and tastes better, so that’s the one I’d point you toward, but I’m not going to be weird about it.
Why are my tater tots soggy?
Almost always foil. Covering the dish traps steam and the tots never get a chance to crisp. Bake it uncovered the whole time at 400°F, pack the tots in a tight single layer, and use them straight from the freezer.
Can I use ground turkey or chicken?
Yes. Both are leaner, so there’s less fat to drain and you might want a little oil in the pan when you brown them. Use chicken broth instead of beef and keep everything else the same.
Can I add vegetables?
Yes, and it’s a good place to sneak them in. Frozen peas, green beans or mixed vegetables go straight in with the corn. Mushrooms and peppers should be cooked with the onion first, or they’ll water down the gravy.
What cheese is best?
Sharp cheddar, which is what I use. Colby jack, Monterey jack or a Mexican blend all melt nicely too.
Can I make it in a smaller dish?
You can halve everything and use an 8×8. Keep the oven at 400°F and start checking at 30 minutes.
Do I have to thaw the tater tots?
No, and I’d rather you didn’t. Frozen tots crisp. Thawed tots sulk.
