Tater Tot Hotdish is a quick and easy comfort food staple recipe all over the Midwest! This hotdish is full of meat, veggies, soup, cheese, and topped with tater tots for a super satisfying meal! Try my Breakfast Tater Tot Casserole for a hearty meal to start your day.
Tater Tot Hotdish
Lots of folks are confused by the name, Tater Tot Hotdish, but you may recognize this as Tater Tot Casserole! We just call it hotdish here in Minnesota. Tater tot hotdish, or any “hotdish” recipe for that matter, is a simple casserole with a few main components. Typically in these casserole recipes, you will find meat, potatoes, or some other kind of starch, along with a combination of vegetables, cheese, and canned soup. You can feed a crowd with a 9×13-inch pan of this hotdish. Or, you can easily get two meals from one casserole. I also have a Cowboy Tater Tot Casserole, a twist on the classic, you may want to try!
Ingredients & Substitutions
Meat: I prefer ground beef in a tater-tot casserole. However, you could also make this with ground turkey or ground chicken.
Vegetables: I have found that canned or frozen vegetables both work perfectly in this casserole. I typically use canned green beans and corn, because those are my family’s favorites. Feel free to use broccoli, peas, carrots, or the vegetables you prefer!
Cheese: Although I used shredded cheddar cheese in this hot dish, you could definitely try this dish with other kinds of cheese. Monterey Jack, Colby, Gruyere, or a taco blend cheese would all be delicious varieties to try.
Can I Make Tater Tot Hotdish Ahead of Time?
Yes! It is easy to freeze Tater Tot Casserole, which makes this a wonderful make-ahead meal. Follow all of the instructions up to the point of baking it. Instead of baking the casserole after you have the tater tots layered on top, simply cover the casserole with plastic wrap and aluminum foil, making sure to label and date the casserole. It will last up to 3 months in the freezer.
When you are ready to bake the casserole, let it thaw overnight in the refrigerator and bake it following the original baking instructions. And, don’t forget to add the extra shredded cheese during the last five minutes of baking time!
Storing Tater Tot Hotdish
Tater tot hotdish can be stored in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days. To store, follow these steps:
- Allow the hotdish to cool to room temperature
- Transfer the hotdish to an airtight container or wrap it tightly with plastic wrap or aluminum foil.
- Label the container with the date and contents.
- Store in the refrigerator.
- When ready to eat, you can reheat the hotdish in the oven, covered, at 375°F for 15-20 minutes, or until heated through. You can also reheat individual portions in the microwave, covered, on high for 2-3 minutes, or until heated through.
More Casseroles
Tater Tot Hotdish
Ingredients
- 32 ounces frozen tater tots
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- ½ white onion, diced
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- ⅓ cup (77 g) sour cream
- 1 can (10 ounces) condensed cheddar cheese soup
- 1 can (10 ounces) cream of mushroom or chicken soup
- 1 can (15.25 ounces) corn, drained
- 1 can (14.5 ounces) green beans, drained
- 2 cups (226 g) shredded cheddar cheese, divided
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9×13-inch baking dish with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.
- In a large skillet, brown the ground beef along with the onion, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and Worcestershire sauce until the beef is no longer pink. Draine grease if necessary.
- In a large bowl, mix together the beef mixture with the sour cream, both cans of soup, corn, green beans, and 1 cup of the shredded cheese.
- Spread the beef and soup mixture into the prepared pan. Top with an even layer of tater tots and bake in the preheated oven for 50 minutes, until tater tots are brown and the casserole is bubbling.
- Top the hotdish with the remaining cup of shredded cheese and bake for 5 minutes longer, or until cheese is melted. Serve.
Did you make this recipe?
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best tater tot hotdish i ever ate, thank you ever so kindly .
It was a wonderful recipe! I used fresh broccoli and broccoli cheddar soup along with mushroom soup. We found it very tasty. Thank you.
I haven’t tried this but it looks AMAZING!! I have made a hot dish using frozen raw hamburger on the bottom with frozen veggies, a can of cream soup and tater tots on top and the casserole came out great.. your casseroles sound yummy!! ❤️
Can you make this recipe without meat?
A good rule of thumb is to supplement ground beef with lentils. Lentils are known as the poor man’s beef, with good reason! Packed with protein and essential vitamins and minerals, lentils pack a punch, and absorb flavors well! I’d use green lentils for this recipe
Forgot to add, be sure to cook the lentils before using them in this recipe. Use olive oil and follow the recipe and treat the cooked lentils as you would ground beef in this recipe. I cooked it last night and it was amazing, I had to omit the sour cream, and it still turned out great! I will attempt a vegetarian version later on, and if I remember I’ll update.
Have you attempted the vegetarian version yet? How much uncooked (or cooked) lentils is a good substitute for 1 pound of ground beef?
I am vegetarian and I use crumbled tofu that I season and bake to dry out. My grandkids love it and they eat meat. Just look up baked tofu crumbles. I have also used impossible and it turns out good. I personally like the tofu better though.
Can you substitute cream cheese for the sour cream?
Been making this for years!! It’s always a fave. I swap the cheese soup out with Fiesta Nacho Cheese soup and most times use ground turkey. Great comfort food and yummy leftovers! 👏🏼
This is one delicious recipe. My husband grates a pound of cheese for me, which is immensely helpful! We made it together last night–2 pans, for dinner at our niece’s home with her husband and 4 boys. It was a huge hit and so easy to feed a lot of people with making two of them. We love this stuff. Highly recommended as is.