With ground beef, green beans, creamy soup, lots of cheese, and crispy tater tots, this Tater Tot Casserole is always a hit for the whole family. With just 15 minutes of prep, this is a great casserole recipe for busy weeknights!
The Best Tater Tot Casserole Recipe Ever
As a mom of 3 boys that are in sports, easy dinners that I can whip up in 10 minutes are a life-saver. With never-ending activities that I’m constantly taking them to, it’s important for me to have a handful of tried and true recipes on hand for those busy months. This Tater Tot Casserole is one of my go-tos for those nights when I don’t have much time or energy but am not ready to cave to takeout just yet!
There are just 6 ingredients in this casserole which makes it easy to whip together on a moments notice and it’s easily adaptable to what’s in the cupboard and my family’s preferences! So if you’re looking for an easy dinner recipe for busy weeknights, look no further!
You’ll also want to check out these other delicious Tater Tot Casserole Recipes: Cowboy Casserole, Taco Tater Tot Casserole, Cheeseburger Tater Tot Casserole, Sweet Potato Tater Tot Casserole, and Mexican Tater Tot Casserole.
Why You’ll Love this Recipe
- Easy. It doesn’t get much easier than this tater tot casserole recipe – a classic comfort food. You only need a few ingredients and there is hardly any active cook time. Just brown the meat, assemble and bake!
- Flavorful and satisfying. Beef, potatoes, cheese – what more could you want in a bite?
- Flexible. There are many ways you could customize this recipe to suit your family’s tastes. Check out the variation ideas section below to get your creative juices flowing!
What Is A Tater Tot Casserole?
Tater tot casserole is a classic dish served around the country. It’s also called “tater tot hotdish”, especially in the southern states. While there are many variations to it, it always has some form of ground meat, veggies, soup, and cheese, all topped with frozen tater tots.
Key Ingredients
My favorite thing about making tater tot casserole is that fact there it requires just 6 ingredients! Here’s a quick overview. Be sure to scroll down to the recipe card for specific amounts.
- Tater tots – Any brand of frozen tater tots will work.
- Ground beef – Use a lean ground beef to avoid lots of grease.
- Sweet onion – Adds flavor to the beef layer.
- Salt & pepper
- Cream of mushroom soup – Adds a comforting, creamy texture to the beef mixture.
- Green beans – I use canned green beans for ease but frozen will work too.
- Cheddar cheese – If you can, grate your own as it melts better.
How to Make Tater Tot Casserole
Talk about easy! This easy casserole recipe comes together so quickly and easily, which is why I love it for weeknight dinners!
- Cook the beef. Cook the beef and onion together until the beef is browned. Salt and pepper to season.
- Add the other ingredients. Stir in the soup and green beans.
- Layer the casserole. Add the beef mixture to the bottom of the casserole dish. Top with cheddar cheese, followed by a layer of tater tots.
- Bake. Bake until the tater tots are golden brown and hot. This should be about 40 minutes.
Variation Ideas
There are so many ways to customize this tater tot casserole recipe for your family!
- Try ground turkey. I’ve also made this recipe with ground turkey and been happy with the results. Ground sausage or chicken would work too.
- Switch up the soup. Instead of cream of mushroom, try cream of chicken soup. Cream of cheddar is another option. Basically, any can of creamy soup will work.
- Add more veggies. Feel free to mix in some corns, peas, carrots, broccoli, or other vegetables as preferred by your family.
- Stir in some sour cream. For an extra creamy bottom layer, stir in some sour cream with the soup mixture.
- Layer the ingredients. Instead of combining everything together, you can layer the ingredients with the ground beef on top, following by the green beans, then the soup and cheese. Same flavors, just a different presentation!
- Extra Cheesy. Add extra cheese to the top!
Tips For The Best Tat Tot Casserole
There’s not much to make this tater tot casserole! Here are a few things that can make it even better.
- Add seasonings as desired. Feel free to add more salt and pepper, garlic powder, or any other desired seasonings to the ground beef and green beans.
- Use a deep baking dish. Since there are so many layers, you’ll want a pan a few inches deep. I use a 9×13 baking dish but a rectangle casserole dish would also work.
- Opt for low-sodium ingredients. If you’re sensitive to sodium, opt for low-sodium soup and green beans.
- Add the cheese under the tater tots. While I have also made this with the cheese on top, the tater tots will get much crispier if they are baked on top.
Can I Make This Ahead? Can I Freeze It?
Yes, absolutely! One of the great things about tater tot casserole is that it can be made in advance and works great as a freezer meal!
To prepare the casserole in advance, assemble as directed but don’t add the tater tots. Cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days.
For a tater tot freezer meal, assemble then cover tightly with plastic wrap and foil and freeze for up to 3 months. Tater tots don’t do well thawed so bake directly from frozen. You’ll need to increase the bake time by 10 to 20 minutes.
How to Store & Reheat Leftovers
Leftovers will last in the fridge for 3 or 4 days. Keep the casserole dish covered with foil or transfer the leftovers to an airtight container.
If you’re reheating the whole casserole, you can reheat it in the oven. Cover the top with foil to prevent any burning. Smaller portions of leftovers can be reheated in the microwave.
More Casserole Recipes:
- Twice Baked Potato Casserole
- Cheesy Chicken Broccoli and Rice Casserole
- Cauliflower Bacon Cheese Casserole
- Easy Chicken and Rice Casserole
- Best Corn Casserole
Tater Tot Casserole
Ingredients
- 16 oz Frozen Tater Tots
- 1 pd Ground Beef
- 1/2 sweet onion, diced
- 1 pinch salt and pepper to taste
- 1 (10.75 oz) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
- 1 (14.5 oz) can green beans (or peas) drained
- 2 cups Shredded Cheddar Cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Cook and stir ground beef and diced onion in a large skillet over medium heat until no longer pink and completely browned, 7 to 10 minutes; season with a pinch of salt and black pepper.
- Stir cream of mushroom soup and green beans into the cooked ground beef; pour the mixture into a 9×13-inch baking dish.
- Layer tater tots evenly over the ground beef mixture; top with Cheddar cheese, or you can add the cheese on top of the beef mixture before the tater tots….which ever one you prefer.
- Bake until tater tots are golden brown and hot, about 40 minutes.
Last Step:
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56 comments on “Tater Tot Casserole Recipe”
This meal was easy to make. The family loved it! I put a layer of Colby- Jack and cheddar cheese mixed together on top of the meat mixture and on top of the tater tots. Will make again!
It’s a big YUM for my family
Easy to make, delicious eat.
This was the most simple, wonderfully quick meal. I was so reluctant to try it as my hubby is very picky. But he also gave it a five star review!! New menu item at our home that is suffering from the severe “food blahs”. Tysm!!
Love this.. but I use vegetable beef soup.
Delicious and so easy to make!
We enjoyed this dish very much. I used French style green beans. I’ll make it again.
Made this exactly as recipe. My grandsons loved it! Ages 7 and 3. I liked it so much that I made it again with corn and jalepeno. Very good, although second time I cheated and used pre-shredded cheese. Melts much better if you shred cheese yourself as the recipe suggest.
I use the Ore-Ida Crispy Crowns which are a flat tater tot
Hi ! Quick question:) may I add Jimmy Deans Sage pork sausage to this instead of ground beef ? Please let me know. I’m thinking of making this for thanksgiving 2021. Thank you
Yes, that would work. Let me know how it turns out!
Can you substitute canned green beans with frozen ones?
Yes, that should be fine.
My family loves this recipe!
So yummy! My girls and loved it!
I make one like this. I got from a girlfriend in 1993. You layer the hamburger meat on bottom, them cream of mushroom soup, can of greenchiles and the tater tots on top.
Note; on the greenchiles you can use the can or if you want a little heat to it use 505 chilies in a jar. Usually over by the salsa and Hispanic food.
Like she said you can mix thinks up use a cream base soup, different meat, can veggies etc.
I have use ground beef, pork, chicken, Turkey. Nacho cheese soup, cream of chicken stuff like that.
I also used to make this in th 80’s-90’s & used raw hamburger meat pressed into the bottom of a baking dish with cream of mushroom soup on top & baked etc. Just wondering if you used raw ground beef like I did. I haven’t been able to find a recipe like that at all! It was really good, simple & easy/quick to make. I added seasoning of course.
Excellent recipe very easy and tasty. My husband and son love it,, thanks for sharing,
What can you use instead of the cream of mushroom soup? My family does not like it.
use cream of chicken.
To Karen Donovan.. I have used cream of chicken in many recipes that call for cream of mushroom and some are actually better tasting! I have used it in this recipe and it was delicious
I use cream of chicken almost every time something calls for cream of mushroom (gag). But you could use any cream of soup that you like. I eat cream of potato or cream of celery would work great too!
we actually make this with cream of celery!
What is tater tots? Is this an America rececepe?
over here in australia we call them potato gems
Yes, it is an American dish, much like hashbrown potatoes, but shaped like little round barrels. A recipe of hash brown potatoes spread about an inch thick over the top of the meat and vegetable mixture would work with this.
I discovered this recipe I had discovered this recipe when my son was too and I still make it today and he is 35 it is the best good to know that somebody else also knows about it and likes it too
So yummy thank you
Looks delicious! Thanks for the recipe. It seems very easy. Surely giving it a try.