This Taco Tater Tot Casserole is a quick, easy dinner option that’s perfect for busy weeknights. With minimal prep and Tex-Mex flavors, it layers savory ground beef, taco seasoning, and crispy tater tots under a blanket of melty cheese. Even picky eaters will devour this comforting dish, making it a reliable go-to for hectic evenings!
Easy Taco Casserole with Tater Tots
I love this Taco Tater Tot Casserole recipe! It’s flavorful, loaded with cheese, and features crunchy tater tots throughout. If you’re looking for a simple family meal that requires minimal prep—especially if you love tacos—this dish is a must-try. The Rotel is a great addition to the taco-flavored ground beef, making this casserole a truly winning dinner recipe!
We love using tater tots in casserole recipes and have made quite a few including our traditional tater tot casserole, tater tot breakfast casserole, Mexican tater tot casserole, cheeseburger tater tot casserole, sweet potato tater tot casserole and cowboy casserole.
Why You’ll Love This Taco Tater Tot Casserole
- It’s budget-friendly. The ingredients in this recipe are very affordable. It’s the perfect meal for even a tight budget. It’s incredibly filling and delicious even though it’s cheap to make.
- It’s a new family favorite. Even picky eaters can’t get enough of this recipe for taco tater tot casserole. It’s so flavorful and can be customized with a variety of toppings. Your kids will enjoy it, too!
- It’s perfect to prepare ahead. I like to do this when I’m too busy or know I’ll be too tired to cook. Just prepare the ingredients, cover the baking dish, and place it in the refrigerator until you can bake and serve it.
What You’ll Need
These are the ingredients needed to make this tater tot taco casserole. It creates a cheesy, beefy casserole with crispy tots and tons of flavor.
- Ground beef: I like to use 80% lean ground beef so there’s still a small amount of fat but not a ton of grease.
- Taco seasoning: Any variety and brand of taco seasoning is fine here. I like to use original but mild works great too if you are sensitive to spice or try our easy homemade taco seasoning recipe!
- Rotel: I love original Rotel tomatoes with green chiles but there are other flavors that you can use to switch it up. Some great ideas are chipotle and fire-roasted. There’s no need to drain it!
- Cheddar cheese soup: To add moisture and extra cheesy flavor, I mix a can of cheese soup in the filling. Feel free to use another kind like cream of chicken if you don’t want more cheese.
- Sour cream: I like the tangy flavor of sour cream. It also adds more fat to the casserole to ensure it doesn’t become dry.
- Shredded cheese: I divide the cheese to mix most of it in the casserole and the rest on top to get bubbly and melted. I use cheddar for the sharp flavor but the Mexican blend is tasty, too.
- Tater tots: I add tater tots to the casserole and they get perfectly brown and crispy as they bake. I love using potatoes to make the taco casserole hearty and filling.
How to Make Taco Tater Tot Casserole
Here are the instructions on how to make this tater tot casserole recipe. Once the ingredients are mixed, the oven will cook it to perfection. I recommend giving it a couple of minutes to cool before you serve it. It will be very hot!
- Prep the oven and baking dish. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F and spray a 9×13 casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray.
- Brown the beef. Heat a skillet over medium heat and cook the ground beef until no longer pink. Then, drain the excess grease.
- Season and add Rotel. Add taco seasoning, Rotel, and water. Stir and simmer for about 5 minutes.
- Make the filling. Combine the cooked beef mixture with the soup, sour cream, 2 cups of cheese, and tater tots in a large bowl. Gently stir until they are well mixed.
- Transfer and add cheese. Pour the filling into the prepared baking dish and spread it evenly. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top.
- Bake. Put it in the oven and bake it for 45-50 minutes or until hot and bubbly.
- Serve. Add your favorite taco toppings. Our family likes to add black beans, salsa, guacamole and crema!
Tips and Variations
- Try it with turkey or chicken. Use ground turkey or ground chicken for a leaner version. You may also use your favorite plant-based alternative to make this recipe meatless. There are several ways to serve this meal to suit your preferences.
- Add veggies. Try to add more vegetables to the mix! Corn, bell peppers, and onions are great ideas that fit the theme. They complement the other flavors and add a variety of textures.
- Prepare the components ahead. Make dinner even easier by making parts of the casserole in advance. You may mix the filling and store it in a container or even just brown and drain the ground beef. These little steps will save you time.
- Serve with a fresh garnish. This recipe is on the fatty and rich side. Top it with chopped cilantro, green onion, or even pico de gallo to add a pop of color and freshness.
- More topping ideas. Several toppings would work perfectly with this casserole recipe. Some ideas are lettuce, diced tomato, black olives, and hot sauce.
Proper Storage
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Store the casserole tightly covered in plastic wrap and aluminum foil and freeze it for up to 2 months. Thaw it or bake it frozen.
Reheat an individual portion in the microwave for 1-2 minutes or the whole pan in a 350-degree oven for 10-15 minutes.
More Casserole Recipes to Try
- Ravioli Casserole
- Chicken and Rice Casserole
- French Onion Beef Casserole
- Dorito Casserole
- Ham Casserole Recipe
Taco Tater Tot Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds lean ground beef
- 1 package taco seasoning
- 1 (10 ounce) can Rotel diced tomatoes and green chiles undrained
- ⅓ cup water
- 1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cheddar cheese soup undiluted
- 2 cups sour cream
- 2 ½ cups cheddar cheese shredded and divided
- 1 (32 ounce) package frozen tater tots unthawed
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease a 9×13-inch glass baking dish with non-stick cooking spray; set aside.
- Crumble the ground beef into a large skillet and cook over medium heat, stirring often, until fully browned. Drain off the excess fat.
- Stir the taco seasoning, Rotel, and water into the ground beef and simmer for 5 minutes.
- In an extra large mixing bowl, combine the cooked beef mixture, cheese soup, sour cream, 2 cups of the cheddar cheese, and tater tots. Mix until well combined.
- Spread the mixture into the prepared baking dish and top with the remaining ½ cup cheddar cheese. Bake for 45-50 minutes.
Last Step:
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8 comments on “Taco Tater Tot Casserole”
Made this and it was very good!
This was quick and easy and delicious not nothing left over
Can this be assembled the night before and cooked the next day? Wasn’t sure if the tots would tolerate that.
Hi Julie. I haven’t tried it but I think the tots will be fine doing that. Please let us know how it turns out.
Made this and it’s delicious! I just forgot didn’t have the cheddar soup, so I used some cubed Velveeta…My husband and I could have eaten the entire pan, lol…we can’t wait to have leftovers tomorrow!
I hope you or someone may know how much Velveta? I just don’t like all the sodium in Cambles(sp) soup because there’s just too much. I don’t know yet how much sodium is in Velveta, but I’m hoping not as much as the soup.
Thanks to anyone who can answer my question.
I cannot rate the actual recipe, because I’ll be honest, I’m not a rule follower (and also didn’t think to read the recipe before buying groceries) so I made a bunch of substitutions based off what I had on hand at home. I didn’t have any cheese soup, so I used Tostitos salsa con queso instead, but it’s a bit spicy and my husband isn’t a huge fan of spice, so I also sub’d the rótel diced tomatoes for my homemade salsa. I also through in a can of black beans and a can of corn just for good measure. Also, the beans and taco meat still had a good amount of juice in them, so I left out the extra water, it had plenty of liquid already for our liking.
I will say, what I do really love about meals like this is the versatility. It’s so easy to use as a general guide, and tweak to my family’s liking!
Thanks so much! Definitely saving this for my meal rotation. Maybe someday I’ll actually follow the recipe as it’s written and can leave a review on that lol.
That taco tater tots casserole looks delicious looking forward to more recipes