Tater Tot Casserole

If you love cozy comfort food then you’ve got to try my tater tot casserole. It’s an explosion of flavor filled with bacon, cheese, homemade ranch dressing, and tons of fresh herbs.

Prep

First off, let’s do some prep. Starting off by chopping one cup of yellow onion—just give it a rough chop; it doesn’t have to be fancy. Now it’s time to chop one cup of scallions or green onions and just remove the withered parts if you will. Set those aside into a bowl.

Time to shred three cups of cheddar cheese, and just watch your knuckles on this grater—it is not your friend in the kitchen. 3 cups of shredded cheddar equates to about 12 oz, but really it’s kind of up to you. It’s not going to kill the recipe if you add a little bit more or a little bit less, and that goes for substitutions too. You don’t have to use cheddar; it could be Jack, kind of whatever semi-sharp, semi-mild, hardest, cheap you like.

Now I want about a tablespoon of fresh chives and fresh dill. Just remove the stalks from the dill; those are a little bit too much. I love dill so much—one of my favorite herbs. That is a very generous tablespoon. Okay, a tablespoon of chives and just have those set aside for later.

Last bit of prep is to give a very rough chop to eight slices of bacon, cutting mine into roughly 1-inch pieces.

Cook the Bacon

Doing most of the prep for this casserole in a large Dutch oven, but you could definitely use a big pot if you prefer. I have this over medium heat and we’re going to add the bacon in right away. You don’t add bacon into a hot pan; you can let it warm up. We’re going to cook our bacon over medium heat for about 10 minutes, stir occasionally, and just keep an eye on it. You want to make sure the bacon has not clumped together.

When your bacon’s close to crispy, it’s time to add some paper towels. I’m putting mine on a cooling rack just so it’s not on my counter and start fishing the bacon out as it’s ready. If you know you’re a snacker or if you have them in the house, you can totally add a couple extra slices of bacon so the recipe can be complete but people can have a little bite too.

I have more bacon grease than I need in my pot, so I’m going to reserve 2 tablespoons carefully. The rest of the bacon grease can be discarded or used for other recipes, but in either case it has to get dumped someplace because this pot needs to be empty. Okay, let’s take it out.

Build the Base

Now let’s add 2 tbsp (30 ml) of bacon fat back into our pot and that one cup of chopped onions. We’re going to cook these over medium heat for about 5 minutes until they’re softened and a little bit translucent. We can also add in 2 tablespoons of butter right into the pan.

My onions have softened up; they smell delicious. It’s time to add in 2 tablespoons of flour. Just sprinkle it in, stir the flour into the onions, make sure it’s all coated, and then cook it for about 2 minutes.

Pour in 1¼ cups (about 300 ml) of whole milk, stir until combined, and turn the heat off.

Add Cheese & Tots

Now we’re going to stir in about half of the cheddar cheese, half a cup of sour cream—so stir, stir, stir, stir, stir—and about half of the scallions as well. Just sprinkle those in, stir to combine.

The last thing we’re doing in our Dutch oven is stirring in 16 oz (half of that 32-oz package) of frozen tater tots.

Assemble & Bake

It’s time to get your 9×13-inch baking dish out and we’re going to assemble this so we can pop it into the oven. Smooth that out; this is the delicious base for your casserole. We’re going to sprinkle the top with the remaining tater tots—the other 16 oz—just try and get some nice coverage there. Now sprinkle with the remaining cheese. Finish it off with all that delicious bacon that you haven’t eaten yet.

Time to pop this into the oven: 350 °F for about 35 minutes. It’ll be golden and bubbly.

Homemade Ranch Dressing

While this bakes, we’re going to make our homemade ranch dressing. Into a medium bowl I’m adding ¼ cup of sour cream, 2 tbsp of milk, all that amazing chopped fresh dill and chives. We’re going to add salt and pepper to taste, but I’m giving it a good pinch of each to begin. Stir it up and just give it a really nice whisk together.

Finish & Serve

Sprinkle the top with the remaining scallions. Drizzle the homemade ranch over the top. So beautiful.

Time to plate up this cozy comfort food. All that amazing potato, cheese, bacon—everything delicious in the world. That is an explosion of flavor: those fluffy, crunchy tater tots, the crispy bacon, and the gooey cheese, and that homemade ranch dressing with the fresh herbs. It’s beyond delicious.