Tater Tot Casserole "Weeknight Easy"

Today I am posting a frugal dinner recipe. I really wanted to post a dessert but I have been posting a lot of those lately so not today. The other night we had Tater Tot Casserole. Tater tot casserole is a dish that both adults and children like, I mean who doesn't like tater tots. Plus it is also a very inexpensive meal to toss together.

I am a big casserole person but husband isn't, so I try not to make them to often. There are many ways to make Tater Tot Casserole and everyone claims that their recipe is the best. I do know one thing all of the recipes consist of just about the same ingredients, ground beef, tater tots, cream of mushroom or chicken soup and Cheddar cheese.

Now I am not going to jump on that ban wagon and claim that my recipe is any better than anyone else's out there. I have added a ingredient in my tater tot casserole that you wont find in most and that is sour cream. I think it really makes the difference and my family likes it so really if they are happy then so am I. I also prefer to use Ore Ida's Crispy Crowns when I make my tater tot casserole, but the store was out.

I just ended up buying store brand tater tots not the best to me but I had to use what I could find. There is nothing wrong with store brand, but my family tends to get a bit picky on certain foods that are not brand name Tater Tots being one of them. This casserole is one of the dishes on my rotation meal list because I know I can depend on it in a pinch. What is your favorite quick casserole?.

Brown ground beef and diced onions, adding, pepper, seasoning salt and garlic salt to taste. Drain. Pour ground beef & onion mixture into the bottom of a 9 x 13 casserole dish.

In a separate bowl mix together the soup, sour cream and milk. Pour the soup mixture over on top of the ground beef layer spread evenly to cover the meat mixture. At this point you can add some shredded cheese on top of the soup mixture.

Then wait until the casserole is almost done and then add more cheese on top. You can make this either way cheese on the sauce or all cheese on top of the tater tots. Its up to you.

Top with tater tots.


sprinkle with grated cheese over the entire casserole. Bake at 350 degrees uncovered for 30 minutes or until the casserole is bubbly and cheese is completely melted. If you dont want your cheese a bit crispy I would wait until the last 10 - 15 minutes to add the cheese.

Let cool for 10 - 15 minutes and serve. Sorry I didn't get a picture of the inside. If you have had tater tot casserole then you know what it looks like inside. Everyone was so hungry I forgot to get a picture.

Tater Tot Casserole

1 1/2 - 2 lbs. ground beef
1/2 - onion, diced
1 - package ore ida crispy crowns or tater tots (32 oz)
1 - 10 oz can cream of mushroom soup
1 - 8 oz container sour cream
1 - cup milk
2 - cups grated cheddar cheese
pepper, to taste
season salt, to taste
garlic salt, to taste

Brown ground beef and diced onions, adding, pepper, seasoning salt and garlic salt to taste. Drain. Pour ground beef & onion mixture into the bottom of a 9 x 13 casserole dish. In a separate bowl mix together the soup, sour cream and milk.

Pour the soup mixture over on top of the ground beef layer spread evenly to cover the meat mixture. Top with tater tots, sprinkle with grated cheese over the entire casserole. Bake at 350 degrees uncovered for 30 minutes or until the casserole is bubbly and cheese is completely melted.