It’s time to go find our own tots, just like Napoleon Dynamite told us to do! Instead of sticking to the tried-and-true tortilla chip, try this delicious Tater Tots® alternative and impress everyone at your next Taco Tuesday! Toffees Libere!
| Prep Time: | 20 mins |
| Cook Time: | 40 mins |
| Total Time: | 1 hr |
| Servings: | 12 |
| Yield: | 12 servings |
Ingredients
- 1 (32 ounce) package frozen bite-size potato nuggets (such as Tater Tots®)
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- ¾ cup water
- 1 (1 ounce) packet taco seasoning mix
- 1 cup shredded Mexican cheese blend
- 1 cup shredded pepperjack cheese
- ½ cup sour cream
- ½ lime, juiced
- 1 tomato, chopped
- ½ cup chopped black olives
- ½ cup fresh jalapeno pepper slices
- 1 avocado – peeled, pitted, and cut into chunks
- ¼ cup chopped scallions
- ¼ cup chopped cilantro
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Spread potato nuggets out onto a baking sheet.
- Bake in the preheated oven until nuggets are golden brown and crisp, 22 to 24 minutes.
- Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook and stir beef in the hot skillet until browned and crumbly, 5 to 7 minutes. Add water and taco seasoning to beef; bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer until liquid reduces, about 5 minutes.
- Set oven rack about 6 inches from the heat source and preheat the oven’s broiler. Arrange potato nuggets on an oven-proof platter and cover evenly with ground beef; spread Mexican cheese and pepperjack cheese over the top.
- Cook potato nuggets under the broiler until cheese melts, 1 to 3 minutes. Whisk sour cream and lime juice together in a bowl. Top potato nuggets with tomatoes, black olives, jalapenos, avocado, sour cream mixture, scallions, and cilantro, respectively.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 356 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 24 g |
| Cholesterol | 50 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 3 g |
| Protein | 14 g |
| Saturated Fat | 10 g |
| Sodium | 708 mg |
| Sugars | 2 g |
| Fat | 25 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
instructions understood…lol. I have used this recipe several times through the years. Everone loves it!
My adult daughter and I thought this recipe read like it would definitely be worth trying, while my usually reasonably adventurous wife was VERY skeptical (but “willing to try them”)! Followed the recipe exactly (except for omitting the black olives at my daughter’s request, making certain the baked tots were extra crispy before assembly. And be sure to add the lime juice to the sour cream to give it a very nice “citrusy” tang, and to leave it under a pre-heated broiler just long enough to completely melt the grated cheese topping. Guess who was the first to say, “I’m blown away how how very tasty this is — I was totally expecting it to turn out as just another soggy, Mexican-like casserole!”? Yep, my lovely spouse!
Everyone really like this dish at our potluck dinner. Very easy to make.
Made it for my family and for my residents. They all loved it! One resident that owns a catering business said the sour cream and lime was a great idea.
Super easy and a great twist using Tater Tots! I used ground chicken ( not ground chicken breast, ground dark meat) instead of beef AND instead of ground turkey. Super crowd pleaser. Served jalapeño slices on the side All in one meal.. better than just tortilla chips!!!
What a great idea! Everyone loved it in the family.
This was underwhelming. I have to agree with the several other reviewers who said they prefer real nacho chips instead of the potatoes. Using potatoes throws the balance of this recipe way off. The crispness of the tater tots quickly gets mushy and then each bite gives you a mouthful of mushy potato that overwhelms the flavors and textures of all the toppings. Plus the potatoes don’t have the wonderful Mexican seasonings that nacho chips have so you lose that great “zing” with each bite. End result is a bland mouthful of mush…. Novel idea, but not a better idea.
We didn’t care for the tater tots. With that being said, if we made the exact same recipe using chips, I think it would have been delicious. That’s what we plan to do next time.
Not bad, but I would prefer to use traditional chips instead of the tator tots.
It was good, but nothing extraordinary. Fresh tasting and good, just not stand out. It would have been easier to eat and taken less time if I’d just stuck with nachos or tacos. Left me feeling full, yet slightly confused.
I used plain greek yogurt instead of sour cream and it tasted great. Loved the whole thing.
Oh yes. Yes indeed. Delish.
I used “Tater Rounds” in lieu of “Tater Tots”, but otherwise kept everything the same. This was a delicious twist to the traditional nachos. Everyone at my house thoroughly enjoyed them. I loved the lime juice/sour cream combo, too! Thanks for sharing this fun recipe, The Gruntled Gourmand!
Definitely will make this again! The lime juice in the sour cream was awesome and the tater tots were great as the foundation. I just left them on the baking sheet and added the meat and cheese, then put back it under the broiler. Left off the scallions and cilantro simply because I didn’t have any, but will try adding next time. You could top with whatever you like on your nachos. The guys loved it!
This was great I made with chicken instead of beef and served with mango. It gave it a very tropical taste (said my husband who’s from the tropics)
This was a great twist on nachos
I skipped the avocado. I just didn’t want the texture on my tots. I thought maybe using the taco seasoned meat on a version of “Extreme Tots” would be just as good as Sonics (I miss living in a town that had four Sonics in the city limits) but it wasn’t just as good. It was fine for a no-fuss snack though.
Instead of baking the tots in the oven I cooked them in my waffle iron which made a fun presentation and also sped up cooking time. I did put them under the broiler as directed for the finishing touch. My avocado had gone bad on me and I didn’t know it until it was too late but next time I will be sure to have one. This was fun and a nice change.
I add the meat and cheese and put toppings out for everyone to add to taste. Easy!