Why have I waited so long to make homemade tater tots? They’re SO much better than the frozen ones you buy at the store. I knew from the moment I was assembling them that this recipe would be a winner. These tater tots are perfectly fluffy on the inside and golden brown and crisp on the outside. Plus they’re healthier, baked and not fried with only a handful of ingredients: potatoes, olive oil, salt and pepper.
Russet or red skinned potatoes are great for this recipe (I used red) but I’m sure any variety will work fine. If you have a hard time making cylinder shapes, try mashing the grated potatoes a little. (Tip: Use the course surface of your grater). And keep an eye on the tater tots while roasting so they don’t burn. Give this recipe a try, I promise you will not be disappointed! Serve with ketchup of your favorite dipping sauce.
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Homemade Oven Roasted Tater Tots
- 3-4 cooked potatoes
- 1 teaspoon salt, to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper, to taste
- olive oil
Depending on your oven, preheat to 425-450°F. Line a baking sheet with foil, parchment paper or (my preferred way!) Silpat to prevent the tots from sticking and set aside.
Peel and boil potatoes in salted water for 15-20 minutes until cooked, then drain. Grate the potatoes and place in a bowl. With your hands, carefully stir in salt and pepper and form the mixture into balls or small cylinders and place on a sheet pan. Spray or drizzle olive oil over top. Cook tater tots for about 15 minutes on each side until golden brown and crisp on the outside.
Total Time: 60 minutes
Yield: makes about 6-8 servings
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These sound so simply delicious ?i’ll have to try them tonight!
Thanks so much! I’m tempted to make them tonight again too 🙂
Why haven’t I made these?!! Brilliant!
Thank you Mimi!!
Hi Barb thank you so much for the gorgeous recipe! I was really excited to make these and am having an interesting time of it…mine stuck like crazy to the pan. It might be worth mentioning that it looks like you used a Silpat sheet in the pan and that made yours a little easier to make/manipulate. I also live in Northern CO at about 5000 feet so many it’s altitude too but I just thought I would leave the comment. It looks like they are going to be okay, just not quite as pretty and well-formed at yours. Which is fine…just thought I would let you know. Have a beautiful day!
Hi Dondi – Thanks so much for your comment! I will definitely update the recipe to line the pan with Silpat (which is what I used). Sorry yours stuck to the pan but hopefully they taste OK!! Thanks again and stop by again 🙂
I greased a tray pan with a little garlic olive oil to prevent sticking and it worked out well (I don’t have a Silpat). Just a tip: add some paprika, garlic powder, and onion powder if you want more flavor. They’re delicious either way though. Thanks for the recipe!
Your additions sound great…love the garlic olive oil! Thanks for your comment Nikki!
I’m a BIG fan of sweet potato tots. Would sweet potatoes work as a substitution?
Great idea, I think that should work. Please let me know how they turned out!
Are the potatoes par-boiled? About how long do you boil them?
Hi Sara – My potatoes were cooked all the way through, but I’m sure par-boiling would work just as well since it’s baked again in the oven. Depending on the size of your potatoes, boil and cook for 15-20 minutes. You can check to see if they’re cooked by pushing a toothpick in one and it will slide out easily when cooked. Thanks for asking, I’ll edit my recipe write-up!
Could you do the cylinders by putting the mixture in a piping bag with a large bore tip, and squeeze them out? I can’t wait to try this for my grandsons. Tater tots are their favorite form of potatoes.
Hi Joy – Sorry for the late response! I haven’t tried but I’m sure a piping bag with a large tip should work! Let me know how it turns out 🙂
Have you ever tried freezing them? Wondering if I partially baked them and put them in the freezer how they would turn out after the second bake. Suggestions?
Hi Jessica – I have never tried, I always made them right after boiling the potatoes. But I’m sure they would taste just as good if you partially bake and then freeze. After you partially bake them, I would cool the tots on the pan and then stick the pan in the freezer for a few minutes before putting them in a freezer bag, just so they retain their shapes. Hope that helps! Let me know how it works out for you 🙂
Has anyone used the tater tots in hotdish?
I found these more difficult to make than described. They stuck to the pan & then came apart & the cooking time was nearly double than you mentioned in your recipe. It was more than frustrating.
Hi Laura – I’m sorry this recipe didn’t work out for you! The potatoes are pre-cooked and I used a Silpat sheet on my pan to prevent from sticking.
These were delicious! I lined the pan with aluminum foil and sprayed it with Pam, then drizzled just a little olive oil over the tops. We had no problem getting them out of the pan as we devoured them. Thanks for the recipe!
That’s great, Vanessa! I’m so happy you loved (and devoured) them like we did 🙂
Thanks for the recipe. These look lovely. I’m going to try them soon.
Great! Let me know how they turn out 🙂
I followed recipie as written. But I added some cheddar cheese, and garlic powder. They were outstanding. Thanks
I’m so happy you enjoyed this recipe, Bill. Cheddar cheese and garlic sound really good…will try that soon!
Made these tonight and my 4 year old and I put the shredded potatoes into a heart shaped mold (for chocolates) and I brushed them with olive oil. So we had crispy little heart shaped tots. They were so cute!! I used parchment paper for baking and had no issues with them sticking. I also followed the advice of one post to add paprika, garlic powder and onion powder. We will definitely make these again. Thank you!
You’re so welcome…sounds great, April! Love the idea of putting the shredded potatoes into molds…will definitely try that sometime 🙂 Thanks so much for your comment!
Hi,
you can also use PARCHMENT PAPER so nothing sticks!
Also, what about using sweet potato or squash for the “tots”
For those with no Silpat? Try parchment paper.
Worked for me.
I really enjoyed this easy recipe but i did make a few modifications that i thought improved the taste of the overall product. I added a little garlic powder, seasoning salt, and onion powder. I made the recipe once as stated above and a second time with the added spices, I think the added spices gave the tater-tots a little extra flavor. I really appreciated the step by step instructions paired with the images. This made the process of creating this dish easy.
The spices sound like a great addition, I’ll have to try that out soon. Thanks for your comment, Ms.Sue!
Thanks for the great recipe!
I added some diced onion and jalapeno to the mix. I was worried that the onion might add too much moisture so i squeezed the diced onion gently in a paper towel before adding. I don’t know if this was a necessary step, but the end product was great!
Oh, and I used parchment paper and had no sticking problems.
YUM, your additions sound delicious Carolyn! Thanks so much for your comment 🙂
I made these and they were delicious. I had been wanting tater tots for a long time but the ingredients kept me from buying a bag. Who knew they would be so easy to make!
Thanks, Nancy 🙂 I’m so happy you enjoyed this recipe!
I just made these but instead of grating the boiled potatoes I mashed them, then formed the mashed potato into balls and baked. O. M. G. So yummy, I ate them all 😀
Haha, I’m so happy you enjoyed this recipe! I pretty much eat them all whenever I make this too 😉 Thanks for your comment, Maia!
Thanks Barb! That’s a great recipe. My wife has celiac disease, what she eats is very limited, and I really feel bad when everyone is watching a movie with snacks, and she doesn’t have anything. Last night I experimented with your recipe, and added bacon and cheese. SHE LOVES THEM!!!!!!! Again thank you so much for sharing your recipe God Bless, and Happy Holidays to you and yours.
Thanks for your nice comment, Eric! I’m so happy your wife loved this recipe, the added bacon and cheese sounds delicious! Happy Holidays as well 😀
Thanks for the recipe idea. I added nutritional yeast to my batch for a slight cheesy flavor. So much better than store bought and a lot easier to make than I originally thought.
Glad you enjoyed the recipe 🙂 Adding nutritional yeast sounds like a great idea!
Great recipe! Only I didn’t roll into cylinders I used a small cookie scoop. It made me think that favorite foods are not bad for us it our GO GO GO pace where buying a bag of food to cook in instant is the JUNK!
Love the cookie scoop idea, Charlotte! Thanks so much for your comment 🙂
Do you think this would work with sweet potato instead of regular potatoes? I’m trying to stick to low GI foods, so I’d love to try this with those instead.
Hi Anna – Yes, of course…I have the recipe on here too! Here’s the link: http://wishfulchef.com/homemade-oven-roasted-sweet-potato-tater-tots/
Hi Barb,
I currently live in Honduras and can only get one type of potatoes. No russet and no red potatoes around here! I have the yellowish, thin-skinned kind and they are very starchy, so when I tried to form these into shapes, everything just stuck to my fingers. Any tips on how to deal with the starch smush?
Hi Lesley – Hmm, try using par-boiled or uncooked potatoes, or even grate the potatoes in a larger size? Hope this helps!
Try to cut them in half or quarters and soak them in cold water and run your hands through them it gets the starch out with sweet potatoes it might work with this.
I always loved tater tots they sold with your roast beef sandwich. Never could find that taste or crunch again until now. Homemade is the key, and these turned out pretty good. My Grandaughters asked for more, so I know they taste good. We like potato hash browns for breakfast, with some onion. So I made up a batch with some sauté onion. Took my ice cream scoop and made a tray of them. I just patted them down to make a small pancake. Baked them the same on a cookie sheet with a Silpat. O boy, what a delight. My wife is very critical of my cooking skills, LOL. and she said ” you done good old man” I passed with the grand kids and the wife. So this reciept gets 5 STARS.
Hi Jerome – Thank you so much for your nice comment 🙂 I’m so happy you and your family enjoyed this recipe! I love potato hash browns with onions as well, yum!
These are delicious ! Have made twice now and will never buy the frozen ones again. My whole fussy clan enjoyed them.
Hi Barb – I’m new to this, so apologies if this is a fairly straightforward question. What do you mean by bake them for 15 minutes on each side? Do you flip each individual tater tot over after 15 minutes?
Hi Jackie – No worries! Yes, bake the tater tots for about 15 minutes, then flip each one over and bake for another 15 or until golden brown. Hope they turn out nice for you 🙂
These are wonderful and you can personalize them to I like to put cheese in some and garlic salt or powder in others.
I used red potatoes as stated & I had such a hard time making any shape because they were sooooooo sticky. Can you give me advice as to preventing this again? Thank you & look forward to trying out spices!
Hi Christine – Sorry this didn’t turn out well for you! Maybe try less cooking time for your potatoes so it doesn’t get too sticky when handling. They will finish cooking in the oven when ready to bake. Hope this helps!