Tater tot skewers loaded up with taco spiced ground beef, melted cheese, bacon and drizzled in sour cream. This tater tot appetizer is so easy and so good, you are gonna make this all the time!
Who doesn’t love tater tots?! Seriously… They are so good. Little bites of crunchy potatoes! Well now they are even better!
These are going on the super bowl menu this year for sure!
Why we love this tater tot appetizer recipe…
- super easy to make
- comfort food to the max
- filling for those days when you eat an appy as a meal
- melted cheese and bacon… need we say more?
- easy and quick to make a lot of these
- the perfect game day appetizer
Ingredients
- Tater Tots – you can find these at any store.
- Ground Beef – this beef will be cooked with onions and taco seasonings. So good!
- Bacon – thick cut is our preference.
- Cheese – we like a mix of cheddar and mozzarella cheese on these skewers
- Green Onions – for the top!
- Sour Cream – for drizzling/dipping
Other ingredients you could try
- try pickled/chopped jalapenos! Yum! (I don’t know why I didn’t do this to start with)
- you could use ground pork or chicken if you don’t like ground beef
- ranch seasoning sprinkled on top of the tater tots or ground beef
- or serve with ranch dressing for a dip
How to Make Tater Tot Skewers
This tater tot appetizer is so simple to make!
- First your going to want to cook up your tater tots. We recommend using a sheet of parchment paper for easy clean up!
- Then make your meat. Cook a diced onion, add your ground beef, season generously with salt, chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder. Break it up till its nice and small. Cook until its fully browned.
- At the same time, cook your bacon. You can either cut it into pieces and then cook it or cook it in strips and then chop it later. We usually cut it and then cook it. It cooks faster. Cook till its fully cooked but not overdone or too hard,
- When the tater tots are done, skewer them with wooden skewers. 4-6 tots on a skewer. Lay them on a parchment lined baking sheet and sprinkle with the ground beef. Add a good amount of shredded cheese.
- Bake them till the cheese melts and when they come out of the oven, immediately sprinkle with bacon and green onions.
- Drizzle them in sour cream and serve with more sour cream for dipping.
Tips for Making These Perfect
- crispy tater tots are the best! Don’t over cook them to get them crispy, just spray them lightly with oil before cooking.
- make sure your ground beef is on the dryer side. Not dried out, but not wet otherwise it will make your tater tots soggy.
- cook your bacon so its crispy but not too crispy. You don’t want it to be hard.
- you can use whatever cheese you like, but make sure it melts nicely. We like cheddar and mozzarella, but there are many that would work.
- to make your sour cream easier to drizzle, mix in a tsp of coffee or whipping cream till you get the consistency you desire
Our Favorite Tool for Cooking Ground Meat
You may have noticed a tool in the pictures above. Its a meat chopper and its fricken awesome! We like our meat chopped small and it can take a fair amount of elbow grease, but this tool makes it so much easier!
Its inexpensive and awesome. You can get your meat chopper here.
Common Questions:
Can you make tater tot skewers ahead of time?
You can, but they won’t be as good. You can do some things ahead of time though. Cook your ground beef and bacon and store them for up to 3 days in an airtight container.
You can also grate your cheese ahead of time and store it in the fridge.
But its best to cook your tater tots and then assemble the skewers right before you serve them.
How do you make tater tots extra crispy?
To make tater tots extra crispy, give them a light spray of oil before baking in the oven.
Can you make tater tots in the air fryer?
Yes! Just make sure to give them a stir now and then and don’t overcrowd the fryer.
Can you microwave tater tots?
We are going to say no. This will just make them mushy.
Other game day appetizers you might like:
- crispy oven fried pickles
- the ultimate baked onion rings
- smash burger sliders
- whiskey beef sliders
- taco chili cheese dip
If you’ve tried this Taco Tater Tot Skewer recipe then we would love it if you could rate the recipe by clicking on the stars in the recipe card and let us know how it turned out in the comments below. We love hearing from you!
We also love to see your creations! Tag @Cookswithcocktails if you post a picture of this recipe on INSTAGRAM
Taco Tater Tot Skewers
Ingredients
- 15 skewers
- 1 bag tater tots
- 1/2 lb ground beef
- 1 small onion diced
- 1 tbsp salt
- 1 tbsp garlic powder
- 1 tbsp onion powder
- 1 tbsp chili powder
- 1.5 cup cheddar cheese shredded
- 1.5 cup mozzarella cheese shredded
- 0.5 lb bacon chopped and cooked
- 1 bunch green onion
- sour cream
Instructions
- First cook up your tater tots according to the instructions on the bag. We recommend using a sheet of parchment paper for easy clean up!
- While the tots are cooking, make your meat. In a large skillet, cook a diced onion, add your ground beef, season generously with the salt, chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder. Break it up till its nice and small. Cook until its fully browned.
- At the same time, cook your bacon. You can either cut it into pieces and then cook it or cook it in strips and then chop it later. We usually cut it and then cook it. It cooks faster. Cook till its fully cooked but not overdone or too hard,
- When the tater tots are done, skewer them with wooden skewers. 4-6 tots on a skewer. Lay them on a parchment lined baking sheet and sprinkle with the ground beef. Add the shredded cheese.
- Bake them at 350 degrees till the cheese melts. This will take about 8 mins or so. When they come out of the oven, immediately sprinkle with bacon and green onions.
- Drizzle them in sour cream and serve with more sour cream for dipping.
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