Tater Tot Casserole Comfort Food Recipe

Sharing is caring!

This Tater Tot Casserole recipe is the perfect comfort food.  It includes all the gooey goodness that I think of when I think of home: sausage, cheese, potatoes.

Plus, it is about as easy as it gets. Seriously, my guys can make it. In fact, my husband DID make the tater tot casserole in these pictures.

I am not a patient person! I just wanted to mix up the stuff and top with tater tots that were just dumped on.  My husband, bless his sweet soul, took the time to line each individual tater tot up.

Honestly, you really should do it this way so that they all cook evenly.  If, like me, you are impatient, then enlist a child.  This type of activity is a great fine motor skill enhancer. I’m just saying! 🙂

Specialty Ingredients:

The following ingredients are affiliate links on Amazon because they may be a bit hard to find in your normal store.  I wanted you to be able to see exactly which things we are using.

When most of us think of Velveeta, we think of a big block of cheese.  However, you can get Sliced Velveeta and it is perfect for this recipe.

If you are not a “quick meal” kinda person, you may have never bought frozen tater tots.  We keep them at our house! Any of our three boys can throw some in the Air Fryer for a snack or meal.

Reminder, not all ingredients in the this layer of tater tots and beef mixture are linked above, just the ones that may be a bit difficult to find or that you might be unsure of what to look for.

Must Have Resources:

When making Tater Tot Casserole at home, you really need to have the following Amazon affiliate tools on hand.

I used a Pampered Chef stone baking dish this time, but I have used my Pyrex glass one in the past.

In order to whisk the eggs and milk, you need a good whisk and a great mixing bowls.  These are my choices.

Last year, I threw away almost all of my non-stick pans. They were peeling and yuck. I asked for an entirely new set of pans. I asked for the ones my Mom has used for YEARS and years and I couldn’t be happier.  So, I recommend a Farberware 4 quart pot for browning your ground sausage. It is what I used.

Make it a Meal:

While this dish has pretty much everything necessary to make a full course meal: fat, dairy, protein, starch; it is missing an important part. Vegetables!  I mean, if you don’t add in onions. LOL!

We love to make breakfast for dinner in our house. I am not sure why it tastes better when it is eaten at the “wrong” part of the day, but it just does

So, if you decide to make this breakfast casserole for dinner, you are going to want to make it a full meal.  The following dishes are my recommendations for this recipe.

Vegetable Side: I highly recommend that you enjoy a green salad before eating this dish. However, if you prefer to have a vegetable side dish, this Bacon Broccoli Salad will pair very well.

Refreshing Drink:  Any juice or milk would be great with this dish. But, I really think you will enjoy this cranberry mocktail recipe.  It has enough of a bite to it that it will wash down your casserole very well.

Don’t forget Dessert: No meal is complete without a sweet end.  Since this tater tot casserole is pretty heavy and calorie laden, I suggest a lighter dessert.  This Orange Coconut Salad will hit your sweet tooth without adding loads more calories to your meal.

Best Breakfast Casserole Recipes:

Every year, we host Christmas Breakfast at our house.  That means that I spend the entire year trying different recipes to try to find the best breakfast dish to make.  The following breakfast casserole rank right up there with this tater tot casserole.

You and your children are going to love these Breakfast Tacos from Crystal and Company.  It starts as a casserole, but then those are scooped onto warm tortillas to make this delicious recipe.

This Apple Cinnamon Bun Casserole from Simply Stacie is so very delicious.  You are going to love the fact that it is a cinnamon roll, without sticky fingers!

More Frozen Tater Tot Recipes:

Frozen tater tots are the perfect food… seriously!  It is like these fun little potato nuggets, cost like 5 buck at Walmart, and can be used in so many recipes!  Here are a few of my picks.

This Cheesy Tater Tot Breakfast Bake, from Chew Out Loud, is very similar to my recipe above, except it includes bacon

This Chunky Tater Tot Dip, from Family Fresh Meals, is made with shredded tater tots and would be fabulous with crackers or toasted bread!

These Cheesy Breakfast Potatoes from Damn Delicious make the perfect over-night or “don’t use my oven” dish to include because they are made in a slow cooker!

 

 

Change this Tater Tot Casserole:

Note, this recipes calls for Velveeta sliced cheese, but I have used shredded cheese in the past with no issues.  The recipes gets a bit more hot and bubbly with shredded cheddar cheese due to the oil, but it is still yummy.  Just make sure that your cheese melts before turning off the oven.

You could add some beef and onion to this recipe. You would just use cooked beef instead of ground sausage.  Your cooking time would remain the same.  After browning and draining your ground beef, add 1/2 cup of chopped onions to the pot and cook for 5 minutes or until the onion pieces are clear.

You could also replace the milk with cream of mushroom soup or sour cream for a different flavor in this recipe.  Mushroom can be a bit bland, so if I use cream of mushroom, I add in a little garlic powder. Sorry, I don’t have an exact measurement. I just shake a few shakes into the egg mixture. LOL!

Sharing is caring!