A Southwest seasoned ground beef filling with black beans and corn is topped with cheese and crunchy tater tots in this remake of a classic hot dish.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
When I was a kid, my mom made tater tot casserole on a regular basis, and it was one of my least favorite meals. Well, let me tell you, this Tex-Mex Tater Tot Casserole is not your mamma’s tater tot casserole!
My mom’s version featured hamburger and canned cream of mushroom soup, poured over top of frozen tater tots and baked.
That’s right, the tater tots went on the bottom of the casserole.
Which means–you guessed it–they were just a soggy mess. Don’t worry, us kids laugh about it with mom now, but for a lot of years, I had no idea how good tater tot casserole could be.
And this version, with tons of Tex-Mex spices and ingredients, is by far my favorite version of this classic childhood dish.
For one thin, the tater tots go on top in this recipe, which means they get nice and crispy, the way tater tots should be.
And yes, you can totally replace regular tater tots with frozen sweet potato tots if you like.
I take the easy route and use packaged taco seasoning in this recipe, but you can definitely add your own spices and seasonings if you prefer.
I recommend making this up in a cast iron skillet, but a 9 x 13 baking dish will work just as well.
The bubbly, cheesy filling, topped with the crispy, crunchy tater tots is total comfort food. It takes me back to my childhood. But in a good way!
And my husband and kids love it too! At least I think they do–hopefully they won’t be lamenting their mother’s tater tot casserole 30 years down the road.
Be sure to save this recipe to your favorite Pinterest board for later.
Ingredients
- Ground beef
- Produce: onion, garlic, jalapeno, bell peppers
- Flour
- Taco seasoning mix
- Milk
- Shredded pepper jack cheese
- Black beans
- Frozen corn
- Salt and pepper
- Frozen tater tots
Tex-Mex Tater Tot Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1/2 cup onion chopped
- 2-3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 small jalapeno seeded and diced
- 2 red or yellow bell peppers chopped
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 1 package taco seasoning mix
- 3/4 cup milk
- 8 ounces shredded pepper jack cheese
- 1 14 oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 cup frozen corn
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1-2 bags frozen tater tots
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- In a large skillet brown ground beef, onion and garlic and cook until beef is no longer pink. Add the peppers and saute until just tender.
- Add the flour and taco seasoning and cook a few minutes more. Gradually stir in the milk and bring to a simmer. Simmer 2-3 minutes until mixture is thickened.
- Add half the cheese, along with the black beans and corn. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the ground beef mixture. Top with frozen tater tots.
- Place skillet on a sheet pan and bake for 20-30 minutes, or until tater tots are golden brown and crispy. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.
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Nutrition
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4 comments
Tracey
This version of tater tot casserole sounds delish and I can’t wait to try it! I do have a couple of questions though. In your step by step instructions, it says to heat butter over medium heat and add ground beef….but I don’t see butter listed in the ingredients. How much butter? When these ingredients are done cooking, your instructions do not say to drain the grease. I assume I should drain it before proceeding to the next step?
Danelle
Not sure where butter came from–that’s a typo. There isn’t any in the recipe. Sorry about that! As far as the ground beef, whether you drain it is up to you. I usually use lean ground beef and don’t bother draining it.
Melanie
I’ve only had tater tot casserole wit the tots in top and I love them. I also loved this. I absolutely despise beans of any kind but this was yummy without the beans
I was looking through recipes when I found this one. I did find some that had peas or green beans (don’t like green ones either). If that’s an effort to make the casserole healthier then they need to STOP. It is not healthy or good for you.it just tastes good. And that is why I eat them.
Crossing fingers
Trying first time. Did half hot Bob Evans sausage with ground beef. Also, used Campbells Fiesta Nacho Cheese. Crossing my fingers! Either way won’t look like dog food like traditional casserole! Thanks for the twist!