Homemade Tater Tots
May 12th, 2011 § 58 Comments
This week, I’ve made you feel something, sad or happy, not once, not twice, but three times.
All I’ll say is that I am-
I’m sorry I just need to grab my megaphone. Can you pass it to me? Thanks K, [tap tap]. Is this thing on? Testing..tes-tes-testing. Ahem.
I am
unabashedly,
completely,
madly,
and
deeply,
in love with you.
Yep, you.
For all of the fire you’ve set to my heart, you deserve two things. Several moments of my silence being one.
Tater tots being the other.
Golden and fried and doughy in their dimples.
Heavily salted.
Taters, totted. Tots made of taters.
*I’m stopping now.
*We both know that never works out like I promise.
Tater Tots
serves 5, as a side dish
3 medium potatoes, finely grated and dried well
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt, plus more for serving
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup canola oil
Mix the potatoes with the flour, salt, and pepper. Form into 1” logs.
Heat oil in a large pot until it is so hot that dripping a drop of water on the surface immediately sizzles and spatters. Add tots and fry until all sides are golden brown.
Serve hot with extra salt and an endless supply of ketchup.
Nutrition info per serving (1/5th of entire recipe): Calories: 201.6, Fat: 11g, Carb: 24g, Fiber: 1.5g, Protein: 2.4g
Wow, first to comment, must be up extra special early. Your tater totted tater tots look so good I want some for breakfast!
Love you for this journey! This is by far the best book I’ve ever gotten lost in!
I’m pretty sure if I made these my husband really would love me forever (you can never have too much insurance;-))!
I need these. I love you for posting the recipe.
Wow.. homemade tator tots… totted tators.. very cool. Never even thought of doing something like this!
totted tators! I love that!
Looks good, Andie!
I love the way you say thank you.
These look incredible. I’m kind of (okay, totally) in love with you too. And I love tater tots. They make me feel like I’m buying hot lunch in the 4th grade.
Oh my goodness, these look so cute and perfect!! My mum and dad used to feed my sister and I tater tots when we were kids.. but not this kind. They were the frozen McCain kind which only tasted good because of the endless amounts of ketchup I put on them. (“Want some tater tots with that ketchup??”) But now, every time I see tater tots I think of the scenes in Napoleon Dynamite!!
Oh man, the fiance is going to FLIP when he sees this recipe! Supex excited to try this one out… thank you!
Delectable… and surprisingly easy to make. Maybe I will make these with the oven fries I’m attempting next week? A lot of starch…. but totally worth the splurge?
Well we ADORE you…so the feeling is mutual!
Those tots look amazing! I do love me some mini puffs of potato goodness but I always wonder what exactly comes in those big plastic bags in the freezer at the market. I mean besides the potato innards there HAS to be all sorts of yucky preservatives and other yuck stuff. SO…I am thrilled to have found this recipe on your blog. A new version of tots…au naturale!
Hey Napolean, give me your tots!! Haha… These look great. I’ve often wondered how to make them. My son says he hates potatoes, but ironically LOVES tator tots. Maybe we’ll have to make these together!
Can I just say that I adore you? I love the way you eat (tater tots make me happy) and that you drink soda. I’ve been craving soda so ridiculously bad lately.
Wow I never even thought to make these at home! So delicious looking… yuuuum!
New to your blog – love it!
These tater tots look better than any that a cafeteria served up! Mmm!
I didn’t know Tots were that easy to make! We had fish and tots just this week – we’ll have to do it again but with yummier tots!
I cannot help but think you are evil and lovely at the same time for sharing this
Ok – how awesome are you for making these? I never would have thought it was possible.
I LOVE tater tots!
These look soo good!! Im glad im not the only one who likes to cover my food in ketchup
Well, if this is how you say thank you, I’m going to post more lovely things as we go on…
Honestly, those 3 pieces were so well done, I actually went back and reread them after I posted. And homemade tater tots?! My kids love you too!
YUM!!!
I’d love to make these but I usually avoid making fried food because it seems like a waste of oil. You only used 1/4 cup, were they shallow fried?
OMG yum!! I saw something like this on The Kitchn a while back, only made with (leftover) mashed potatoes…do you think that would work, too?? These look fantastic, my boyfriend would go berserk.
I am smitten.
Just when I think you can’t “one up” every single recipe that you’ve ever made.
I am speechless.
And in need of a bag of potatoes so that I can get cookin’ as soon as possible.
Oh WOW! I love this post! Tater tots are one of my favorite guilty pleasures!
Not sure if I could keep to 1/5 the recipe for my serving of these!!! Yum!
i’m glad you know how much we love you
because we DO! (i may love you a litte TOO much!)(in the least creepy way possible)(i promise) but anyway, about the tots. i saw it on your twitter and couldn’t wait to see. and of course, you never disappoint. i’m currently trying to reach through my macbook to eat the tots. it isn’t working. looks like i know what i’ll be doing tonight… 
I had tator tots for the first time in years a couple of weeks ago. It reminded me of my high school cafeteria. Wonderfully bad! Homemade ones would be special for a summer bbq get together.
I don’t think I’ve ever had a tater tot, but I’ll eat anything with potatoes in it
Mmm this takes me back to my childhood, I am in love
We are in love with you too! And those taters look AMAZING!
I think you’re just spiffy!
Love this! I didn’t know you could make them at home so easily – thought you needed a special press thingy. I’m just going to have to try it and freeze a bunch of them for later.
Did you just grate them with a cheese grater? Or did you use a special tool? Cold or cooked?
I LOVE Tator Tots, but my desire to eat more natural foods have kept them away. I cannot wait to make these!!
Oh wow, these look PERFECT! They’re gorgeous little tots, and absolutely positively tot-shaped! Any secrets for getting perfect little potato-mallows like these?
Those look SO yummy!
Serves five?
I find that highly doubtful.
I love, love, love your site! I have made numerous recipes you’ve generously posted, and they are WONDERFUL! My family is nuts about the Petite Lasagnas. Keep going strong!
You make your own tater tots too? What are you, super woman?!
These look SOOO delicous.
I love you, too. Will you marry me? We have can a cheese fountain, to go with the tots at the reception.
Simply brilliant.
So…you know Pittsburgh is home to Heinz ketchup right? And what goes better with tots? You can fly to Texas, we can go to Pittsburgh, visit Jessica and eat cupcakes until they have to roll us back to the airport. Sound like a plan?
[...] (Source) [...]
Just found you today – EmilyBites.com mentioned you, and I hopped over… love your story. Incredibly inspirational.. I love that you quit running – I run b/c I have to for work (military) so I’ve tried to turn it into a hobby that I enjoy and still struggle most of the time. Anyways – I’ll be stopping by on a regular time.. and trying a couple of your recipes tonight!! BTW – where are those pics of you and Leo?
I’m curious about the tuna rangoon….but the link takes me here! help!
I made these today and they were so good. They were crispy and salty and way better than the kind you get in school cafeterias. If anyone is concerned about the amount of oil, it works perfectly. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
wow these look amazing!!!! I haven’t made them yet but am wondering how they would work baked rather than fried anyone tried that yet?
Cannot wait to try these! I have been searching for ages for an easy tatertot recipe. I’m quickly becoming obsessed with your blog!
[...] birthday. We’re hitting up the Spaghetti Factory! Sunday (01/29) – Quinoa burgers with homemade tater tots Monday (01/30) – New England Pot Roast Tuesday (01/31) – Pasta with peanut [...]
So i just made these but they turned out a bit gooey on the inside. Tips?? I didnt think they cooked too fast but maybe I’m wrong.
This is brilliant! Good old homemade comfort food.
[...] Cooker New England Pot Roast Loaded Quinoa Burgers (I could not find quinoa at our Kroger!!) with homemade tater tots Maple Pecan Granola Baked Zucchini Sticks Blueberry Pie Baked [...]
My boyfriend loves tater tots. Can’t wait to make these!! Thank you for the recipe.
I had this different type of ice tray and made these for yrs. My kids loved them. Just use the same recipie and stuff them in a old ice tray. Back then the ice trays froze larger pieces of ice. It worked for me.And I could freeze them after workds.
[...] Homemade tater tots – This was a complete and total fail. It could be because I didn’t fry them. I can’t really handle fried food now that I’m pregnant and did not want to spend the evening in the bathroom, so I chose to bake them. They turned out like tasteless logs of what looked like shredded paper. I’ll try making these when I’m no longer pregnant and can do fried foods again but, for now, they’re off the list. [...]
[...] Homemade Tater Tots [...]
Yeah! Where’s the Tuna Rangoon??
I made these tonight and it was all I could do not to eat every last one before putting them into my tater tot casserole. (It gave me a sweet little thrill to know that every last morsel was homemade.) A couple notes for people who like extra detailed recipes: 1) Be careful to keep the tots separate from each other in the pan so they won’t stick to each other. 2) Tongs work well for nudging and turning. 3) These cook up fast – only 1-2 minutes a side. Maybe even less depending on how dark and crisp you want them to be. 4) I thought the teaspoon of salt added to the mixture was sufficient, so I recommend tasting before adding additional salt post-frying. 5) I only had a small pan to work with, so I did these in two batches. I only used 1/4 cup of oil total for both batches, just took the first batch out and added the second. Thank you, thank you, for this simple, tasty recipe!
[...] Fries 2. I don’t really know what these are, but they definitely look super delicious Tater Totes 3. These veggie burgers look like they’re full of good and delightful things AND like they [...]