Tater Tot Casserole (Freezer to Crockpot)
One thing you will notice with my freezer to crockpot meals is that they are easy to make last minute if you have the right ingredients on hand. I am whipping this one up really quickly for a potluck dinner after church. You don’t have to freeze them first, but it sure helps when you have a few of these easy meals thrown together in the freezer for you to pull from when your life is in chaos mode, like mine! Now…on to the recipe…..
Tater Tot Casserole Recipe
32 oz bag tater tots
1 lb ground beef, browned
½ t. salt
¼ t. pepper
2 cans green beans
1 can cr. Mushroom soup
½ chopped onion
¼ c. milk
Cheese (optional for sprinkling over after cooked)
Freeze all but tater tots & cheese in freezer safe bag. Try to thaw the bag in the fridge, the night before cooking so it will spread out over tots easily.
To cook, line crockpot with tater tots, cover with bag of ingredients. Cook on low for 6 hours or high for 3. Sprinkle each serving with cheese. My family likes to eat ketchup on this. Here it is, ready to go in the freezer.
For more recipes, see my one week crockpot recipes here.
To see how we built our own dining room table where we eat our meals, see this post.
I bet this is really tasty! Although, I'd probably reserve a few tater tots for the top since I love them all crunchy on the top
Excited to try this ! Found you on Pinterest:) Browsing while my three month old naps
Hi Sara, so glad you stopped by! Glad you got some time to browse while your baby is napping….my 6 month old has not been wanting to take a nap lately!
Just a tip on freezing stuff for the crockpot. Store the ingredients in a round, plastic, container that fits inside the crockpot. When you are ready to use the ingredients just run the container, upside, down under hot water. Be sure the lid is tight so you don't get water inside and the contents don't fall out before you are ready for them.
That's a great tip Cindi. Thanks for sharing!
Hey, Sarah! I found your site while looking for a Crockpot TaterTot recipe. I recognized your picture, and thought it was neat to find my MOMYS friend!
Blessings to you,
Youngwife
Thanks for stopping by and saying something Rebecca! Blessings to you, too!
Do you think it will be ok cooking low for 8 hours instead of 6?
thanks,
Yes, you can do that. It may be a bit crispier around the edges….but it should be OK.
Thanks for this post. My mother in law showed me how to make this delish meal a long time ago. It is a family favorite. We've not tried it in the crockpot yet. I used to freeze the browned beef and soup though. Just to help when kids were little and the first real cooking my girls learned was browing the beef for this dish. I'm really liking your site too.
You're welcome! I love it when the kids are old enough to help out with some of it!
Should the tots be frozen or thawed at the start of cooking?
They should be frozen. I hope that helps!
I've been making something similar only I use Cream of Celery instead of cream of muchroom and a can of Veg-All instead of green beans. But I haven't tried it in the crock-pot, think I will next time.
Can you switch out the green beans for corn? My kids refuse to eat green beans?
Sure, I think that would work just fine.
Can I skip the freezing part and just make the recipe?
Sure, that'll work great. I do that sometimes.
I just stuck this in the CP for my daycare kids to enjoy. (I have 1 today LOL) – I’ll be eating it the rest of the week! Do you make it in a 6 qt? I put it in my 3-4 qt so used maybe 1/3 bag of tator tots…
Yes, usually I make things in the 6 quart. Sorry I didn't specify that.
Is this good with cream of chicken instead of mushroom?
Yes, it's very good with any cream soups. I mix and match as I see fit all the time.
made this but something must’ve gone wrong because there were no tots to be seen. I followed directions exactly as I do the first time with a new recipe, but this turned into a mash. The flavor was there and was good, but it looked like mush with green beans – you could not see a tater tot, altho you could taste them. What is wrong here?
Maybe try buying the extra crispy ones? Ours usually turns pretty mushy as well…..I think that's how it's supposed to be. If you prefer the tots to stay in tact, try buying the extra crispy ones or crisping them in the oven before you put them in the bottom of the pan.
I am considering trying this out for the children in my daycare for lunch. Do you think I could cook it on high for a lower amount of time? I really don’t want to be getting up at 5am to put it in the slow cooker. I have two who go to school and need to eat at 11:30.
I think if it has 3 hours on high it will be fine.
I saw AFTER I had posted that you mention in you blog post that it can be cooked for three hours on high. I have a daughter with food allergies and can't use cream soup and made it with a homemade cream soup mix and it tasted GREAT! The kids loved it. Thanks for posting the recipe