Crock Pot Tater Tot Casserole is one of my family’s favorite slow cooker meals! It’s loaded with ground beef and cheese and an easy way to please everyone at your table!
We love using our Crock Pot to make dinner time a little easier. Especially, by making Mexican Casserole and Crockpot Ground Beef Stroganoff.
One thing you will notice with my freezer to crockpot meals and especially this Cheesy Crockpot Tater Tot Casserole is that they are easy to make last minute if you have the right ingredients on hand. I have quickly whipped this one up really for a potluck dinner after church and have baked it in the oven, but I LOVE throwing it in the slow cooker.
Can I Substitute Hash Browns for Tater Tots in Tater Tot Casserole?
Yes, that should work just fine. Since they’ll be a little more dense, you may need to decrease the amount of potatoes you add.
Do You Have to Freeze Crock Pot Tater Tot Casserole?
Because I specialize in Crockpot Freezer Meals, I love sharing how to make your recipes ready for the freezer, especially when it’s simple. 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!
Where Did Tater Tot Casserole Come From?
We first heard of it and tried the recipe that was given to us from another large family. Since that time, several other large families have mentioned it’s a staple in their home as well. The recipe was passed around as an easy meal to serve that would stretch and feed many. We also saw that a famous reality TV show had shared the recipe as well.
After a little research, we discovered that tater tot casserole originates in the Upper Midwest region of the United States, where it remains popular to this day. Particularly in Minnesota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and North Dakota.
How To Make Cheesy Crockpot Tater Tot Casserole Recipe with Ground Beef
Making tater tot casserole is pretty simple. I’ll quickly outline the steps, but feel free to jump down to the recipe below for more details:
- Brown ground beef.
- Dice onion.
- Mix together all ingredients, except tater tots and cheese.
- Place tater tots in slow cooker.
- Pour ground beef mixture over top.
- Cook on low in slow cooker.
- Top with cheese once done cooking.
- Enjoy all the comments your family gives on how great this dish is!
MORE EASY SLOW COOKER RECIPES FOR YOU TO ENJOY:
- Crockpot Meals made with Ground Beef!
- Crock Pot Shepherd’s Pie
- Crockpot Chalupas Recipe
- Slow Cooker Garlic Butter Chicken & Potatoes
Cheesy Crock Pot Tater Tot Casserole with Ground Beef
Ingredients
- 32 oz bag tater tots
- 1 lb ground beef browned
- ½ t. salt
- ¼ t. pepper
- 2 cans green beans
- 1 can cream of chicken or cream of mushroom soup
- ½ chopped onion
- ¼ c. milk
- Shredded Cheese optional for sprinkling over after cooked
Instructions
- Cook ground beef and drain.
- Chop 1/2 an onion.
- Mix together cooked ground beef, onion, cream soups, milk, salt, pepper, and green beans.
- Line crockpot with tater tots.
- Poor ground beef mixture over the top of the tater tots.
- Cook on low for 6-7 hours or on high for 3.
- Sprinkle with shredded cheese.
Freezer to Slow Cooker Version:
- Mix together all ingredients except cheese and tater tots and place in a gallon size freezer safe bag.
- Label and lay flat to freeze.
- Thaw before cooking.
- Follow instructions above to cook.
Notes
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Liz says
May 26, 2019 at 10:15 amIf freezing the meal, do you still need to brown the beef? Or will it just cook once in the crockpot?
Sarah says
May 26, 2019 at 10:44 pmYes, definitely brown the beef. Otherwise any oil from the meat would make your dish extra greasy and it will clump together too much to make it enjoyable.
Christin Mullins says
July 31, 2018 at 10:42 amHello! I just realized that I don’t have any tater tots, but I do have a bag of shredded hash browns. Can I use that in leiu of the tots?
Sarah says
November 4, 2018 at 1:21 amYes hashbrowns would also work just fine.
Julie says
April 5, 2019 at 4:09 pmAwesome recipe. My hubby is extremely picky. Would have never dreamed it would end up being one of our favorites.
Tara says
March 26, 2018 at 7:34 pmWAS Looking for hamburger meat slow cookers and stumbled on to this page. It’s amazing! This Tater Tot Casserole brings back so many memories when I was a child and my mother made this. I don’t think she did it in a slow cooker because we wasn’t fortunate to have one so she used the oven. It always came out AMAZING. All of our families recipes from candies casseroles and pies etc were passed down to me. I’d love to share some of them as long as the other family members to make sure it’s ok first. If they do agree could you or someone on here help me get started!!! I’m only on fb. I don’t have any other app. Well I will definitely be trying this very soon
Kimberly says
October 20, 2017 at 8:41 amDo you drain the green beans?
Sarah says
October 28, 2017 at 12:48 amYes, I do.
Chad says
January 10, 2018 at 6:32 pmWell that explains what I did wrong. Still good but extremely runny. This is also very good when putting mashed potatoes on top like Shepherd’s pie.
Kara says
August 23, 2013 at 3:04 pmThis looks delicious! How many people does it typically feed?
Sidetracked Sarah says
August 29, 2013 at 1:05 amIt feeds 8 of us, but that would mean about 6 adult sized eaters as we have a few small eaters.
Harold says
August 20, 2013 at 9:01 pmI’m looking forward to trying this. We are a very busy household with three kids. Though I wont use mushroom soup… maybe with cream of chicken. Thank you for the wonderful idea.
Sidetracked Sarah says
August 23, 2013 at 12:38 amI often don't use the mushroom soup either. We switch for cream of chicken soup regularly.
Krista says
July 18, 2013 at 11:07 amI have ,made this twice though never freezing the meat mix beforehand. Love it!
Rachel says
April 30, 2013 at 10:06 pmI 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.
Sidetracked Sarah says
May 4, 2013 at 10:12 pmI think if it has 3 hours on high it will be fine.
Rachel says
May 5, 2013 at 10:42 pmI 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
summer says
March 22, 2013 at 6:53 ammade 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?
Sidetracked Sarah says
March 23, 2013 at 11:38 pmMaybe 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.
Amanda says
March 17, 2013 at 9:39 pmIs this good with cream of chicken instead of mushroom?
Sidetracked Sarah says
March 18, 2013 at 10:05 pmYes, it's very good with any cream soups. I mix and match as I see fit all the time.
Tina 'the book lady' says
February 26, 2013 at 8:19 amI 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…
Sidetracked Sarah says
March 2, 2013 at 12:10 amYes, usually I make things in the 6 quart. Sorry I didn't specify that. 🙁
Haley says
February 8, 2013 at 5:31 pmCan I skip the freezing part and just make the recipe?
Sidetracked Sarah says
February 10, 2013 at 10:21 pmSure, that'll work great. I do that sometimes.
Sara says
January 29, 2013 at 10:19 amCan you switch out the green beans for corn? My kids refuse to eat green beans?
Sidetracked Sarah says
January 29, 2013 at 10:22 amSure, I think that would work just fine.
Lauryn says
August 25, 2013 at 2:56 pmWe sometimes use shredded carrots as well
Sidetracked Sarah says
August 29, 2013 at 1:07 amGreat idea to throw some good nutrition in there!
Lori says
January 4, 2013 at 12:59 pmI'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.
steve says
October 25, 2012 at 9:18 amShould the tots be frozen or thawed at the start of cooking?
Sidetracked Sarah says
October 26, 2012 at 10:26 pmThey should be frozen. I hope that helps!
Monica says
October 5, 2012 at 10:30 amThanks 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.
Sidetracked Sarah says
October 8, 2012 at 9:46 amYou're welcome! I love it when the kids are old enough to help out with some of it!
BZMom says
October 2, 2012 at 12:44 pmDo you think it will be ok cooking low for 8 hours instead of 6?
thanks,
Sidetracked Sarah says
October 3, 2012 at 7:25 pmYes, you can do that. It may be a bit crispier around the edges….but it should be OK.
Rebecca says
June 27, 2012 at 10:09 amHey, 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
Sidetracked Sarah says
June 27, 2012 at 11:17 pmThanks for stopping by and saying something Rebecca! Blessings to you, too!
Sidetracked Sarah says
February 11, 2012 at 12:14 pmThat's a great tip Cindi. Thanks for sharing!
Cindi Altman says
February 8, 2012 at 1:38 pmJust 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.
Sidetracked Sarah says
January 10, 2012 at 1:55 amHi 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!
Sara says
January 10, 2012 at 12:19 amExcited to try this ! Found you on Pinterest:) Browsing while my three month old naps
SnoWhite says
October 13, 2011 at 8:06 pmI 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 🙂