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Sidetracked Sarah

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You Are Here: Home » Freezer to Slow Cooker » Cheesy Crock Pot Tater Tot Casserole with Ground Beef

Cheesy Crock Pot Tater Tot Casserole with Ground Beef

By Sarah 56 Comments

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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!

Freezer to Crockpot: Tater tot Casserole

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:

  1.  Brown ground beef.
  2. Dice onion.
  3. Drain green beans.  
  4. Mix together all ingredients, except tater tots and cheese.
  5. Place tater tots in slow cooker.
  6. Pour ground beef mixture over top.
  7. Cook on low in slow cooker.
  8. Top with cheese once done cooking.
  9. Enjoy all the comments your family gives on how great this dish is!
 

 

MORE EASY SLOW COOKER RECIPES FOR YOU TO ENJOY:

 
  1. Crockpot Meals made with Ground Beef!
  2. Crock Pot Shepherd’s Pie
  3. Crockpot Chalupas Recipe
  4. Slow Cooker Garlic Butter Chicken & Potatoes

 

Freezer to Crockpot: Tater tot Casserole
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4.67 from 6 votes

Cheesy Crock Pot Tater Tot Casserole with Ground Beef

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!  
Course Main Dish
Cuisine American
Keyword Cheesy Crock Pot Tater Tot Casserole with Ground Beef
Prep Time 10 minutes minutes
Cook Time 6 hours hours
Total Time 6 hours hours 10 minutes minutes
Servings 8
Calories 78790kcal
Author Sarah Robinson

Ingredients

  • 32 oz bag tater tots
  • 1 lb ground beef browned
  • ½ t. salt
  • ¼ t. pepper
  • 2 cans green beans, drained
  • 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

My family likes to eat ketchup on this.  Here it is, ready to go in the freezer.

Nutrition

Calories: 78790kcal | Carbohydrates: 20014g | Protein: 3259g | Fat: 1040g | Saturated Fat: 441g | Cholesterol: 41mg | Sodium: 24230528mg | Potassium: 420786mg | Fiber: 7909g | Sugar: 201g | Vitamin A: 170959IU | Vitamin C: 9mg | Calcium: 153472mg | Iron: 3242mg

 

 
 
 
 

 

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Comments

  1. Megan says

    July 31, 2015 at 10:26 pm

    Can’t wait to try! Does the beef have to be browned before freezing?

    Reply
    • Sarah says

      August 24, 2019 at 12:46 am

      Yes, it does.

      Reply
  2. Gabrielle says

    February 4, 2015 at 2:23 pm

    5 stars
    Sarah– I just want to give a quick shout-out to you and say thanks! Although I am not a mother (yet), my boyfriend and I both have very hectic jobs and have recently discovered the joys of a slow cooker.

    Your freezer to crockpot recipes have further simplified my life and allow me more quality time to spend with my boyfriend, rather than in front of the stove or sink. I currently have this tater tot casserole in the crockpot and a couple other recipes ready to go in the freezer! My boyfriend loved the chicken & rice casserole.

    Thank you for such a helpful blog! I look forward to trying more of your recipes.

    Reply
  3. Tonya says

    November 7, 2014 at 5:23 am

    My family loves this but we use corn instead of green beans. The only thing we make ahead of time and freeze is the meat. I have also never cooked it in a crock pot. We bake it for 30 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Even in the oven it looks like mush not tater tots.

    Reply
    • Sarah says

      August 24, 2019 at 12:51 am

      We sometimes cook it in the oven, too.

      Reply
  4. Melinda says

    October 8, 2014 at 5:26 pm

    Do you cook all your meet before you actually freeze it?

    Reply
    • Sarah says

      August 24, 2019 at 12:48 am

      Yes, I do.

      Reply
  5. Caitlin says

    September 13, 2014 at 4:02 pm

    I’m so thankful for Pinterest that I can find recipes posted years ago from all different blogs and try them whenever! Trying this tonight. I assume you drain the green beans…

    Thanks for the recipe!

    Reply
    • Sarah says

      August 24, 2019 at 12:50 am

      Yes, you do drain the green beans. Good question.

      Reply
  6. Courtney M. says

    June 11, 2014 at 12:09 pm

    5 stars
    This was great! It was incredibly easy to throw in the bag and freeze! Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
  7. Kara says

    August 23, 2013 at 3:04 pm

    This looks delicious! How many people does it typically feed?

    Reply
    • Sidetracked Sarah says

      August 29, 2013 at 1:05 am

      It feeds 8 of us, but that would mean about 6 adult sized eaters as we have a few small eaters.

      Reply
  8. Harold says

    August 20, 2013 at 9:01 pm

    I’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.

    Reply
    • Sidetracked Sarah says

      August 23, 2013 at 12:38 am

      I often don't use the mushroom soup either. We switch for cream of chicken soup regularly.

      Reply
  9. Krista says

    July 18, 2013 at 11:07 am

    I have ,made this twice though never freezing the meat mix beforehand. Love it!

    Reply
  10. Rachel says

    April 30, 2013 at 10:06 pm

    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.

    Reply
    • Sidetracked Sarah says

      May 4, 2013 at 10:12 pm

      I think if it has 3 hours on high it will be fine.

      Reply
    • Rachel says

      May 5, 2013 at 10:42 pm

      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

      Reply
  11. summer says

    March 22, 2013 at 6:53 am

    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?

    Reply
    • Sidetracked Sarah says

      March 23, 2013 at 11:38 pm

      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.

      Reply
  12. Amanda says

    March 17, 2013 at 9:39 pm

    Is this good with cream of chicken instead of mushroom?

    Reply
    • Sidetracked Sarah says

      March 18, 2013 at 10:05 pm

      Yes, it's very good with any cream soups. I mix and match as I see fit all the time.

      Reply
  13. Tina 'the book lady' says

    February 26, 2013 at 8:19 am

    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…

    Reply
    • Sidetracked Sarah says

      March 2, 2013 at 12:10 am

      Yes, usually I make things in the 6 quart. Sorry I didn't specify that. 🙁

      Reply
  14. Haley says

    February 8, 2013 at 5:31 pm

    Can I skip the freezing part and just make the recipe?

    Reply
    • Sidetracked Sarah says

      February 10, 2013 at 10:21 pm

      Sure, that'll work great. I do that sometimes.

      Reply
  15. Sara says

    January 29, 2013 at 10:19 am

    Can you switch out the green beans for corn? My kids refuse to eat green beans?

    Reply
    • Sidetracked Sarah says

      January 29, 2013 at 10:22 am

      Sure, I think that would work just fine.

      Reply
    • Lauryn says

      August 25, 2013 at 2:56 pm

      We sometimes use shredded carrots as well

      Reply
      • Sidetracked Sarah says

        August 29, 2013 at 1:07 am

        Great idea to throw some good nutrition in there!

        Reply
  16. Lori says

    January 4, 2013 at 12:59 pm

    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.

    Reply
  17. steve says

    October 25, 2012 at 9:18 am

    Should the tots be frozen or thawed at the start of cooking?

    Reply
    • Sidetracked Sarah says

      October 26, 2012 at 10:26 pm

      They should be frozen. I hope that helps!

      Reply
  18. Monica says

    October 5, 2012 at 10:30 am

    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.

    Reply
    • Sidetracked Sarah says

      October 8, 2012 at 9:46 am

      You're welcome! I love it when the kids are old enough to help out with some of it!

      Reply
  19. BZMom says

    October 2, 2012 at 12:44 pm

    Do you think it will be ok cooking low for 8 hours instead of 6?

    thanks,

    Reply
    • Sidetracked Sarah says

      October 3, 2012 at 7:25 pm

      Yes, you can do that. It may be a bit crispier around the edges….but it should be OK.

      Reply
  20. Rebecca says

    June 27, 2012 at 10:09 am

    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

    Reply
    • Sidetracked Sarah says

      June 27, 2012 at 11:17 pm

      Thanks for stopping by and saying something Rebecca! Blessings to you, too!

      Reply
  21. Sidetracked Sarah says

    February 11, 2012 at 12:14 pm

    That's a great tip Cindi. Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
  22. Cindi Altman says

    February 8, 2012 at 1:38 pm

    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.

    Reply
  23. Sidetracked Sarah says

    January 10, 2012 at 1:55 am

    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!

    Reply
  24. Sara says

    January 10, 2012 at 12:19 am

    Excited to try this ! Found you on Pinterest:) Browsing while my three month old naps

    Reply
  25. SnoWhite says

    October 13, 2011 at 8:06 pm

    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 🙂

    Reply
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