Tater Tot Cups

🤍 Recipe Highlights

I have summarised everything that you will come to know and love (LOVE ❤) about the loaded tater tots appetizer recipe in the points below:

• Fun: these tater tot cups are the type of appetizer people look at and 'love'. They have that appealing not diet food, having a party vibe to them.
• Easy: we only need very minimal cooking skills to bring these tots together. Anyone of all cooking abilities will easily be able to recreate the recipe.
• Simple ingredients: we use 5 total ingredients for the recipe! Each of these are readily available at your local grocery store. Grab a bag of tater tots and let's get our game on.
• Finger food: finger food, party food, comfort food, these all apply to these loaded tater tot cups.
• Comfort food: ok well with taters, cheese and bacon we are not exactly talking green smoothies and healthy food y'all! But 😍food is life right and green beans just don't have the same ring to them 😂👌. So let's tater tot on 😉.

🥗 Ingredients

The photo below is to show you everything you need to make the baked taters recipe. Please refer to the printable recipe card for specific ingredient measurements as well as detailed instructions.

As you can see the loaded tater tot cups recipe calls for:

• Green onions: we can trim the roots and tips of a couple of green onions and then thinly slice them. These work as a great garnish as well providing a pop or 2 of colour on top.
• Greek yogurt: I like to use Greek yogurt in most cases where sour cream is considered the key ingredient. I find that it is a little bit healthier and offers a nice flavor.
• Bacon: we want to use store bought diced bacon for this recipe. It cuts down the hard work by being ready to use simply when popped into the potato cups. It cooks in the oven and doesn't need to be cooked separately and then added to the cups.
• Cheese: for best results, I like to use a block of cheese and freshly grate it. The cheese is soft and melts very well. You can also use cheddar cheese or tasty cheese. The cheese in the photo above is colby cheese.
• Tater tots: we will use 5 tater tots per muffin hole. All up that means we need 60. 1 bag will be enough and you will have some leftover.

Tasty Tip: I like to provide you with a number of substitutions and variations giving you an array of options when making the tater tots recipe. If in doubt of any of the above ingredients, or wanting alternatives, read this section (further below) before jumping into the instructions on how to make the recipe which are coming next 😉👌.

🍳 Instructions

Here are the step by step instructions to make the recipe. We start by greasing a 12 cup muffin pan. I like to use olive oil for this step.

• Grease the muffin tin (Photo 1)
• Add the tater tots (Photo 2)
• Cook, then push to form the cups (Photo 3)
• Next add the cheese (Photo 4)

👩‍🍳 How to Make Tater Tot Cups

To make the tater tot cups we start by preparing the muffin tin. Grease the 12 holes with cooking spray or olive oil. Once done add 5 frozen tater tots to each of the muffin holes.

Next, add the muffin tin to a preheated oven and let the tots bake for 10 minutes. This softens them so that we can squish them into cups in the next step.

Once the 10 minute cook time is up, use oven mitts to remove the muffin tin from the oven and place it onto a heatproof surface.

Then take a shot glass and push the tater tots into the base of the pan and up so that they form hollow cups.

Next add a pinch or 2 of the cheese to each tater tot up and then sprinkle the diced bacon over the top like you see in the photos below.

• Add diced bacon (Photo 5)
• Cook then remove from the tin (Photo 6)
• Drizzle with yogurt (Photo 7)
• Add the green onions (Photo 8)

Once you have added the cheese and bacon to the tater tot cups return the muffin tin to the oven and let them cook for a further 10 to 15 minutes.

During this time the tater tots will crisp up further, the cheese melt and the bacon cook through. When ready again use an oven mitt to remove the muffin tin from the oven and place it onto a heatproof surface.

Let the tater tot cups sit for a couple of minutes and then use a teaspoon at the edge of the cup to push and gently remove them from the muffin tin.

Place them onto a lined (this will absorb any excess grease) baking tray and drizzle the Greek yogurt over the top of each cup. Next sprinkle the chopped scallions over the top and get ready to watch them disappear!!

🍽 Serving Suggestions

When it comes to serving your tater tot cup appetizer recipe you are best to think fresh from the oven and warm.

This way the cheese will melt in their mouths and the tater tots still have their crispy texture. The longer they sit out of the oven the quicker they will go cold.

So plate these stuffed tater tots and let them be eaten is the motto to work by!

👍 How to Guide

How to Store

If you are not ready to serve the tater tot cups straight away, skip the sauce and green onions and keep them warm on a baking tray in the oven (low heat).

If you have leftover tater tot cups (you won't 😂), you can keep them in a sealed air tight container in the fridge.

How to Freeze

It is not recommend to freeze this recipe. It is best to cook the tater tot cups and serve them hot and fresh!

How to Reheat

You can also place the tater tot cups onto a plate and reheat in 10 second increments on high till warmed through. This is best done without the sauce and scallions but if the tots are already loaded, then so be it.

😉 Substitutions and Variations

Here are my sub ins and outs that you might be thinking about as you read the post and I will tell you if I think they will work or why they won't:

• You can use chives in place of the green onions if you wish too.
• For the white sauce, you can use Greek yogurt, ranch dressing or sour cream.
• You can use bacon crumbles or bacon bits if you prefer.
• For the cheese, cheddar, tasty or gruyere can be used. We want to use a cheese with a little bite to it so I would avoid using mozzarella cheese.

💡 Tasty Tips

Here are my top tips and tricks that I want to share with you so that you master the recipe from the get go:

• Always preheat your oven. This means that you will know how long things take to cook. If you skip this step but then still cook things according to your recipe card then the thing (ie in this case frozen tater tots) won't be cooked to the degree that we want them to be. 10 minutes in a hot oven allows them to soften perfectly. 10 minutes in a cold getting warm oven will break them into pieces more so than squish and soften them.
• Be liberal when you are greasing the muffin tin. This will ensure that the tot cups are easy to remove from the pan once they are cooked.
• I use 5 tater tots per muffin cup. You can use 4 if you want a thinner potato casing.
• These loaded potato gem cups will be popular! Make a double batch if you are serving a crowd so that no one misses out.
• If you are looking to make a tater tot appetizer and don't know where to start, use this recipe as a starting point. Then let your creativity and originality shine through when you get the hang of cooking tater tots in a non 'heat and heat' manner.

🤓 Frequently Asked Questions

😍 More Easy Finger Food Recipes

We all know that the finger food at the party can be more fun that the party itself! Here are some more ideas for you to try to get your finger food game on:

• Puff Pastry Bites
• Baked Feta With Honey
• Chicken Ribs
• Wagyu Meatballs
• Air Fryer Breaded Mushrooms or Crumbed Mushrooms (stove top version)
• Cocktail Sausages (Mini Sausages) or Air Fryer Sausage Rolls
• Stuffed Scallops
• Chicken Sausage Rolls
• Goat Cheese Log

It is time to get our tater tot cups on my friend! You can also find all of my appetizer recipes or quick and easy recipes in the one spot.

Adrianne

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