I’ve had a nagging idea in the back of my mind for awhile now about making homemade tots. I’ve only written about the frozen variety once before when I wrote about one of Betsy’s favorite meals: Dogs and Tots. I think that this meal may be part of the reason she decided it would be cool to spend her life with me…
What’s not to like about tots? They are crispy and salty and delicious! But is it really possible to make them at home if you don’t have a ridiculous potato processing plant at your disposal?
The answer is a very big YES.
I made these.
I’m actually shocked at how well these turned out, but I have to give some props to a new restaurant in town that gave me the push I needed to give these a try. Birch & Barley, a new beer shop in town with really fantastic food, has these on the menu and they are filled with mashed potatoes. I had one (literally I just got one and then they were all gone) and I decided I had to give it a shot.
Homemade Tater Tots
Serves 4-6 as an appetizer- 4 Russet potatoes, peeled and chopped
- 1 egg
- 1/2 Cup milk
- 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 Cup all-purpose flour
- Salt
- Pepper
- 2 Large bags, plain kettle cooked chips or a few cups of Panko crumbs. Or a mix of both.Helpful Equipment:
- Deep-fry thermometer
Making the tots. It should be no surprise that these guys start with potatoes.
The secret behind the tot!
The first step for these guys is to make mashed potatoes. Now I’m not sure how they make real tater tots. I know it’s closer to a hash brown product, but mashed potatoes are a lot easier to shape and also happen to be delicious.
To start, just peel and slice your potatoes.
All chopped up.
Boil them for 10-15 minutes in salted water until the potato pieces are fork tender. Then drain them and transfer them to a bowl.
Look at that steam!
Using a fork, mush up your potatoes and let them cool for a few minutes until they are room temperature or slightly warmer. Then add your milk, butter, and egg. Add a good pinch of salt and pepper. If you aren’t afraid of a little raw egg, I recommend trying a bit to taste for seasonings.
Filling mixed.
A test run. Before I made a bunch of these, I wanted to do a test run just to make sure they worked okay. I’ll admit that my first test run, I tried making a few without the flour or eggs in the mashed potato filling. DISASTER! They just completely disintegrated in the oil. So then I added the flour and egg and gave it a second try.
To make the crunchy exterior of the tot and also give it some shape, I decided to try out two different toppings: crunched up kettle chips and Panko breadcrumbs. Both worked pretty well actually.
Here is my successful test run result!
The test runs.
After I saw these come out of the oil and tasted them, I was very excited about making (and eating) a bunch of them.
Making the tots. The key to making these easily is to not worry about shaping the tot until after it’s coated. I tried to make mine pretty uniform by using a heaping teaspoon for each tot. Just drop a few teaspoons of mashed potatoes in your bowl of crust. Roll them around until they are coated all the way around.
Don't worry about shape!
Then you can easily pick up each tot and shape it easily in your hand. Just make a light fist around the tot while pinching it on the ends with your other hand. That will make it shape into the cylinder you are probably familiar with. Then you can transfer it to a baking sheet and keep cranking them out!
After a few minutes – or honestly about 20 – you should have a small army of these guys.
Assembly line!
Cooking the tots. You can cook these guys right away! The key to frying them is to make sure that your oil is hot enough. It needs to be at about 350 degrees. If your oil isn’t hot enough then the outside of the tot won’t cook fast enough and the inside will get too hot and it’ll kind of ooze out. Still edible, but just not as attractive!
Cook them in batches and they should only need about 5-7 minutes per batch.
Frying up.
Once you scoop them out of the oil, transfer them to a paper towel and salt them immediately. I also put seasoned salt on them for a little extra flavor. Feel free to go crazy with the spices!
I served mine with ranch and hot chili sauce. It looks like ketchup, but I hate ketchup so this is what you get!
Not ketchup!
Just for good measure, one more shot of these guys.
Just for good measure.
I liked both versions of the tots. The Panko-crusted ones (in the back) looked closer to real tater tots and held their shape nicely. I thought the chip-crusted ones tasted better though. But just by a tiny amount. Both were very good.
If you have any leftovers, you can reheat these in a 350 degree oven until they crisp up again. They aren’t quite as good on day two, but still pretty darn tasty.
So there ya go. Homemade tater tots. Pass it along!
Those look delicious!
So you add the flour at the same time as the milk, eggs and butter?
- CJ
How can you not like ketchup? Oh well, I never thought of making my own tots – thanks for the recipe! They look awesome!
I couldn’t help but think of the movie Napolean Dynamite when I read this post:) These look so delicious– what are your thoughts to stuffing these with cheese?– maybe monterey jack or cheddar?
:::printing:::!!!
@CJ Add the flour last after the milk, eggs, and butter ;)
@ Aimee… I thought about stuffing them with cheese. If you try it I would say that a little probably goes a long way.My worry is that it MIGHT (but probably not) cause the tots to fall apart. I think it would be okay though… basically you make a cheesestick tater tot!
Glad everyone likes it as much as me!
OH MY GOD. I am inviting myself over when you get back so you can make these again. They look so good!
Pure genius. Just awesome!
Nick those tots look so perfect! Tater tots are one of my guilty pleasures. Amazing job
These are the food equivalent of “crack”. Excellent work, these turned out perfect looking.
Man, Betsy is one lucky gal! A man who makes his own tater tots!! *swoon* I’m SO going to try these, because I loves me some tater tots! :-)
Mmmmmmm, deep-fried food heaven!!! I’m also printing……
Thanks, Nick and Happy Holidays.
Not something I’d ever think of making at home. Nicely done :)
Nick, this is totally up there with the cool things that you have made. Imagine you have some leftover mashed, wham! Make some tots out of them.
If you wanted to, you could arrange these on a baking sheet before frying and freeze them. Once they are frozen, they can be kept for up to a moth for those snack attacks!
Thank you for the cool post Nick!
You did it! I bet your tater tots taste better than the ones at Churchkey.
it looks delicious!!!perfect to snack on :)
It would never have crossed my mind to make home made tater tots but now that you have done all the leg work and recipe/technique trial an error stuff, my brain is conjuring up all kinds of versions of these.
Like Aimee my first thought was CHEESE! How about pepper jack with chopped Jalapenos? Onions and bacon? OH MY the possibilities are endless. Somehow I don’t think this is going to go well with my New years resolution to get back on the wagon!
I’m guessing the flour goes into the Panko/crumb mixture? Maybe I’m not reading closely enough. But I’m making these right now and I’m so excited! I guess I’ll just follow my gut and put the flour into the Panko. Oh man, I hope I’m right..
[...] Homemade Tater Tots by Macheesmo – This is a wonderful recipe to make when you have leftover mashed potatoes. Best yet, it will have you put down the bag of crap you might be tempted to buy. Nick hits the spot with this snack! [...]
Wow, I am really looking forward to making these. I <3 melted cheese. After all, I'm from Wisconsin originally ;-). I don't deep fry that much but I'll report back when I get to do these!
Those look awesome. I believe the grandchildren will love these. Can’t wait to try them.
[...] I never would have thought of making my own tater tots but Macheesmo did just that: here are his homemade tots! [...]
I shall try them with a little chopped onion – yummy! thank you
Holy Moly! My mouth is watering!!
We’ve lived in Pohnpei, Micronesia for going on 10 years now. Not once have we seen a Tater Tot on this island and even if we had it would have cost a month’s salary. I love Tater Tot Casserole and have been whining that I can’t have it any more. I’m inspired and tomorrow I’m going home and trying your recipe! Wouldn’t happen to have a recipe for cheddar cheese would you? Maybe it would be cheaper to import a cow than to buy a block of that precious stuff. Good on ya, mate!!