These are the best loaded tots and are a delicious tater tot appetizer. They are easy to serve your guest for game day or your Summer BBQ.
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These cheesy loaded tater tots appetizers are one of my favorite party food ideas. They are an easy recipe to make and great for when you are looking to serve hearty appetizers.
Loaded Tots are fabulous for game days or when headed to a Superbowl Party when looking for a Super Bowl Appetizer that will appeal to the masses. What I love is that they are so versatile and easy, they are great to bring to your Summer BBQ, Picnic, or after-school delicious snacks.
We highlighted these easy recipes along with some other finger foods in our Easy Fall Appetizer along with our Super Bowl Appetizers that Will Score.
What makes a Loaded Tater Tot Appetizer?
To me, loaded means more than two ingredients. I always think about a loaded baked potato and all the things you want on top of that potato. What would make it the best? Shredded cheese, bacon, sour cream, green onion, and chives. All the great goodness that we have on our Loaded Baked Potato Dip but in a single bite.
Ingredients used in making these Loaded Tater Tot Bites
- Tater Tots (½ Bag)
- Cheddar Cheese
- Bacon
- Ranch Dressing
- Chives or green onions
How to make this Loaded Tater Tot Recipe?
Start by making half the bag of frozen tater tots according to directions on the bag. My preferred brand is crispy ore-ida tater tots, but any brand will work great! Do not forget to use cooking spray on the baking sheet if needed or aluminum foil over the sheet pan, and make sure the tater tots are spread out in a single layer. . Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees and cook for 25 minutes.
While the tater tots are cooking, cook your bacon on a skillet over medium heat until slightly crispy. Once it's cooked, slice it into one-inch squares using kitchen shears.
Once tater tots are golden brown, remove from the oven. The crispy tater tots do not fall apart as easily. Add ½ cup of the grated cheese on top of the tater tot.
Then, add the bacon piece to each tot on top of the cheese.
Add additional cheese on top of the bacon.
Place the tray of crispy tots back into the oven for a couple of minutes (2-3 minutes) to allow for the cheese to melt.
Once they are pulled from the oven, place a dab of ranch dressing on top of each melty cheese topped tater tot appetizer. Sprinkle with chives and then serve.
How to serve your loaded tots?
I'm a big fan of adding a toothpick to each bite.
While I understand the awesomeness of finger foods, the melted cheese, bacon and potatoes can have a bit of residual oil to them and can leave your guest running through the napkins.
You can serve them on a platter or board and place the toothpicks next to them and let your guest decide.
Check out these other Tater Tot Recipes!
Can you make these appetizers ahead of time?
Tater tots can certainly be made ahead of time as can the bacon. My suggestion is if you are planning on bringing these to a party where there is a good chance they will be cool by the time you get there. Then wait to add the sour cream and chives till you get there. I would wait to melt the bacon and cheese till you get there and then serve right from there.
In any case, these loaded tater tot bites are the best.
We are no strangers to the tater tot appetizer game. If you are looking for other Tater Tot Appetizers to serve at your Superbowl party or next dinner party, then look no further.
We hope you enjoy these tater tot appetizers as much as we do.
Additional Questions
Now that you are ready to make your Loaded Tots, here are a few questions you might have.
That is the beauty of tater tots, you can top them with any delicious savory topping. My favorite is these loaded tots and guac tots.
Air frying tater tots is simple. You can pour them into the air fryer basket at 400 degrees. Spray cooking spray over the top and cook for 15 minutes. Flipping the tots every five minutes helps make sure all sides are crispy.
There are many brands that make frozen tater tots, but my go-to brand is Ore-Ida. They were the brand that invented the tater tot and coined the term. They know their tots!
OTHER GAME DAY APPETIZERS YOU’LL LOVE
- CHEESEBURGER MEATBALLS
- CAMPFIRE NACHOS
- CHEESY BUTTERNUT SQUASH RISOTTO BALLS
- BLOODY MARY BITES
- CARNE ASADA POTATO SKINS
- LOADED POTATO DIP
- CHICKEN PARMESAN BITES
- CHEDDAR FRIED RAVIOLI
Loaded Tater Tot Appetizers
Ingredients
- 16 oz Bag of Tater Tots
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 6 pieces bacon
- ¼ cup Ranch Dressing
- 2 tablespoon chives
Instructions
- Make tater tots according to packaging. 450 degrees F for approximately 25 minutes.
- Cook bacon until slightly crispy.
- Cut bacon into 1 inch squares using kitchen shears.
- Using the kitchen shears, dice up chives. You can also use dried chives.
- Lay out tater tots onto a sheet pan.
- Add the shredded cheese on top of the tater tot.
- Then, add the bacon piece to each tot on top of the cheese
- Next, add more shredded cheese on top of each tot.
- Heat the tater tots for 2 minutes to allow the cheese to melt.
- Add a dab of ranch dressing on top of the tater tot melted cheese.
- Then, sprinkle with chives.
- You can serve with toothpicks or on their own to be eaten as finger food.
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