Loaded Tater Tots

How do you make nachos even better to a potato lover like me? Use tater tots as a base instead of tortilla chips!

In an effort to make meal planning more interesting, I declared Friday night dinners ‘pub nights’ – think of your favorite items on a bar menu. Since we’re not going to restaurants or bars these days, why not make these items at home? Chicken wings, burgers, panini sandwiches, nachos – you get the idea.

I’m sharing how we made these tater tots but I’d encourage you to think of them as a blank slate upon which you can add your favorite things. 

Ed had recently smoked six racks of ribs on the Big Green Egg which meant we had some ribs in the freezer. We defrosted/cooked a rack using our sous vide and then shredded up the meat. Wonderfully smoky pork bathed in barbeque sauce and tater tots was a wining combination. Pulled pork or chicken would be a great meat addition, too. Maybe you don’t have these meats in your freezer but you may be able to find something pre-made at your grocery store or perhaps you have a favorite barbeque restaurant or stand near you?  For my local readers, I love driving by Farm Boy Fresh at the Sunoco at Routes 29 and 30 in Malvern, PA. He and his team are out there Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays smoking some great meats. It always smells so good.

Ed suggested that we use smoked gouda to go with the smoked meat. It was a good taste pairing but the gouda didn’t melt quite like a Cheddar or Monterey Jack does, so you may want to consider either of those. You can also do a combination of a shredded cheese and a soft cheese like feta or cotija. Soft cheeses when melted have a nice creamy texture. 

First bake the tater tots first according to the package. If your meat is cold, you may want to heat it up while the tater tots are in the oven. Then top them with meat, scallions, jalapeño pepper and sprinkle cheese all over. Put them under the broiler until the meat warms up and the cheese melts. Once out of the oven top with pico de gallo and chopped cilantro. We also drizzled some barbeque sauce on top – the same that was used to coat the ribs. These are great for pub nights at home or for a big football game either as an appetizer or main course.

Note that Tater Tots are a registered trademark of Ore-Ida, so you will also see similar products named tater puffs or potato puffs. We used Alexia’s Crispy Seasoned Potato Puffs with Roasted Garlic & Cracked Black Pepper as they didn’t contain any gluten ingredients plus are non-GMO.