BBQ Tater Tot Casserole is a hearty and easy dinner that would even fill up a hungry cowboy!
Two things happened this week that inspired this recipe. First, I saw a delicious breakfast tater tot casserole from NeighborFood. It made me remember the first time I heard about tatertot casserole when I was in college. I thought it sounded weird, tried it anyway, and fell in love. I have since kind of forgotten about it, but when I saw that breakfast one, it gave me a hankering. I started to think about how I could make a recipe that was somehow different than the standard cream of mushroom soup version. Then someone probably said, “Mommy!” and I got distracted and forgot about tater tot casserole existing again.
Then, a few days later we had french fries for dinner. No news there, but I decided I wasn’t in the mood for plain fries and got some BBQ sauce for dipping. That reminded me of how much I like fries and BBQ sauce, and that reminded me of my tatertot casserole craving. That’s how we got here.
I don’t know why I called this Cowboy Casserole exactly. It just seems like something a cowboy would eat, but I don’t have a cowboy handy to ask if they are into tater tots and BBQ sauce and corn. We sure liked it, and it’s plenty easy. It’s also easy to make the meat part ahead of time and bake when you’re ready.
Oh, and as a side note, I like to use BBQ sauce with real sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup. That usually is hard to find and expensive, but I noticed that Target’s Market Pantry brand uses real sugar and is really reasonably priced. This only feeds my Target addiction, as if I needed help with that. Use your favorite BBQ sauce in this recipe, and enjoy a tasty comfort food dinner!
| Prep Time | 3 minutes |
| Cook Time | 45 minutes |
| Servings |
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- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 1 small onion diced
- 20 ounces ground turkey A pound of turkey or beef is fine.
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon hot sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup frozen corn (or 10 ounces can whole kernel corn drained)
- 15 ounces can pinto beans drained
- 1 cup BBQ sauce
- 1 cup shredded cheddar or Mexican blend cheese
- 28 ounces bag frozen tatertots
Ingredients
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- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Spray a 9x13" baking dish with cooking spray, and set aside.
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, ground meat, chili powder, hot sauce, and salt. Stir and cook until meat is almost cooked through. Stir in corn and drained beans, and cook a couple more minutes until hot.
- Pour meat mixture into the prepared baking dish. Drizzle BBQ sauce over the meat, and spread shredded cheese over that. Arrange tater tots in an even layer over the top of the cheese.
- Bake uncovered in preheated oven for 30-40 minutes until potatoes are golden brown. (I like to bake mine a little longer so the tots get pretty crispy on top.)
Want more hearty dinner ideas? Try these!
I made this tonight. Both kids and adults were satisfied. Had to make it with green onions, because that’s all I had on hand. No problem. Doubled the chili powder and hot sauce (we like strong flavors) and also added a tsp of garlic powder and a half tspn of cumin to the meat mixture. Next time, I plan on adding some ground mustard, or even some French’s yellow into the meat mixture. I think that would add a nice zing. Another thing I did was add a light sprinkling of shredded cheese to the top of the tots for… Read more »
what would you use as a side?
I would serve it with a simple side salad or maybe steamed green beans or broccoli.
This was really easy and tasted great! The only really minor change I made was that I used a whole can of corn. Thanks! This will be a repeat. :)
I’m so happy you liked it! Thanks, Nicole!
I’m about to try this recipe out. I don’t have any ground beef, but I do have leftover pulled pork so we will see how this turns out. Any suggestions on if I should substitute any of the ingredients to compliment pulled pork would be appreciated.
Hi, Jennifer! I don’t think you need to make any substitutions. It will taste great with pulled pork!! I hope you enjoy it :)
I hardly ever post a review but oh man….how could I not? This is simple and out of this world delicious. Just what I needed to satisfy my craving for barbeque.
Oh thank you so much, Jenna!! I’m so happy you enjoyed it!
My son said he’d try it. No, he isn’t a cowboy either. =) I find no high fructose bbq sauce and ketchup at most of the grocery stores in TN, and it isn’t outrageously priced. Now if I could just find a bologna sold in markets and which didn’t have the HFCS, I’d be truly thrilled. =)
excited to try some new recipes. thank you
Thank you, Mary Ann! I’m glad to have you as a reader :)
Can I use Potatoes O’Brien instead of Tater Tots?
Sure, that should turn out well too, Lorie. Thanks!