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Tater Tot Nachos
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Piled high with melty cheese, seasoned ground beef, and all of your favorite nacho toppings, these tater tot nachos put a delicious new spin on taco night. This cheesy appetizer is perfect whenever you need a filling snack.
MORE RECIPES: Tater Tot Casserole | Green Bean and Tater Tot Hamburger Casserole | Cheese Dip
It’s everything you love about traditional nachos, piled onto delicious little morsels of tater tot goodness. Tater tot nachos, or “totchos,” have all the same cheesy goodness and flavorful toppings as your favorite nacho appetizers.
Serve these tater tot nachos at your next game night or family gathering. Turn them into a meal by pairing them with chicken taquitos, fried corn, or Spanish rice. Make sure you have plenty of sour cream, salsa, guacamole, or any other favorite nacho toppings!
A fun twist of a classic, tater tot nachos feature a layer of crispy baked tater tots, with your favorite nacho toppings, and baked until hot and bubbly. Like nachos, only better! Tater tot nachos are so good, no one will be able to resist.
Tater Tot Nachos Ingredients
- Tater tots - frozen tater tots
- Ground beef - lean ground beef
- Onion - sweet yellow onion
- Garlic
- Taco seasoning - packet taco seasoning
- Water
- Cheese - mild cheddar cheese
- Sour cream
- Lettuce - shredded lettuce
- Pico de gallo
- Olives - black olives
- Cilantro
You can substitute a container of nacho cheese for the shredded cheddar. If you use shredded cheese, we recommend shredding your own cheese from the block rather than buying pre-shredded cheese. Bags of pre-shredded cheese are coated with a preservative that prevents it from melting well. Shredded pepper jack is another tasty option for your tater tot nachos.
Frozen tater tots aren’t the only potato base that you can use for your nachos. Frozen fries are another tasty alternative. To make assembling this nacho recipe even quicker you can cook your ground beef ahead of time.
The sky’s the limit when it comes to toppings for this recipe. Try green onions, red onion, jalapeño peppers, and more on these yummy nachos.
How to Make Tater Tot Nachos
FIRST STEP: Preheat the oven to 450°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Spread the frozen tater tots on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until crisp. While the tots are baking, prepare the ground beef.
SECOND STEP: Add the ground beef, onion, and minced garlic to a 3 to 4-quart saucepan over high heat. Cook the ground beef for 5 to 7 minutes, stirring often, until the onions are opaque and the ground beef is no longer pink. Drain any excess oil.

THIRD STEP: Lower the heat to medium. Add the taco seasoning and the ½ cup of water. Stir well to combine, and stir occasionally for another 5 minutes. Remove from the heat.
FOURTH STEP: Once the tots have baked for 20 to 25 minutes, remove the baking sheet from the oven. Sprinkle ½ of the shredded cheddar over the baked tots.
FIFTH STEP: Evenly sprinkle the seasoned ground beef over the shredded cheddar cheese.
SIXTH STEP: Evenly sprinkle the remaining shredded cheese over the seasoned ground beef. Return to the oven for an additional 3 to 5 minutes, or until the cheese has melted.
SEVENTH STEP: Sprinkle the shredded lettuce, sour cream, pico de gallo, black olives, and chopped cilantro over the tater tot nachos. Serve immediately.
What toppings should I use for these nachos?
Any toppings you like on nachos or tacos would be delicious for this recipe. Try black beans, diced tomatoes, red onion, jalapeños, cilantro, sour cream, olives, or crispy bacon.
Can I use homemade taco seasoning?
You can mix your own taco seasoning if you prefer. Simply add 3 tablespoons to your meat to equal one store-bought packet.
Do I have to use ground beef?
You can top these nachos with the meat of your choice. Ground beef, ground pork, ground turkey, ground chicken, sausage, or shredded chicken all work well in this recipe.
How to Store Tater Tot Nachos
IN THE FRIDGE: Store any leftover tater tot nachos in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.
IN THE FREEZER: We don’t recommend freezing tater tot nachos. Once thawed they will become soggy.

Tater Tot Nachos
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Ingredients
- 32 ounces frozen tater tots
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- ⅔ cup sweet yellow onion (finely diced)
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 ounce packet taco seasoning
- ½ cup water
- 3 cups mild cheddar cheese (freshly shredded)
- ½ cup sour cream
- 1 cup shredded lettuce
- ½ cup pico de gallo
- ¼ cup sliced black olives (drained)
- 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
DIRECTIONS
- Preheat the oven to 450°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Spread the frozen tater tots on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until crisp. While the tots are baking, prepare the ground beef.
- Add the ground beef, onion, and minced garlic to a 3 to 4-quart saucepan over high heat. Cook the ground beef for 5 to 7 minutes, stirring often, until the onions are opaque and the ground beef is no longer pink. Drain any excess oil.
- Lower the heat to medium. Add the taco seasoning and the ½ cup of water. Stir well to combine, and stir occasionally for another 5 minutes. Remove from the heat.
- Once the tots have baked for 20 to 25 minutes, remove the baking sheet from the oven. Sprinkle ½ of the shredded cheddar over the baked tots.
- Evenly sprinkle the seasoned ground beef over the shredded cheddar cheese.
- Evenly sprinkle the remaining shredded cheese over the seasoned ground beef. Return to the oven for an additional 3 to 5 minutes, or until the cheese has melted.
- Sprinkle the shredded lettuce, sour cream, pico de gallo, black olives, and chopped cilantro over the tater tot nachos. Serve immediately.
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