Beef Tater Tot Casserole Recipe
All you need is 5 ingredients to make this easy beef tater tot casserole recipe. Thanks to the cream of mushroom soup and milk, it’s creamy, rich, and full of flavor in every bite. If you love some tater tots, you and your family won’t be able to get enough!
This beef tater tot casserole recipe is one of those recipes that I had to beg my mother to try. She said it just didn’t sound good. I mean, what doesn’t sound good about beef and onion topped with tater tots and cooked in a creamy mushroom sauce?
So I made a big batch and showed up at her house. She took one bite and her eyes got big as dollars. “This really is good, what did you say was in it?”. It has since become one of her all-time favorite meals. I hope you get to try it soon. If there were such a thing as a recipe being too simple, this just might be it. But it’s oooh so good and my family loves it.
All you have to do is brown the ground beef and onion, and then add it to a casserole dish along with the tater tots, cream of mushroom soup, and milk. In 30 minutes, your easy tater tot casserole will be ready to dig into. Told ya it was too simple!
Another easy casserole I love to make as a on busy weeknights is my taco tater tot casserole. Enjoy!
Recipe Ingredients
- Ground beef (already browned, with onion in it if you like)
- Cream of mushroom soup (can use fat-free)
- Frozen tater tots
- Milk
How to Make A Beef Tater Tot Casserole Recipe
Brown your beef first
I like to brown my beef ahead of time and keep it in the freezer to make meals like this one a breeze to put together.
Here I am browning my meat with some onions to give it a bit of flavor. Drain off the grease before moving on to the next step.
I have browned as much as 30 pounds of ground beef in one day and then store it in zipper seal baggies. I generally put about a cup in each bag and then get out one or two bags depending on how much I decide I need.
Place this ground beef mixture in the bottom of your 8×8 baking dish.
Cover in the frozen tater tots.
Pour your cream of mushroom soup into a medium bowl and add about a cup and a half of milk to it.
Stir well.
It will still be lumpy but as long as you put forth the effort to give it a good stir it’ll be fine.
Pour your soup over all of your beef tater tot casserole.
Cover with foil and bake at 350 for about 30 minutes.
A lot of recipes don’t have you covering your casserole and I used to do mine that way but I’ve found it is even better if you cover it up a bit. If you’d like your tater tots nice and golden brown, uncover for the last 10 minutes of cooking.
Enjoy.
If you have any leftovers, this tastes even better reheated!
Do you make tater tot casserole for your family? I’d love to hear about it!
Storage
Store casserole leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. Reheat quickly in the oven to make crispy tater tots again. You can also freeze leftovers for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight before reheating in the oven.
Recipe Notes
- You can definitely substitute the cream of mushroom soup for cream of chicken soup if you prefer. Here’s my recipe for homemade cream of chicken soup.
- If you want to add a couple more layers, I recommend topping the beef with a layer of canned vegetables, like green beans, corn, peas, or carrots. You can then add another layer: a cup of shredded cheddar cheese or parmesan cheese for a cheesy tater tot casserole.
- Substitute the ground beef for ground turkey or ground pork.
- Add more flavor to the meat mixture by adding 1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce and 2 minced garlic cloves.
- Serve your tater tot casserole with a simple side salad or some warm dinner rolls on a cool night.
You may also enjoy these other easy casserole recipes:
Stuffed Pepper Casserole Recipe (Easy and Delicious)
Ingredients
- 2 pounds ground beef
- 1 small onion, chopped optional
- 1 package frozen tater tots about 1 pound
- 1 can cream of mushroom soup can use fat-free
- 1 cup milk
Instructions
- Brown the ground beef and onion together until done, and drain off any grease (I brown my beef ahead of time and store it in the freezer to make this quicker).2 pounds ground beef, 1 small onion, chopped
- Place the ground beef mixture in the bottom of an 8x8 baking dish. Top with the frozen tater tots.1 package frozen tater tots
- In a small bowl, stir together the cream of mushroom soup and milk. Pour this over the tater tots.1 can cream of mushroom soup, 1 cup milk
- Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 30 minutes.
Video
Notes
“Life is just a chance to grow a soul.”
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I love your soapbox story. I’ve made this recipe a few times. Last time I doubled the soup (I made your Mushroom Soup recipe) and mixed half into the beef too. This time I want to use ground chicken instead of beef and see how it turns out. TY
Stir thing up and try this with Sweet potato tots! Low-carbers can use the Cauliflower/Broccoli/Zucchini tots and a low carb gravy.
Great idea Barbara!!!
I love some tater tot casserole
I often use cheez whiz and a jar of salsa instead of soup. Also top with shredded cheese.
Love all of your recipes❤️
I so love this dish. It’s just GOOD EATING. There is a time and place for a homemade white sauce and this is NOT one of them. You just can’t duplicate the flavor of cream soup in this. In my opinion, it will taste wrong. Save that extra effort for something else and save this recipe for when you want something quick and easy, but don’t want to go though the drive thru. You will love it.
Well said Jackie!!
I have made this Tater Tot Casserole numerous times and have finally perfected it. The secret is to bake the frozen tater tots until almost done first. Do this while you are browning the ground beef. Then you will be able to get away with baking it for only 30 minutes and have piping hot and a slight crunch to the tater tots. Placing frozen tater tots on top without partially cooking them first would occasionally give me tots still slightly cool after 30 minutes.
I put seasoned meat on bottom..then cream mushroom soup mixed with about a cup of sour cream..garlic powder and onion powder.. then line up the tots on top. Bake about 30 minutes and add cheese and French fried onions on top. One of our favorite dishes.
You know as a gluten free option I use a cheap alfredo sauce jar instead of cream soup in recipes. I just lower added liquid.
well that is stinking genius! I bet it is lower carb as well (for low carb recipes – which this one isn’t, lol). Thank you!
are there other options instead of cream of mushroom,and cream of celery?
You are limited only by your imagination 🙂 Just know that whatever you use will change the flavor of the recipe so that won’t be on me, but I’m sure it will be good! Maybe alfredo? hmmm…