How to Make Tater Tots

If you prefer homemade fries to the frozen ones that come out of a bag, you may feel the same way about tater tots after trying this homemade recipe. Sure, you’ll notice a difference in the shape of your tater tots but, more importantly, you’ll notice a difference in the taste!

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• 8 to 10 potatoes
• ½ medium onion
• 4 tbsp. flour
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 1 tsp. salt
• ½ tsp. pepper
• 1 to 2 cups canola or extra virgin olive oil

1. Peel and boil potatoes until tender, but not mushy. You should be able to puncture the potatoes with a fork without the potatoes cracking or falling apart.

2. Shred in food processor the potatoes and onion. Potatoes shred best if they are still warm.

3. Scrape potato mixture into large mixing bowl. With fork, stir in the minced garlic, salt and pepper until all ingredients are evenly distributed. Add flour and mix well.

4. Heat oil in pan on medium heat. Shape potato mixture into tater tot form, or simply roll into balls. Place in hot oil and cook on each side until dark golden brown. The tater tots may stick to the bottom of the pan, so use a fork to carefully nudge the tots when turning them.

5. Drain tots on paper towels.

6. Transfer your tater tots to an ungreased baking sheet and cook at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. If tots start getting too brown during baking, cover with foil.

7. Serve immediately with ketchup or your favorite dipping sauce. Sprinkle with more salt and pepper, if desired.

Tips & Warnings

• Though it’s the onion and garlic that gives these tater tots their special flavor, they are optional ingredients and your tater tots will turn out just fine without them.
• Carefully flip your tater tots during frying, as they can easily fall apart. That’s why it’s so important to wait until you see that the bottom of your tater tots are a dark golden brown before flipping.
• If a tater tot does fall apart, remove as much of the broken potato from the oil as possible. Otherwise, these free-floating potato pieces will overcook and stick to the other tater tots in the pan.
• You may want to try one of your tater tots before baking them. If you like the tenderness in the middle, serve as is.