Cheeseburger Tater Tot Casserole

This Cheeseburger Tater Tot Casserole is the perfect family-friendly dish. It's easy, cheesy, and full of ALL the flavors of a burger! 

Ingredients in tater tot casserole

Here's everything that you need to make this easy tater tot casserole. Full instructions and amounts of ingredients are listed below in the recipe card. There's a jump to recipe button at the top of this post that will take you there!

• Extra-lean ground beef – To prevent your casserole from becoming greasy, use beef that is 85 percent lean (or better).
• Diced yellow onion
• Diced green bell pepper
• Garlic
• Taco seasoning
• Worcestershire sauce
• Frozen tater tots
• Shredded cheddar cheese
• Sliced green onions (scallions)
• Diced tomato
• Sour cream, to serve

How to make tater tot casserole

This tater tot casserole is super easy to make – here's what you'll need to do:

1. Add the ground beef, onions, green peppers, garlic, taco seasoning, Worcestershire sauce, and salt & pepper to a large skillet over med-high heat.
2. Cook for 5 minutes until beef is lightly browned.
3. Add beef mixture to a 9×13 baking dish.
4. Place tater tots over the mixture. Bake for 20 minutes.
5. Remove from oven and top with cheese. Bake another 10 minutes, or until cheese is melted.
6. Garnish casserole with green onions and diced tomatoes, then serve with sour cream.

Ingredient substitutions

If you're looking to make some substitutions, here are some easy ideas:

• Give this casserole an Italian spin: Use ground pork or sausage, some shredded mozzarella, chopped jarred roasted red peppers, Italian seasoning and diced tomatoes.
• Make it Mexican: Use any ground meat (beef, chicken, pork, turkey) along with some crushed red pepper, a diced up jalapeno pepper, some frozen corn and pre-shredded Mexican blend cheese. Amp up the spices to your liking – swap Worcestershire for hot sauce, for example.
• Try a Greek theme: Use ground turkey or chicken, along with red onion, diced tomatoes, dried or fresh oregano, Kalamata olives and feta cheese.

Here are some other substitutions you can make:

• Out of sour cream? Plain Greek yogurt will do!
• Don't have a green pepper? Any bell pepper will work, or celery. Or you can just use onion and skip the pepper altogether.
• Don't have tater tots? Well, you can try another frozen potato product like a french fry, but it won't cook up the same. Let me know if you do!
• Need more flavor? Feel free to add your own favorite dried herbs and spices.

Think of it this way: Whatever works on a burger, will work in this casserole!

What sides go with tater tot casserole?

This dish is awesome because it has both the burger and the fries in it already, making it pretty filling on its own. But add a green salad to go with, if you like!

If you've prepped something like my Mix and Match Mason Jar Salads, you're set. I like either the balsamic or Greek dressing with this casserole.

How long do you bake tater tots?

If you want to bake the them separately outside the casserole for maximum crispiness, you can absolutely do this. They'll take about 20 minutes or so – just double check the package instructions. Typically, you want to bake tater tots at 425 F for 20 minutes, flipping halfway through. This cooking time may vary depending on your oven.

Put your tater tots on a baking sheet in the oven alongside the casserole. Then, in the last few minutes when it's time to add the cheese, take everything out of the oven. Add the tots and cheese to the casserole dish and pop it back in. Bake as directed.

Storing and reheating

This is the kind of dish that's fun to eat all week long as leftovers for lunch or dinner if you aren't feeding a crowd!

It's easy to reheat leftovers in the oven, at 400 degrees F for about 10-15 minutes. You can also reheat it in the microwave for several minutes, but the tots won't crisp up again the way they would in the oven. Your call!

Can you freeze the entire casserole?

This casserole freezes great. I like to freeze leftovers in individual portions in a freezer-safe container or double wrapped in aluminum foil. Then, I just pop it in the oven and bake as usual. It should keep for up to 3 months, depending on how tightly you seal it up.

But if you're into meal prepping, the dish can be assembled and then frozen before baking. Cook the beef with the peppers and spices and assemble the casserole, leaving off the cheese. Wrap the whole thing tightly in foil. Freeze until it's time to bake.

Then, bake as directed, adding about 15-20 extra minutes to the total time, removing the foil and adding the cheese at the end, as the recipe indicates.

Freezing the ground beef

If you'd like to cook up the ground beef and freeze that ahead of time, separately, you can.

Just wrap it up and place it in a freezer safe container. When it's time to assemble the casserole, remove the ground beef, add it to the dish, and follow the recipe as directed.

More tasty casseroles

• Crockpot Chicken and Rice
• Bacon Jalapeno Cheeseburger Casserole
• Sausage Hashbrown Breakfast Casserole

Meal prep tools for this recipe

• Grab some glass meal prep bowls if you plan on turning this dish into leftovers
• I get all my grass-fed beef from Butcher Box, conveniently delivered to me frozen.
• Freeze this recipe in glass microwave-safe bowls up to 3 months