Bacon Wrapped Tater Tot Bombs (Air Fryer or Oven)
by Chungah
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Sticky, sweet, and savory bite-sized tots that are simply irresistible! A guaranteed crowd-favorite for everyone (and it’s so easy to make!).
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reasons to make bacon wrapped tater tots
- Short ingredient list. These irresistible bacon wrapped tater tots do not require much – we’re talking frozen tots, bacon, cheese, sugar and parsley (for a garnish), that’s it!
- Guaranteed crowd-favorite. Tater tot bombs are a hit every single time no matter where it’s served, whether it’s for a potluck, picnic, holiday get-together or tailgating party.
- Easy make-ahead recipe. The tater tots can be assembled and placed in the freezer up to 24 hours in advance, cutting down on prep time even further, ideal for easy, stress-free hosting!
- Recipe easily doubles (or halves). Hosting a big party? This recipe easily doubles and triples to feed a big crowd!
- Air fryer and oven method. These tater tot bombs can be made both in the oven or in the air fryer for complete flexibility and ease.
Key ingredients for bacon wrapped tater tots
Tater tots
Frozen tater tots are ideal for quick, easy prep, making sure that the tots are thawed at room temperature for adding the cheese. If you plan on omitting the cheese, the tater tots do not have to be thawed.
Bacon
Use thin cut bacon (cut into thirds or fourths) to wrap each tater tot, placing seam side down or securing with a toothpick.
Cheese
Sharp cheddar cheese works beautifully here but Pepper Jack or Monterey Jack cheese are both great alternatives. The cheese should be cut into very small squares, about 1/4 of an inch.
Brown sugar
Coating the bacon wrapped tater tot in brown sugar will create that favorited caramelized, sticky, sweet glaze, allowing the bacon to crisp up perfectly in the air fryer or oven.
Garnish
Add your finishing touches with a simple parsley or chive garnish.
tips and tricks for success
- Make it spicy. Add a little bit of cayenne pepper to the brown sugar for a kick of heat.
- Use toothpicks, if needed. Toothpicks will help secure the bacon around the tater tot, preventing it from unraveling and maintaining a consistent shape. They can also serve as built-in skewers for easy serving. If using toothpicks, soak for 15-20 minutes beforehand to prevent the toothpicks from burning in the oven.
- Avoid thick cut bacon. Thick cut bacon will take much longer to cook through and crisp up, causing the tater tots to overcook and possibly burn.
- Single layer rule. Whether it’s a baking sheet or air fryer basket, always arrange the tots in a single layer to achieve maximum crispness. For larger quantities, cook in multiple, smaller batches to avoid overcrowding. Particularly for the air fryer, overcrowding the air fryer basket can lead to soggy, unevenly cooked bacon wrapped tater tots.
- Serve with your favorite dipping sauce. A dipping sauce is not necessarily needed, but a serving of Ranch or BBQ sauce on the side is always a crowd-favorite.
- Make ahead of time. Assemble the tater tots and place on a baking sheet in the freezer up to 24 hours in advance, cooking as directed in the air fryer or oven, and adding a few additional minutes to the cook time. Thawing is not required.
- Reheat in the oven. Leftover tater tot bombs can be mushy when reheated in the microwave. For best results with leftovers, reheat in the air fryer at 350°F for 3-4 minutes or in the oven at 400°F until warmed through, about 5-10 minutes.
More crowd-favorite appetizers and finger foods
Bacon Wrapped Tater Tot Bombs (Air Fryer or Oven): Frequently Asked Questions
Absolutely, but the turkey bacon will not crisp up as well as regular bacon.
This will allow the tater tots to be cut easily in order to add a small cheese square into the opening.
Not at all! These can be served without a dipping sauce, although a side of Ranch or BBQ sauce will not go unnoticed.
Yes! The tater tot bombs can be assembled and placed on a baking sheet in the freezer up to 24 hours ahead of time, adding a few extra minutes to the cook time as needed.
Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days, reheating in the air fryer or oven for the best results.
Bacon Wrapped Tater Tot Bombs (Air Fryer or Oven)
Video
Ingredients
- 2 cups frozen tater tots, at room temperature
- 4 slices bacon, quartered
- 1 ounce sharp cheddar cheese, cut into 1/4-inch squares
- ¼ cup brown sugar, packed
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley leaves
Instructions
- Working one at a time on a flat surface, place a tater tot on a piece of bacon. Gently cut a slit down the center of each tater tot, adding a cheese square into the opening.
- Wrap each tater tot in bacon, securing with a toothpick if needed. Repeat with remaining bacon pieces, tater tots and cheese squares.
- Dredge each bacon wrapped tater tot in brown sugar, pressing to coat.
for the oven
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat; set aside.
- Place bacon wrapped tater tots seam side down in a single layer onto the prepared baking sheet. Place into oven and bake until the tater tots are cooked through and bacon is crispy, about 20-25 minutes, using metal tongs to turn at halftime.
for the air fryer
- Preheat air fryer to 400 degrees F. Lightly oil the air fryer basket or coat with nonstick spray.
- Place bacon wrapped tater tots seam side down in a single layer onto the prepared air fryer basket. Place into air fryer and air fry until the tater tots are cooked through and bacon is crispy, about 12-15 minutes, shaking the basket at halftime.
- Serve immediately, garnished with parsley, if desired.
Equipment
Did you make this recipe?
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I used 2 lbs of tots, 1/2 lb of cheese, 1 1/2 lbs of bacon and added fresh jalapenos with the cheese and it made 80 for a Super Bowl party and there were NONE left!
Made these last night for the Superbowl party and they were gone before the game even started! What a fantastic recipe – thanks for sharing this! I had so many compliments from everyone who attended – and it sounds like I’ll be stuck making these at every family gathering for the foreseeable future!
These were awesome on Super Bowl Sunday. Just a tip, I pre-cooked the bacon in the oven, let cool and cut in half in advance. Since this was the first time making them I thought It would give the best results for crispy bacon. I will make again.
I started off Super Bowl Sunday by making these delicious treats! My husband Gary said they were the best thing he ever had! I used Ore Ida Crispy Crowns, Sargento Double Cheddar Natural Blends slices and Hormel Black Label Brown Sugar thick cut bacon. The trick is to thaw the tater tot in the fridge but don’t let them get too warm on the counter or they will fall apart during construction. Have everything set up, including scissors to cut the bacon into perfect lengths. I pre-cut two slices of cheese to fit on top of the tater tots, and pulled off 6 strips of bacon to have ready to cut-to-fit the tater tots. I placed one piece of cheese on the tater tot and then wrapped the tater tot with a small cut of a bacon strip that would fold over to the bottom. I hand-patted the brown sugar onto the rolls instead of trying to roll the delicate potatoes into the sugar. They baked up perfectly on parchment paper after about 20 minutes and my husband nearly had an orgasm after his first bite. After 30 years together, this was my easiest sex act ever!
I just made these for the Super Bowl. It definitely took more than a quarter of a slice of bacon. The cheese melted all over the pan and some if it burned and stuck to the pan. I followed the directions exactly. They were good but not sure they were worth the cost or the work of cleaning the mess up.
Debbie, you may have used too much cheese for each tot, causing that big mess. The recipe specifically calls for 1/4-inch squares. It may also be best to line your pan with foil or parchment paper for easy clean-up.
that was soooo worth the effort, delisiouso, Will be doing that for football games and camping
fourth of July and every other occasion I can think of , thank you so much for sharing, great ideas to try other cheeses as wELL BUT SO GOOD JUST YOUR WAY tHANKS AGAIN.We are eating these right now for Super Bowl, made a great treat
Potato bomb is EXACTLY what they are BOMB…. They ended up in the trash . Cheese is a waste, melts all out.. Then burns. Tried several batches and got 1 batch that kinda worked. They fell apart , burnt, or bacon not cooked , hashbrowns too mush to turn halfway cause if you try they fall apart . Kept trying to find the problem .EVEN my hubby that likes everything said they didn’t have that great of taste . Went to super bowl party with nothing to pass because even the ones that kinda turned out were just so so, not that great of a taste and wouldn’t put my name on them. The trash can is where they ended up. Waste of time, money and food. Never again! I’m not very pleased right now because all that’s left is a mess to clean up from trying. Don’t try these if you smart.
Tam, I’m sorry that this didn’t turn out for you but instead of blaming the recipe, please remember that there are many factors at play here. First off, the recipe calls for tater tots, not hashbrowns. Secondly, the recipe also calls for diced cheese. Perhaps you used a different kind of cheese or too much cheese? If substitutions are made or if the recipe is not followed as written, the results can be mediocre.
That being said, I hope you get to try this super easy recipe again with stellar results because it really is “the bomb”!
I added a piece of jalapeno, added to the deliciousness!!
I want to make these for a Superbowl party in my only question is can I make them Saturday night and keep them in the fridge and then pop them in the oven Sunday
Yes, that should be fine.
I’m madly in love with these! Since I made them for the first time, I’ve been making them ALL the time! Mmmmmmmmmmmm
Can you use sweet potato tater tot for this recipe?
I haven’t tried it myself but I don’t see why it would be an issue.
I JUST made them with sweet potato tots and they were great. I used Havarti cheese and it did melt all over the pan. We all agreed that the cheese was unnecessary. They were super delicious!
I made these for “girls nite” on Friday and they were a huge hit! I had a different recipe that called for stuffing the tot with cheese. DISASTER!! I gave up and just put the cheese and the tot together and wrapped the bacon around it as you suggest. It worked fine. Yes some cheese oozes out but you definately still taste cheese in these little bites of goodness, I also found the pre sliced cheese to be easier than cubed. My only problem was the brown sugar not sticking to the bacon. I eventually gave up rolling them and just pressed the sugar on top while they were on the baking sheet. Worked out fine.
Baking with a toothpick definatly helps hold the bacon in place and leaves a little handle to grab them off the dish to pop them in your mouth when they are done. I love them!
All my tots exploded in the oven. Had them out and they were at room temperature so I have no idea how they all exploded.
I’m not entirely sure how that coulld happen! Maybe your oven is super hot?!
OH EHM GEE!!! Why oh why have I not seen these until now??? So totally going on the menu the next time I have friends over!! They will be devoured before I can even put them on the serving tray!!
I made this recipe today and although delicious, I had issues with the directions. 2 cups of tater tots yielded me 26 and 4 slices of bacon quartered would have yielded 16 pieces. So already there were issues with quantity but then I quickly discovered that a quarter of a slice of bacon didn’t wrap around a tater tot much less with a piece of cheese. I ended up using small sticks of cheese rather than cubes and thirds of a slice of bacon rather than quarters.
In the end I ended up with 15 tater tot bombs as I had 5 slices of bacon to begin with. The cheese completely melted out onto the pan so I am not sure how much stayed in the bombs. Since I had a bunch of extra thawed tater tots I just cooked them on the same pan.
I would make these again in the future because they were delicious but I would have to experiment with the technique and measurements.
Pia, 2 cups is simply an estimate as I know that some people will not take the time to count out their tater tots. Also, if your bacon is super thick, a quarter-slice will not be sufficient. But with a package of bacon and a bag of tater tots, there’s plenty of room to experiment!
Have you tried this with the lil smokie hot dogs? Same thing just no cheese..wrap them in bacon stick a toothpick in them and pour brown sugar and bake.. amazing!
Can you make these ahead of time and refrigerate?
Yes, that should work just fine.
Great, thank you!!
I just wanted to share something that worked well for me… I took the slice of bacon I cut and pressed it in the brown sugar, placed it sugar side down on my cutting board, took my tiny slice of cheese, placed it in the middle of the bacon slide, placed the tater tot on top and wrapped it. It was truly an easy and amazing recipe! Thank you for your wonderful recipes 🙂
I was disappointed that all the cheese melted onto the pan. Great recipe idea, any recommendations what to do with the cheese? Is it needed?
Thanks!
I love all your recipes on-line, keeping creating!
How much cheese did you use? It’s best to use cut cheese rather than shredded since the latter can become really messy!
I found this on Pinterest, and pinned it for a Christmas appetizer. Well, we forgot to make them Christmas day, so we decided to try them last night. What an epic failure! And I am a really good cook. They stuck to the foil so when I tried to turn them, they got squished. Half the bacon was under cooked and half was over cooked. It was truly, one of those epic – Pinterest fail – moments. But yours just look perfect!! 🙂
Oh no – I am so sorry to hear about your Pinterest fail! Although I would shy away from using aluminum foil. It’s really best to use nonstick spray, or even parchment paper.
Good to know, I missed that in the instructions. I was about to grab the parchment, but usually use foil to bake bacon so I wrongly assumed it would work. Thank you!