Homemade Tater Tots
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Say goodbye to those frozen bags of tots! This homemade version is easy, freezer-friendly and better than store-bought!
There’s no shame in the frozen tots game. But after trying these homemade tots from scratch, there’s absolutely no going back to the store-bought version.
And the homemade version is super easy to whip up – special equipment like a potato mill or potato masher are not required here. All you need is a cheese grater to shred those parboiled potatoes and a clean dish towel to squeeze out as much moisture as possible (for maximum crispness, of course).
From there, you can add in your desired seasonings, form them into beautiful little tots, and throw them into some hot oil to let these babies get amazingly crisp and golden brown.
All that’s left to do is serve these with some ketchup and you’re set. And if you manage to have some leftovers, you can freeze them for next time (up to 1 month)!
Homemade Tater Tots
Ingredients
- 2 pounds russet potatoes, peeled
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon dried oregano
- ¼ teaspoon dried dill
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 3 cups vegetable oil
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
Instructions
- Place potatoes in a Dutch oven and cover with cold salted water by 1 inch. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, covered, until parboiled, about 6-7 minutes; drain well and let cool.
- Using a box grater, finely shred potatoes. Using a clean dish towel or cheese cloth, drain potatoes completely, removing as much water as possible.
- Transfer potatoes to a large bowl. Stir in flour, garlic powder, onion powder, oregano and dill; season with salt and pepper, to taste. The mixture should be workable but dry. Form potatoes into tots.
- Heat vegetable oil in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium high heat until it registers 360 degrees F on a deep-fry thermometer.
- Working in batches, add tots to the Dutch oven and cook until evenly golden and crispy, about 3-4 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate.
- Serve immediately, garnished with parsley, if desired.*
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
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Could you cook these in an air fryer? I have all the ingredients except enough oil so wondering if I could still make it this weekend!
Can I make these ahead and par fry them and then freeze – or is it better to freeze without frying?
I fry, cool then freeze. Works great!
If you peel and wash your potatoes but them cook them in the microwave without any water, they make perfect tots and no extra water to worry about. They turned out perfectly
If you have an old screw type cooky gun with the funnel end that accepts cake decorating tips, you can load it with this mix and crank out tots in a hurry. compresses them nicely so no falling apart. A decorating bag with a big round tip would probably work, too.
This is good advice, thank you for the tip! Even a ZipLoc with an end cut off would be good. I was thinking I’d have to shape by hand
I’ve just started these tots! Excited, I am, to see how they turn out. The recipe so far looks perfectly do-able. They will go well with dinner.
Help! Why did mine totally disintegrate in the deep fryer? Second time making them, first time they were perfect, this time a disaster!?
My 2nd batch did this and I realized the oil wasn’t hot enough between batches. I had to wait to get the oil back up to temp
Good recipe, but I’d probably skip cooking the potatoes beforehand. I’d also increase the onion and garlic powder a bit. Other than that, my tots were crispy on the outside and pillowey on the inside. I’ll be trying this recipe again. Thanks!
I made these! I accidentally boiled the potatoes for too long so it was a little mushy but it was fine. I added some shredded parmesan to the mix. Awesome. I formed hashbrowj patties, sprayed with oil, baked at 425 for 25 minutes, flipped them, sprayed with oil again, and baked another 20 minutes. Soooooo yummy.
Made them cause I was bored. Took 3 hours because I’m slow in all the peeling and grating. Do you think I could use my left over mashed potatoes instead of doing all of that?
My family likes mashed potatoes with rutabaga, so sometimes I add some, parboiled & finely shredded. We call them rutababies, of course.
Ngl tho they were straight bussin
When you say finally straight do you mean to use the side of the box Shredder with the small holes and not the big holes?
Can these be formed and frozen uncooked?
Thanks
Traci
Great easy and works very well in an air fryer too. This recipe is a keeper.
I am not sure but I parcooked them before freezing and they turned out great.
These came out wonderfully. I used Yukon gold potatoes because they’re what I had on hand. I followed the recipe exactly, but found I had to add an extra tablespoon of flour to make the potatoes come together enough to form into tots. Threw in the fridge until I was ready to fry. Fried at 360 for 4 minutes, PERFECTION.
Thanks for the recipe!
I made the recipe but added some fresh chopped jalapenos and finely grated cheddar cheese to the mix before forming the tots.
Turned out JUST like Taco Time stuffed mexi fries. Gonna do it again and quadruple the batch. Par fry and then freeze for later meals. Just take out a handful from the freezer and throw in the air fryer.
Damndelish!
Genius move! Ima have to try that!!
Can I bake them instead?
Yes you can bake them! Could do 425 for maybe 25 minutes, turning once halfways thru. What bothers me is that in the notes section, the tots should be frozen on a sheet tray for about an hour before you add them to a ziploc bag or container, try to get most of the air out. Then proceed with the rest of the recipe when wanting to use. Should keep for 3 months in a bag in the freezer. Hope some of this helps
I’m getting ready to make these but I have 1 questions…
Why cook the potato before you grate? It would seem to me that you could grate raw, then proceed and let the potato cook through the fry process.
Is there a purpose behind the parboil set?
Thank you!!
Did you make these starting with uncooked? Don’t know why they would have to be precooked.
You need to get moisture out if you don’t par boil the potatoes will discolor and go black
Perfect! I did not grow up with tots so never make them, even frozen. Saw these and immediately needed them.
Cooked the potatoes, mixed everything and formed on baking sheet in the morning. Kept in fridge all day, cooked for dinner and they were delicious.
Look delicious