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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I didn’t make them yet— wondering if I need to make any changes to air fry them? I figure I need to spray them with oil spray but is there any other change?
What a great idea! But unfortunately, without having tried this myself, I cannot answer with certainty. But if you get a chance to try it, please let me know how it turns out! 🙂
I suggest you chill them before you put them in the air fryer. I worked great for me! Good Luck!
How long did you cook them in the air fryer?
In case anyone else is wondering about time and temp in an air fryer, I cooked these last night in my Power Air Fryer. I did as someone suggested and scooped the potatoes into an ice tray and chilled. I did coat the ice trays with an olive oil spray because I wasn’t certain if they would just pop out after only being chilled. I also did a very light spray across the tops before I put them in. My fryer was not preheated, so I cooked them at 360 for 21 minutes. They were soooo yummy!!!
These look so good. I throwing out my store bought tots and buying some russet potatoes today. Thank you so much for sharing.
OMG – thank you for this delicious recipe! I changed it to make it work for the sir fryer – so wonderful!
Of course!
can you just bake them?
Yes, absolutely.
These looks so yummy…
I will have to try them but last night I had some homemade tater tots and can anyone help me with this…The TD had cheese…and a corneal mixture inside with pototes too…Does anyone have a recipe close to this..Bavon also in it…
Made these tonight the flavor was awesome but half of the batch blew up while cooking. Not sure why, has this happened to anyone else?
Has anyone used an air fryer for this recipe? If yes, comments and suggestions please.
Ok… made these tonight… and DAMN… they were delicious. This recipe has been printed and the hubby asked that it be LAMINATED. I’m glad you crossed this off your bucket list… my fam is going to enjoy these until the end of time!!
Not sure what I did wrong, but mine fell apart in the oil.
So sorry to hear that Lisa!
This wasnt a very good recipe, the tot mixture doesn’t stay together when you fry them. I was suspicious looking over the recipe and not seeing a binding ingredient, but I still thought I’d give it a try. Nope.
Yes these are way more work than frozen store bought tater tots but if you plan ahead then you can make large batches easily and freeze them. I read every single review and there were many great tips from so many people. Thank you guys. This is how I went about making these using the ingredients listed except for the dill.
1. The day before I par boiled the potatoes for 7 minutes. I left the skins on to do this. After they cooled I put them in the fridge and went about my day. I used red potatoes for my first time.
2. The next morning I peeled the cooked potatoes, cut them in half and fed them into my food processor with the grater attachment. That went super fast and I had cooked 10 lbs of potatoes.
3. I added flour and spices to my grated taters. Lots of garlic because the kids like it. I used dried spices so as not to cause unwanted moisture.
4. I coated my hands with a little oil and shaped these shreds into tots. I did have to wash my hands and re oil them to shape tots several times as the potatoes were a wee bit sticky. I placed them into ice cube trays. I used 8 trays in total. Then I put them in the freezer for twenty minutes. After that I popped them out of the trays and put them into zip lock freezer bags and back into the freezer for when we want them. Just cook from frozen.
5. I cooked a batch in the oven and tried frying some. OH BY FAR the fried where the best BUT the kids liked the baked ones better than the store bought ones so I will stick with baking them as this is healthier obviously. I baked at 450 for twenty minutes and turned them after ten. They browned perfectly.
Thank you Chungah and to all those who tweaked the method. This was a huge hit in my house last night and I am glad because I made enough to last a few months.
Thank you for sharing your way of making these Louisa! We appreciate it!
Glad I found your recipe
I used an ice cube tray to press the grated potatoes into a good size. Then shaped it and placed in the freezer for about 10 minutes before frying. Came out good.
This recipe is a keeper
So smart Vicky, thanks for sharing that little trick!
I love the recipe but I messed up and made the tots too big so it caused it not to cook as well so next time ill make them smaller.
I made these on a whim tonight. I used a combination of parboiled potatoes, as the recipe directs, and grated leftover baked potatoes from the fridge. I used Pillsbury 1 for 1 gluten free flour. These tots are amazing!! I can’t believe how the outside stayed crispy! We topped with taco fixings for taco tots and the tots stayed crispy under all the toppings. A new favorite!!
This may be heretical but could you use Real Potato Hash Browns instead of cooking the Russet potatoes in the instructions?
Yes, of course.
I’ve looked at three other tater tot recipes and found this one to be the best in my mind–when I imagine making them…
This recipe also has more info regarding how to deal with them when frozen.
The two things I will change when using this recipe:
1) is substitute 2-3 T. dried onion flakes (a component in another tater tot recipe) for the onion powder.
2) I will use only one of the herbs (either oregano or dill), not both.
Maybe I’ll start tonight? I have a 10 lb. bag of russet just screaming to be boiled.
Thank you for this great recipe and detailed instructions.
I sprayed with my Olive oil sprayer so u could bake them at 425 F for about half hour, turning once. I also agree some middle Eastern spices and finely diced red onion. OMG. To top it off? Garlic Curry Ketchup.
I want to try this recipe but did I mess up if I boiled potato till it’s completely cooked? Hope no
Hopefully not!!!
When I put them in the hot oil, they seemed to be ok. Then they started to flatten and looked like they were turning to mush. I left them a while on very high heat ad they seemed to set a bit, enough to flip them. They came out more like mini potato patties than tots. Tasted good despite the almost “failure”.
Made the tater tots…. Recipe worked out well. Great seasoning. Very tasty.
Strange thing did happen. I deep fried the tots. First bunch went in and came out beautiful. 2nd batch all came out great except one. It had a nice crispy shell but the inside potato had leaked out. 3rd batch there were quite a few hollowed out shells. 4th batch all turned to mush. All tots were from the same mixture. Oil was sizzling when each batch was put in.
Any ideas as to why this may have happened?
How strange – I have no idea why that would happen!
Hey, if the oil gets too hot, the tots will burst and leak so maybe that’s why your last two batches burst.
5 or 6 tots at a time? What pot are you using, like a easy bake oven size? Do they really need that much space?
You can add more tots if your pan is large enough – you just don’t want the pan to be overcrowded.
I agree about the 5 or 6 at a time. I am pretty sure unless they are hugs patties like Mickey Ds then you can put more in a pan
I make these often, I’ve baked them, and fried them. Nowadays I use an air fryer after I give them just a tiny spritz of oil (don’t use commercial sprays, a pump sprayer with olive oil works great) I’m not a big tot fan but my s/o adores them.
these are a great option it just tool a while to grate all of the potatoes