Tater Tot Thai Casserole

If you love cozy comfort food main dishes, then you’ve gotta try my tater tot casserole. It’s an explosion of flavor filled with bacon, cheese, homemade ranch dressing, and tons of fresh herbs. This casserole be ready before you know it.

Why You’ll Love This

This tater Thai casserole is like the ultimate comfort food. It’s just this amalgam of all these nostalgic flavors coming together in one super easy weeknight meal. I love making it, especially when there is like even the slightest chill in there. That is an explosion of flavor, those fluffy crunchy tater tots, the crispy bacon, the gooey cheese and that homemade ranch dressing with the fresh herbs, it’s beyond delicious.

Ingredients

1 cup of yellow onion
1 cup of scallions or green onions
3 cups of cheddar cheese (about 12 ounces)
about 1 tablespoon of fresh chives
fresh dill
8 slices of bacon
2 tablespoons or 30 ml of bacon fat
2 tablespoons of butter
2 tablespoons of flour
1 and a quarter cups or about 300 ml of whole milk
32 ounce package of frozen tater tots
a quarter cup of sour cream
2 tablespoons of milk
salt to taste
pepper to taste

Instructions

Chop 1 cup of yellow onion.
Chop 1 cup of scallions or green onions, and just remove the withered parts if you will.
Set those aside into a bowl.
Shred 3 cups of cheddar cheese.
Get about 1 tablespoon of fresh chives and fresh dill.
Remove the stalks from the dill.
Set those aside for later.
Give a very rough chop to 8 slices of bacon, cutting mine into roughly 1 inch pieces.
Do most of the prep for this casserole in a large Dutch oven, but you could definitely use a big pot if you prefer for an easy one-pan ground beef recipe.
Place the Dutch oven over medium heat.
Add the bacon in right away.
Cook the bacon over medium heat for about 10 minutes, stir occasionally.
Keep an eye on it.
When your bacon’s close to crispy, add some paper towels on a cooling rack.
Start fishing the bacon out as it’s ready.
Reserve 2 tablespoons of bacon grease.
Discard the rest of the bacon grease or use for other recipes.
Add 2 tablespoons or 30 ml of bacon fat back into our pot.
Add that 1 cup of chopped onions.
Cook these over medium heat for about 5 minutes until they’re softened and a little bit translucent.
Add in 2 tablespoons of butter right into the pan.
Add in 2 tablespoons of flour, just sprinkle it in.
Stir the flour into the onions, make sure it’s all coated, and then cook it for about 2 minutes.
Pour in 1 and a quarter cups or about 300 ml of whole milk.
Stir until combined and turn the heat off.
Stir in about half of the cheddar cheese.
Stir in half a cup of sour cream.
Stir in about half of the scallions as well.
Stir to combine.
Stir in 16 ounces or half of that 32 ounce package of frozen tater tots.
Get your 9 by 13 inch baking dish out.
Assemble this so we could pop it into the oven.
Get it out of the Dutch oven and into the casserole dish.
Smooth that out.
Sprinkle the top with the remaining tater tots, it’s the other 16 ounces.
Try to get some nice coverage there.
Sprinkle with the remaining cheese.
Get a nice even distribution.
Finish it off with all that delicious bacon that you haven’t eaten yet.
Pop this into the oven, 350 for about 35 minutes.
Into a medium bowl, add a quarter cup of sour cream.
Add 2 tablespoons of milk.
Add all that amazing chopped fresh dill and chives.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Give it a good pinch of each to begin.
Stir it up and just give it a really nice whisk together.
Sprinkle the top with the remaining scallions.
Drizzle the homemade ranch over the top now.

Cooking Tips

Watch your knuckles on this grater. It is not your friend in the kitchen. Three cups of shredded cheddar equates to about 12 ounces, but really it’s kind of up to you. It’s not gonna kill the recipe if you add a little bit more or a little bit less. That goes for substitutions too. You don’t have to use cheddar. It could be jack. Kind of whatever, like semi sharp, semi mild, hardest cheese you like. You don’t add bacon into a hot pan, you can let it warm up. You want to make sure the bacon has not like clumped together, basically. If you know you’re a snacker or if you have them in the house, you can totally add a couple extra slices of bacon so the recipe can be complete, but people can have a little bite too. The rest of the bacon grease can be discarded or used for other delicious comfort food recipes, but in either case, it has to get dumped someplace because this pot needs to be empty. Though one tricky part is getting it out of the Dutch oven and into the casserole dish. I mean I put it in a piping bag, but you could totally just spoon it over. It’s herbs, like this herbs really clog up the piping bag, live and learn.

Serving Suggestions

Drizzle the homemade ranch over the casserole as soon as it’s done. Drizzle the homemade ranch over the top now. Time to plate up this cozy comfort food onto the plate, you go.

I really hope you get a chance to make this recipe. If you’re looking for more hearty casserole main dishes, check out our site. And if you like my videos, and I’ll see you in the next side dish video.

Easy Tater Tot Casserole with Bacon and Homemade Ranch

If you love cozy comfort food, then you’ve gotta try this tater tot casserole. It’s an explosion of flavor filled with crispy bacon, gooey cheese, a creamy homemade ranch dressing, and tons of fresh herbs. This casserole is the ultimate comfort food, an amalgam of nostalgic flavors coming together in one super easy dish. Enjoy fluffy crunchy tater tots, savory bacon, and a rich, herb-infused ranch sauce.

1 cup yellow onion, chopped
1 cup scallions (green onions), chopped, divided
3 cups (12 ounces) cheddar cheese, shredded, divided
1 tablespoon fresh chives, chopped
Fresh dill, chopped (about 2 tablespoons)
8 slices bacon, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons bacon fat, reserved from cooking bacon
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 ¼ cups (300 ml) whole milk
½ cup sour cream (for casserole base)
32 ounce package (907g) frozen tater tots, divided
¼ cup sour cream (for homemade ranch)
2 tablespoons milk (for homemade ranch)
Salt, to taste
Black pepper, to taste

Chop 1 cup of yellow onion and 1 cup of scallions (green onions). Remove any withered parts from the scallions. Set aside.
Shred 3 cups of cheddar cheese and set aside. For the homemade ranch, chop about 1 tablespoon of fresh chives and fresh dill; remove stalks from dill and set aside.
Roughly chop 8 slices of bacon into roughly 1-inch pieces.
Place a large Dutch oven or a large pot over medium heat. Add the chopped bacon and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until crispy.
Once bacon is crispy, use a slotted spoon to transfer it to a paper towel-lined cooling rack. Reserve 2 tablespoons of bacon grease in the pot; discard or save the rest for other uses.
Add the 1 cup of chopped onions to the reserved bacon fat in the pot. Cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes, until softened and slightly translucent.
Add 2 tablespoons of butter to the pan. Once melted, sprinkle in 2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour. Stir the flour into the onions until fully coated, and cook for about 2 minutes to form a roux.
Gradually pour in 1 ¼ cups (300 ml) of whole milk, stirring constantly until combined and the sauce thickens slightly. Turn off the heat.
Stir in half of the shredded cheddar cheese, ½ cup of sour cream, and half of the chopped scallions into the sauce. Stir until well combined and creamy.
Stir in 16 ounces (half of the package) of frozen tater tots into the creamy base.
Transfer the mixture from the Dutch oven into a 9×13 inch baking dish, spreading it out evenly.
Evenly sprinkle the remaining 16 ounces of frozen tater tots over the top of the casserole. Top with the remaining shredded cheddar cheese, ensuring good coverage.
Finish by sprinkling all of the cooked bacon over the cheese layer.
Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). Pop the casserole into the preheated oven and bake for about 35 minutes, or until bubbly and the tater tots are golden and crispy.
While the casserole bakes, prepare the homemade ranch dressing: In a medium bowl, combine ¼ cup of sour cream, 2 tablespoons of milk, all the chopped fresh dill and chives. Add salt and pepper to taste (start with a good pinch of each). Whisk everything together thoroughly.
Once the casserole is out of the oven, sprinkle the top with the remaining chopped scallions.
Drizzle the homemade ranch dressing generously over the hot casserole. Serve immediately and enjoy this cozy comfort food!

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