Tater Tots

Anyone else here love Tater Tots? They are a childhood fave of mine and I pick up a side of them at our local Sonic Drive-in when the craving takes over! Always so crispy and yummy!

I LOVE Sonic's tater tots just had some last night :) Usually I'll get them oh maybe twice a month or so..:)

I am not a big fan of tater tots but I must admit Son'cs are the best I have ever had.

As a matter of fact, most everything Sonic has is good. They do a super burger, onion rings, grilled cheese and I like their breakfast addition.

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

Tater Tots are a guilty pleasure of mine -- I really enjoy them! But I've never had them at Sonic. In fact, the one time I tried to eat at Sonic (Auburn, AL), they were out of virtually everything I tried to order. So I drove to a local Mexican restaurant and had a great meal. Haven't seen any Sonics here in Southeast PA to try.

quote:

Originally posted by clothier

Love tater tots!

they used to come in onion flavor, and we'd dip them in sour cream. Almost latke like!

Hmmm. . . when it comes to latkes, I'm an applesauce man, myself. I should give the sour cream thing a try! But I'm sticking with plain, old ketchup on my tots. Well, maybe not plain, old ketchup. Have any of you seen this site? www.ketchupworld.com

Tater tots transport me back to when i was a camp counselor and every thursday was hamburger night. I avoided the hamburgers because they had some kind of mysterious material hanging on to them. so i would eat tater tots, and a salad,,,and tater tots are really good in ranch dressing.

Oreida still makes an onion tater tot. But I usually get the mini tater tots if I'm going to bake them. They get crispier in the oven. If I'm going to fry them it doesn't matter. I had Sonic's once and if there was one closer than 50 miles I would probably have them at least once or twice a month.

They're awesome, but they need to be REALLY crispy. A soggy tot is a sorry thing. I like to sprinkle mine with a little Lawry's Seasoned Salt before sticking them in the oven.

I ate tater tots as a small child. I remember them being undercooked and cold in the middle or overcooked and crusty on the bottom. I dipped them in ketchup, while picking small pieces of tin foil out of my teeth. The foil was stuck to the overcooked bottom. Clothier, your sour cream dipping sounds good since I'm more of a latke boy than a tater tot tot. There's nothing like a great latke. I eat them with apple sauce or sour cream. I prefer sour cream. I make them from scratch and paper thin. I could eat a million of them and do! They stink up my house and clothes for days and I don't care. When I lazy, I'll make the Manishewitz latkes from the mix. On the those sub zero winter days, one can put latkes in their gatkes(Yiddish slang for winter long underwear). Oi Vey!

I remember my first tater tot experience. It was in a combination seafood foil-trayed TV dinner, along with peas. Never having seen them before, my never-south-of-the-Mason-Dixon line mom thought they were hush puppies.

I love them too! Prince's Hamburgers and Keller's Hamburgers in Dallas have great TT and they are "curb service" establishments.

Tater Tots, panfried, not baked or deep fried, and sunny-side-up eggs were about my favorite breakfast as a kid. No need for ketchup, the eggs were the sauce.

quote:

Originally posted by Kristi S.

They're awesome, but they need to be REALLY crispy. A soggy tot is a sorry thing. I like to sprinkle mine with a little Lawry's Seasoned Salt before sticking them in the oven.

I totally agree. The instructions on the bag say to bake for like 20 minutes but I usually have to leave them in for about twice that to get them all the way crispy.

Chili cheese tater tots at the Sonic - yum!

Love tater tots! I actually prefer the Whole Foods 365 brand of these. And you always have to cook them at least double the time to get them crispy.

As a kid my mom would pan fry them...but I feel too guilty to do that now, so i just bake them.

I would never mistake them for a latke though. Two entirely different things...


As far as a latke mix goes, well the only thing we ever did with it is make a rolled meatloaf thing with that in the middle and topped with sauce. Pretty good.

Great Mid-day snack when I am not in a Lunch prep mood.. Tots and fish stix...

Now I know some of us have some tater tot casserole recipes - how bout 'em?

no i havent tried, but my knocking of your comparision still stands. And I'm proud of it :)

Funny thing is, I hardly get a craving for latkes unless it is chanukah. I only eat them then too...Just like I only eat Matzoh on Passover. Some people eat it all year round, but I never could.

Yep, you guessed it. The Minnesotan has a Tater-Tot Hot Dish recipe:

1 lb. ground beef
1 bag Oreida onion tater tots
1 bag mixed frozen veggies (I prefer peas and carrots)
2 cans condensed cream of celery soup
1/2 cup milk

Brown the ground beef. Drain. In a bowl, mix everything but the tater tots and spoon into a medium casserole dish. Cover mixture with tater tots. Bake for 45 minutes at 350 F. or until the tots are a deep golden brown.

Yummmm!!!

I knew there had to be one out there somewhere!

I love it -- "Hot Dish." That is not a phrase we hear on the east coast.

quote:

Originally posted by Willly

I love it -- "Hot Dish." That is not a phrase we hear on the east coast.

I'm sure there's alot of things said here not heard anywhere else on earth!
YA, YOU BETCHA!

Yeah.... like "Delicious Barbeque" and "Thank You" !

quote:

Originally posted by Al-The Mayor-Bowen

Yeah.... like "Delicious Barbeque" and "Thank You" !

OUCH!!!

Oh, and Thank you!

Love em tator tots! No Sonic around here (that I know of), but I love the OreIda's...
Just have to turn them half way thru baking to avoid that extra crisp bottom.

I would imaginge that a tater tot hot dish would taste mighty fine in that ice box y'all live in up there.

One hint of a snowflake here or temps to the 20's and the entire city is thrown into chaos and pandemonium.

I think so - it was cold!

I love tater tots, but I want them really crispy all the way through !!!

I have had Sonic's tots and they are good !

I could really use a batch right now! (-12 F.)

TATOR TOTS!!!

IMHO Sonic has the best tator tots like so many of you have mentioned.

I love to fry/bake some up at home, sprinkle chili powder over the tops, cheese on top of that, salsa on top of that, and finally a good dollop or two of sour cream! I did this yesterday and was thinking I could make a nice casserole by adding taco meat on top of the tators and then all the additions!

Once had a fried who'd bake tator tots with Tony Chachere's seasoning (cajun seasoning) sprinkled on top and she would dip them in ranch dressning. Not bad I must admit.

quote:

Originally posted by Willly

I love it -- "Hot Dish." That is not a phrase we hear on the east coast.

Or the West. Wouldn't we call that "casserole"? :)

Tater tots from the local DQ here, are awesome!!...Very crispy! served with ranch dressing...Excellent!!...Tom B. in Eastern Kentucky.

Tater tots from the local Dairy Queen!!..Very crispy, piping hot, served with ranch dressing..Excellent!!...Tom B. in Eastern Kentucky.

I like Tater Tots more than french fries. I like to bake 'em til they are extra crispy and I eat them with plenty of ketchup and even some hot sauce. I also like McCain potato Smiles. They are very similar to Tater Tots, circular shaped disks with a smiley face cut into it with a mashed potato type filling. YUM!

who here loves the cheese sticks at sonic?

Yes I think Tater Tots are darn near perfect,but I can only endorse the original "Ore Ida" brand,the private label supermarket brands seem more watery and not as potato flavored.Tater Tots work ok baked in the oven,but i think they shine their best in the fryer,and the Tots always cry out for a manual sprinkling of salt because they are a smidge bland out of the package (but what isnt nowadays?)

We have a new Sonic here in town, but every time we try to go, there is a line of cars waiting for parking spaces. I've eaten at Sonics in other places but surely soon , I'll get to eat at our new one

quote:

Originally posted by tater tot123

who here loves the cheese sticks at sonic?

When we were kids, my sister and I started dipping tater totz in half ketchup/half Heinz 57 sauce. Nothing else quite seems right now.

OK, I'm from Dallas, a home for Tater Tots. Yes, Keller's and others have good ones. Now, my question would be: Are the institutional units different from the oven-bake type we're sold? Is there a reason why we can use the oven, but at restaurants they always go in the fryer? I know the ones we buy are sprayed with an oil of some type, so that they will actually work in the oven. What I'm finding today is that even in some of the non-commercial vendors, there are several brands out there now, not just over-priced Ore-Ida. This is good, and extends to all shapes of "french fry" type potato. I buy the largest bags I can find of TTs, crinkle cuts, and steak fries. I don't care for the curly guys, or regular or shoestrings so much. I got tired of dealing with aluminum foil, which can get expensive, but I did discover that if you crinkle the foil first, things don't stick so much. No, here's what I do now. I have a 10 inch saute pan (plain, not teflon), with a metal handle. I load it up with tater tots, and throw it in the oven at 450 degrees. Takes about 30 minutes. What's good about this technique is: I can toss the tots anytime, no stirring or anything. I can pull them out and examine them anytime. I can pour them out of the pan right onto a plate, which I can't do with foil on a sheet. Also, what I'm finding is that if I just dedicate this pan to this task, it just lives in the oven, I have not needed to scrub it, it's just sort of "seasoned" without any nasty black buildup, call me lazy, but it's working.
Last year, I was in a place with no oven, so I fried the things, but I really think I like the oven better. It's easy somehow to over-fry in oil, and I think the baked ones actually taste better, then you don't have to deal with the oil, either. One reason why restaurant fries taste better than what you do at home is a matter of chemistry. Totally fresh oil is not tasty. In restaurants, when they change the oil, they save a few ounces of the old oil, and add it to the new. It's kind of like a starter for sourdough, changes the chemistry of the new oil in a tasty way.
As for dipping sauces, well, I'll stick with ketchup. I like to add regular Tabasco, which Heinz USED to sell, now I have to do it manually. What's more sad is that Ore-Ida quit with the onion tots, but, like I said, I'm finding plenty of cheaper brands out there. Somebody mentioned seasoned salt...That sounds good. Maybe onion powder stirred into the ketchup... Tater tots for grown-ups.
Happy totting!
-Scott Lindgren scottlindgren@netzero.net

Salindgren:

Use


or


to prevent sticking.

And, this




and lastly, this


are still available.

Wow...I thought I was weird.Now I see I'm in good company. I'm a teacher..and on Tater Tot day, I smile...even school tater tots are a treat...plain with ketchup...tastier than many fries!
leethebard

To MiamiDon: Well, thanks for the pix, but trust me, there are no more onion Ore-Ida tots marketed in SoCal, nor Tabasco Heinz. I have looked in every major supermarket chain here in LA. I stick with my comments about the pan-bake method...the tots just pour right out onto a plate. Don't have to pick them up one at a time to transfer.
-Scott Lindgren

quote:

Originally posted by Sundancer7

I am not a big fan of tater tots but I must admit Son'cs are the best I have ever had.

As a matter of fact, most everything Sonic has is good. They do a super burger, onion rings, grilled cheese and I like their breakfast addition.

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

I wish you people would keep talking about Sonics. I been wanting to go there for years, I hear you talk about them on these forums and see the commericals on cable TV all the time. I live in Michigan and the clossest one is 200 miles away. It should be illegal for them to advertise where people can't get to one.

I always got a kick of the excitement the dieticians that I worked with had when the hospital had tater tot casserole on the menu.

Tater Tot Casserole sounds yummy, do you have the recipe?

quote:

Originally posted by salindgren

OK, I'm from Dallas, a home for Tater Tots. Yes, Keller's and others have good ones. Now, my question would be: Are the institutional units different from the oven-bake type we're sold? Is there a reason why we can use the oven, but at restaurants they always go in the fryer? I know the ones we buy are sprayed with an oil of some type, so that they will actually work in the oven. What I'm finding today is that even in some of the non-commercial vendors, there are several brands out there now, not just over-priced Ore-Ida. This is good, and extends to all shapes of "french fry" type potato. I buy the largest bags I can find of TTs, crinkle cuts, and steak fries. I don't care for the curly guys, or regular or shoestrings so much. I got tired of dealing with aluminum foil, which can get expensive, but I did discover that if you crinkle the foil first, things don't stick so much. No, here's what I do now. I have a 10 inch saute pan (plain, not teflon), with a metal handle. I load it up with tater tots, and throw it in the oven at 450 degrees. Takes about 30 minutes. What's good about this technique is: I can toss the tots anytime, no stirring or anything. I can pull them out and examine them anytime. I can pour them out of the pan right onto a plate, which I can't do with foil on a sheet. Also, what I'm finding is that if I just dedicate this pan to this task, it just lives in the oven, I have not needed to scrub it, it's just sort of "seasoned" without any nasty black buildup, call me lazy, but it's working.
Last year, I was in a place with no oven, so I fried the things, but I really think I like the oven better. It's easy somehow to over-fry in oil, and I think the baked ones actually taste better, then you don't have to deal with the oil, either. One reason why restaurant fries taste better than what you do at home is a matter of chemistry. Totally fresh oil is not tasty. In restaurants, when they change the oil, they save a few ounces of the old oil, and add it to the new. It's kind of like a starter for sourdough, changes the chemistry of the new oil in a tasty way.
As for dipping sauces, well, I'll stick with ketchup. I like to add regular Tabasco, which Heinz USED to sell, now I have to do it manually. What's more sad is that Ore-Ida quit with the onion tots, but, like I said, I'm finding plenty of cheaper brands out there. Somebody mentioned seasoned salt...That sounds good. Maybe onion powder stirred into the ketchup... Tater tots for grown-ups.
Happy totting!
-Scott Lindgren scottlindgren@netzero.net

I just bought a large bag of Ore-Ida Onion Tots last month, are you sure your store just don't carry them any longer?

quote:

Originally posted by thediningroom

Tater Tot Casserole sounds yummy, do you have the recipe?

Here's a page of them: http://www.cooks.com/rec/search/0,1-71,tater_tot_casserole,FF.html

Here is my mother's recipe:

(DO NOT. COOK. THE BEEF. It goes into the pan raw. You must trust me on this.)

Norwegian Pizza:

1 1/2 lbs ground beef
cream of celery/mushroom/chicken/whatever or cheese soup
1 medium onion, chopped
1 bag tater tots

Press ground beef flat into a 9x13 pan, like you're making cookie bars. Sprinkle salt & pepper over meat, sprinkle onions over that. Spread undiluted soup over that, put tater tots in rows over that. Bake @ 350 for 90 minutes. Cut along the tater tots for your pieces, and eat with a fork, this pizza.


If you use cheese soup, it tastes like cheeseburgers & fries.

To thediningroom: Yes, I've looked at Ralphs, Vons, all the stores here in LA, and no more Onion Tater Tots, nor Tabasco Heinz. I'm OK with the ketchup problem, my girlfriend hates anything spicy, so it's no big deal for me to just add hot sauce to MY ketchup. You know, I think Ore-Ida actually had TWO versions of onion tots, regular onion, and green. But that's the hard part, I am not sure how to add an onion feature to tater tots. I think I will try a little onion powder in the ketchup, oui? Might work. BTW, my cat's official (registered) name is Potato Blossum. Therefore she's called Tater, or Tater Tot. She's a beautiful Abby. A real sweet little gal.
Regarding Sonic... I used to frequent them in Dallas. I got excited here in LA about 6-7 years ago when they opened a store about 30 miles from my downtown loft, and I was kind of disappointed, except for the lime-ade, which is very good. I'll talk more about old faves on the Fast Food page. But yes, it really makes no sense to me when "national" chains advertise, and tease us with pretty pictures WHEN THEY DON'T EVEN OPERATE ANYWHERE NEAR YOU!! Especially goofy for me, in the heart of Los Angeles? There are so many! Ruby Tuesday's. I don't know whether they have a store in CA. Stuart Anderson's Black Angus. Not any within many miles of downtown LA. Carrow's. Maybe 15 miles from DT. And over and over.
-Scott Lindgren scottlindgren@netzero.net

When I want a quick meal I'll throw a couple of handfuls of left over tots in a saucepan with some chill. By the time I heat the chili the potatoes are warm. Yes, it took a lot of willpower to learn to have leftover tater tots.

quote:

Originally posted by TIPPY LEE

Tater tots from the local DQ here, are awesome!!...Very crispy! served with ranch dressing...Excellent!!...Tom B. in Eastern Kentucky.

Bringing this topic up again created one heck of a flashback. Tippy Lee (Tom Blackburn) was a good friend who passed away 12/10/2005. About the same time (hour) Richard Pryor passed (I can still picture them 2 humoring each other at the pearly gates). Tom always liked his grub from DQ.. Claimed they had the best foot long chili dogs that existed. Do miss his humor for sure.. He was suppose to come to town here for a Mountain Concert before he got sick.. Never made it, but still have an autographed drum stick I saved for him before I learned of his passing. Time to have a plate of Tater Tots in his memory (Ore Ida with Heinz Ketchup)..

Well, I was just going to say something more about cooking tots. I discovered last week that the steak fries I bought do not cook well in the oven, so I fired up the 2nd batch in oil. Now, we have talked about how tots need to be really crispy, which means at least 25 minutes in the oven, and since I already had the used oil in a pan in the fridge, I made today's tots that way, and while it's a little messier, it's a whole lot faster. When you are in a hurry, go for the oil.
-Scott Lindgren

Fox Brothers BBQ here in Atlanta (Dekalb Ave, west of Decatur) has a popular dish that's basically Tots topped with Brunswick stew and shredded cheese. Certainly they lose their crunch quickly, but still tasty.

Maynerd and Salin mentioned Keller's in Dallas. My first taste of a tater tot was at Keller's. I think no one else had them back in the 50s. You for sure couldn't buy them at the crocery. Kellers still has them and they taste just the same as 40 yrs. ago.

Oh, I love the Oreida's. They are the very best IMHO.

Now, for the history of tater tots. Where did they start and how did they progress? Salin said Dallas was the home of these tasty treats. Could that be true?
Joe

Oh, poor grammar on my part. What I said was that Dallas was A home to the tot, not THE home. Sorry if I created confusion there. But, I have no idea on the history. It may well be that they are simply some genius idea for using up otherwise useless tater parts, but who cares?? We all LOVE them! Parts is parts.
In a similar vein, and also funny, is the story regarding so called "baby carrots". These are carrots that would otherwise be tossed out. They just pare them down and market them as "babies". Ha!
-Scott Lindgren

Tater Tots? Yuck. Give me good old homemade french fries any day.

LL

Here's my favorite TaterTot recipe. Not a main dish, it can serve as a side dish with steak or what-have-you OR (my more common use) breakfast.

---

T A T E R - T O T C A S S E R O L E


2 1/2 cups shredded cheese (your choice)
8oz sour cream
1 (14oz) can cream of potato soup
1 (32oz) pkg frozen Tater-tots
1tsp salt

Pre-heat oven to 350degF. Blend 1&1/2 cups cheese with sour cream, salt and soup in a large mixing bowl. Toss in the 'tots. Spread in a greased 9x13in baking dish. Top with remaining cheese. Bake, uncovered, for 45 minutes.

OPTIONAL: Cut four strips of thick-sliced bacon into moderately sized pieces (large enough so that they do not become microscopic when rendered). Fry in skillet and allow pieces to drain on paper towel. Discard bacon grease. Mix cracklins into sour cream mixture with other ingredients.

---

Enjoy!

Someone asked about the history of the 'Tot.
They were invented back in the 1950s by an employee of Ore-Ida as a means of getting rid of the scraps generated by the processing of frozen french fries.

quote:

Originally posted by dcwatts

Someone asked about the history of the 'Tot.
They were invented back in the 1950s by an employee of Ore-Ida as a means of getting rid of the scraps generated by the processing of frozen french fries.

Tater Tot history, straight from the potatoe's mouth:

http://www.oreida.com/funzone/history.aspx

Ok, Keller's in Dallas started selling Tots in the 50s. How did that happen? Did they make their own or??? buy them from Ore-Ida? Or ????
Joe