Cheeseburger Tater Tot Casserole

This easy cheeseburger tater tot casserole is an entire meal in one pan! It’s made with savory ground beef, lots of cheese, and golden brown tater tots, so it’s sure to be a hit with the whole family. 

Tater tot casserole is an American favorite. If you enjoy the original (or my Tater Tot Breakfast Casserole and Chicken Tater Tot Casserole), you’re going to love this new spin on the classic.

There are a few secret ingredients in this tater tot hotdish recipe that you won’t find in any other everyday casserole recipe. For example, this cheeseburger tater tot casserole recipe is loaded with salty bacon bits that make the filling irresistible. Who can say no to bacon?!

Between the salty bacon, the juicy ground beef, the rich sour cream, and the crispy potatoes, this casserole is perfectly designed to make your whole family come running to the dinner table.

Oh, and I can’t forget the cheese! Made without any cream of mushroom soup, the whole casserole is covered in gooey melted cheese that is just like icing on the cake…or, in this case, cheese on the casserole! 

Easy Cheeseburger Tater Tot Casserole Recipe

While the flavors in this bacon cheeseburger casserole recipe are what make the dish so appealing to my family, the main reason I love this casserole is that it is so easy to make. I love it when I can make an entire meal in under 15 minutes. It makes weeknights so much more enjoyable and stress-free!

Making this cheeseburger casserole is as simple as cooking some ground beef, mixing in the seasonings, and pouring the mixture into a casserole dish. Line up some frozen tater tots on top of the casserole, add a little cheese, and the meal is done. You can let the oven do the rest of the work!

Does this sound easy to you? It definitely is! So let’s talk about the details behind this amazing bacon cheeseburger tater tot casserole so you can start cooking. (PS – Make sure you try my Loaded Tater Tots, too!)

Ingredients

See recipe card below this post for ingredient quantities and full instructions.

• Ground beef – I like to use 85/15 lean ground beef for casseroles. This means that the meat is 85% meat and 15% fat. I find this is the perfect amount of fat for casseroles. The meat is nice and juicy, but not too greasy. 
• Olive oil
• Onion – You can use red onion, yellow onion, or white. I typically just grab whatever I have in the house!
• Bacon bits – You can buy pre-cooked crumbled bacon in most grocery stores, which tastes great and is very convenient. You can also cook and crumble your own bacon. 
• Sour Cream – Use regular sour cream or low-fat sour cream. This is one ingredient where less fat is okay and the taste will still be good. You can cut a few calories by choosing the reduced-fat version. 
• Ketchup
• Salt
• Ground black pepper
• Garlic powder
• Shredded cheddar cheese – I like to use sharp cheddar cheese which has the strongest flavor. 
• Frozen tater tots – The tater tots can be added to the top of the casserole straight from the freezer. No need to pre-cook or thaw. Just pop them right on! 

Variations

• Use shredded Monterey Jack cheese, Mexican blend shredded cheese, or even shredded mozzarella in place of cheddar. 
• Replace the ground beef with ground turkey or ground chicken. You can even use a mix of ground meats if you’d like. 
• Replace the ketchup with barbecue sauce or buffalo wing sauce for a new flavor. This is a really easy way to make a whole new, exciting tater tot casserole recipe!

How to Make Cheeseburger Tater Tot Casserole

1. Cook the beef: Add the olive oil to a large skillet, along with the ground beef and onions. Cook the beef and onion mixture over medium heat until it is no longer pink. Try to break up the beef as it cooks, making nice crumbles. 
2. Add the filling ingredients: Once the beef mixture is cooked, you can add the bacon, sour cream, ketchup, salt, pepper, and garlic powder to the skillet, and stir everything together. Add some of the cheese and stir it in until it melts. Then, pour the cheeseburger casserole filling into a 9×13 baking dish. 
3. Add the toppings: Layer the frozen tater tots on top of the ground beef filling. You want to cover every inch of the cheeseburger filling with tater tots. 
4. Bake the cheeseburger casserole: Bake the casserole in the oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes. The filling will be bubbling around the edges. Remove the pan from the oven, and sprinkle the whole top of the casserole with the remaining cheese. Then, pop the casserole dish back into the oven for 5 minutes to melt the cheese. 
5. Enjoy!: Scoop the warm cheeseburger tater tot casserole onto plates, and enjoy while warm. 

How to Store Cheeseburger Tater Tot Casserole

Once the casserole is baked and cooled, I like to wrap the whole dish in plastic wrap and store the leftovers in the fridge for up to five days. When you want to reheat the cheeseburger casserole, you can simply unwrap it and pop the whole pan back into the oven to reheat. This will re-crisp the tater tots and make the casserole taste nice and fresh.

You can also store the cheeseburger tater tot casserole in an airtight container and keep this in the fridge. You can place the container in the microwave to reheat for about 1-2 minutes. This is a fast way to reheat your cheeseburger tater tot casserole. 

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