How To Cook The Crispiest Air Fryer Tater Tots

Tater tots have been around for ages. Growing up, they were always a family favorite. My only complaint is that it can be challenging to cook them up nice and crisp in a regular oven, and nobody wants the mess of deep frying them. Let’s be totally honest, are you leaning in? Mushy, limp tater tots are not good!!! Actually, limp, mushy anything isn’t good…blech!

A few months ago I finally jumped onto the air fryer bandwagon. I know I’m a little late to the air fryer party, but I could no longer resist its siren song, promising crisp and crunchy results without all the oil needed for deep frying. I held off for a long time, especially after discovering all the dust covered kitchen gadgets in the back of our kitchen cabinets during our last move. I promised myself that I would never let an infomercial suck me into buying another useless, gimmicky kitchen gadget again.

It seems like air fryers are here to stay. They have become a staple in many kitchens and there are almost as many air fryer recipes on the internet as there are recipes for slow cookers. So I finally pulled the trigger and purchased one.

There are basically two different models to choose from. Smaller air fryers that have the pull out baskets or larger air fryers that look more like a toaster oven.

Air fryers with the pull out baskets have a smaller cooking area and will require cooking larger amounts of food in several batches, which can be inconvenient when cooking for a family. But its smaller size means you can store it in your cupboards when it’s not being used. If you don’t mind cooking foods in batches and don’t want an air fryer sitting on your kitchen counter, than the smaller one is going to be your best bet.

The larger oven style air fryer can accommodate a larger quantity of food which means you won’t have to cook foods in batches, but the larger size means that it will be sitting out on the counter taking up valuable kitchen real estate. I opted for the larger model since I hate having to cook in batches and I have the perfect spot for it off to the side of my kitchen.

Whichever model you choose, getting good results cooking with an air fryer takes a little practice. Each fryer is a little different so you will have to make small adjustments to the total time foods cook depending on how your fryer cooks, and how much food you have in the basket.

It took a couple tries to get the hang of using the air fryer, but now that I’ve had some excellent results I want to share what I’ve learned so you can get the same good results using your air fryer.

The most important thing to remember when it comes to air frying is to not crowd food into the basket. You will get the best results if you keep food in a single layer and don’t crowd the pieces together. You will get the crispiest results if air can circulate freely around each piece of food in the basket.

So let’s cook up some tater tots! Start by preheating the air fryer to 400°. The owners manual will provide the specific instructions for preheating your air fryer.

Place tater tots in a single layer in the basket of the air fryer. Do not crowd them in the basket, cook in several smaller batches instead of one large batch if needed.

Place the basket holding the tater tots into the air fryer and cook them for 8 minutes.

Remove the basket from the air fryer and flip over tater tots either by shaking the basket or using a spatula or tongs.

Return the basket to the air fryer and cook tots for another 7-8 minutes or until crispy and golden brown.

Remove basket of tater tots from the air fryer and transfer them to a serving dish. 

Season generously with salt and serve hot with a side of ketchup or Ranch dressing for dipping.

Air frying tater tots produces crispy golden brown tots. Crispy golden brown on the outside, and soft, fluffy steaming hot on the inside, perfection! Because you don’t need any oil to cook them up they are so much healthier for you. You know what that means? I can serve up tater tots more often without feeling guilty about it. Yes please!!! Pass the me the Ranch dressing!!!

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