Years ago we had a restaurant in town called Tosh’s. It sat up on the bluffs overlooking the river. We sent many an evening on their balcony enjoying meals soaking up the view and enjoying these potatoes. They were famous for these tasty, cheesy morsels of yumminess!
Unfortunately Tosh’s is no longer around. So I had to find a way to recreate this on my own. Why? Because they are freaking amazing!!!
My first few attempts produced mushy tasteless blobs. Not good. How to obtain a crispy tot enveloped in bacon, cheesy goodness? There had to be a way!
I finally nailed it after a few more tries 👍🏻
The trick is to use the thinner version of tater tots and cook them as directed on the package before smothering them with a thick layer of cheesy goodness! There is more crispy surface area with the smaller tots than with the traditional tater tots which eliminated the mushy factor I was having issues with.
To save time I cooked the bacon in the oven right along with the tots. I cooked the strips in the oven on the lower rack while baking the tots on the upper rack. Genius! Right?
Place tots on a baking sheet and bake them as directed on the package, flipping them half way through the cook time to ensure they get nice and crispy on all sides.
While the tots and bacon are cooking in the oven, get some cheddar cheese grated.
But really, can you ever have too much cheese?
Chop up the cooked bacon.
Now it’s time to assemble this baby. Spray an ovenproof dish with nonstick cooking spray.
Start by placing half the tater tots in the bottom of the prepared casserole dish. Top with half the bacon and then half the cheese. Repeat layers ending with a nice thick layer of cheese.
Bake in a 425 degree oven for 10-15 minutes to make sure everything is heated through. Turn on broiler to brown the cheese. Cook until bubbly, this will only take about 2-3 minutes.
Look at that melty cheesy yumminess! Time to dig in!
Top each serving with either a generous dollop of sour cream or Ranch dressing, or both, no judgement! To finish, top with a sprinkle of chopped green onions.
Tosh’s Taters
Ingredients
- 7 strips bacon, cooked and crumbled
- 2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
- 32 oz Tater tots
- ¼ cup green onion, sliced
- sour cream
- Ranch dressing, optional
Instructions
- Spread tater tots out in a single layer on a cookie sheet and bake according to package directions until golden and crisp.
- Coat an oven proof dish with non-stick cooking spray.
- Layer 1/2 the cooked tater tots in the bottom of the prepared baking dish.
- Top with 1/2 the chopped bacon and a generous layer of cheese.
- Repeat layers ending with another generous layer of cheese.
- Place in a 425° oven and bake for 10-15 minutes, or until heated through.
- Turn on broiler and cook until cheese is hot and bubbly.
- To serve, top with sour cream or Ranch dressing and a sprinkle of green onions.
These tots are great served with almost anything! WE love them with Sloppy Joes.
No matter what you decide to pair these cheesy, bacony bits of potato goodness, your family will definitely be asking for seconds! And thirds…and…