When you make nachos and instead of tortilla chips you use tater tots you make totchos! Get it? This epic party snack is easy to make and you can get as creative as you want with any additional totcho toppings.
INGREDIENTS
Here’s what you’ll need from your fridge and pantry to make totchos.
- Tater tots
- Ground beef
- Black beans
- Olive oil
- Cheddar cheese
- Red onion
- Scallions
- Seasonings: garlic powder, chili powder, smoked paprika, salt, taco seasoning.
This is just the basic stuff to make your totcho foundation, we’ll talk about all the fun extra toppings below!
You’re going to love these tasty tots because I think they have even more flavor that your traditional nacho. The secret? You’re going to season up the tater tots before you bake them, and bake them or a little longer to get an extra bit of crunch to them.
Mix the olive oil with the garlic powder, chili powder, and salt and then pour over the tater tots. This really helps make sure that every layer of these totchos has been seasoned to perfection.
VARIATIONS AND TOPPINGS
For mine I used red onion, scallions, sour cream, and guac. Here are some more ideas for different twists or to make a super loaded totcho!
- Salsa
- Corn
- Olives
- Jalapeños
- Pico de gallo
- Tomatoes
- Chopped lettuce
- Make is spicy and use pepper jack cheese and add cayenne pepper or chipotle powder.
- Instead of ground beef you can use ground chicken.
- Refried beans, add these just before baking don’t mix into the beef.
This dish is best eaten in full the day you make it, these aren’t an ideal leftover or make ahead dish. Since it’s just me eating this when I made it for the blog I had a ton of leftovers, I powdered through eating them in the week but the tots never really came back from being soggy once they’ve sat with wet ingredients in the fridge. So serve these fresh from the oven and don’t plan on reheating leftovers.
Having a party? Here are more of my most popular party appetizers!
Cream cheese salsa dip
Baked jalapeño poppers
Queso blanco nachos
Totchos
Totchos are nachos but using tater tots instead of tortilla chips! Season and bake the tots, then load them up with seasoned ground beef and cheese. Then top with all of your favorite nacho toppings.
- Yield: 4-6 servings
Ingredients
For the tots
1 bag tater tots (32 ounce bag)
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons olive oil
For the beef
1/2 pound ground beef
1/2 cup black beans, drained from the can and rinsed
2 tablespoons taco seasoning
2 tablespoons water
2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
Additional toppings
Diced red onions
Diced scallions
Guac
Sour cream
Smoked paprika
Instructions
1. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Add the tater tots to a large bowl.
2. In a small bowl, combine the oil with the garlic powder, chili powder, and salt. Pour over the tater tots and mix to coat some of the tots. You don’t want them to be soaked or they can end up soggy. Add the tots to the baking sheet and bake for 25- 30 minutes (this longer than the package instructions, I like a darker crispier tater tot. If you don’t then follow the bake time on the package.)
3. While the tater tots are baking, add the ground beef to a pan and cook fully. When the ground beef is about halfway cooked add for the remainder of the time until the meat is fully browned and cooked through, then drain the grease and wipe excess grease from the pan. Return the meat and beans mixture back into the pan.
4. Over medium heat, add in the 2 tablespoons of taco seasoning and the water and combine just until the sauce thickens a bit and all of the meat is seasoned. Remove from heat.
5. When the tater tots are done keep the oven at 425 degrees. To assemble the totchos you can keep them on the baking sheet but I liked to load them into a cast iron skillet for a more “piled” appearance. Start with the tots, then the beef and bean mix, then the Cheddar cheese, and lastly sprinkle a bit of smoked paprika over top.
6. Bake at 425 for 3 minutes. Then switch the oven to broil and broil until the cheese is bubbling.
Serve with any of your favorite nacho toppings! I did red onion, scallions, sour cream, and guac.
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