Fresh meals from the freezer? You betcha!! Without one bit of prompting on my part (or even any mention I had done anything different) Shawn proclaimed this the best tater tot casserole I had made yet! I asked him why and he said that it just tasted fresher. Pretty cool considering the fact I had just pulled it out from the freezer the night before! I had made it a couple weeks before. But I did something different after the success of my Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken Tater Tot Casserole and ditched the canned soup and made a simple from scratch sauce. The result? Win!
Super simple to make and double it up for extra bang for your buck. Two meals done and ready to roll! Perfect for serving up a hearty home cooked meal on any busy night. Isn’t that so much better than settling for something quick from a drive through? In my book a home cooked meal wins every time.
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I never even knew that tater tot casserole existed until my friend Robyn told me about it during one of our morning runs. Her kids go crazy over it and now mine do too (not to mention the husband!). What I now make as an “oh no, I forgot to shop/cook/plan, guess I will throw this in the crock” makes my family think I’ve made something extra special just for them. Makes them happy, makes me happy.
Making a creamy sauce is so super easy you will wonder why you haven’t been doing it this way all along. Well, I wondered anyway! By the time you find the can opener and remember how to use it you can have this sauce simmering away.
Thaw overnight in the fridge, add a bag of still frozen tater tots, and top it all off with some (preferably fresh but packaged is okay too) grated cheese and your tummy will be rumbling in no time while you smell the yumminess that is scenting the air of your kitchen!
- 2 pounds ground beef
- 1/2 cup flour
- 3 cups chicken or vegetable broth
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons onion powder
- 1 teaspoon seasoning blend (I used Italian)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1 cup frozen sweet peas
- 1 cup frozen sweet corn kernels
- 64 ounces bags frozen tater tots for later (two 32oz bags)
- 3 cups shredded cheese for later
- In a large skillet brown ground beef over medium high heat until fully cooked and no pink remains and drain any fat
- Add flour and stir to coat all beef evenly with flour
- Slowly add broth while continuing to stir to ensure no lumps form from flour
- Add seasonings and bring mixture up to a slow boil and then reduce to a simmer
- Let simmer for about 5-7 minutes until broth thickens to coat the spoon
- Stir in the cream and continue to simmer for another 3-5 minutes to let everything thicken to the texture of cream soup
- Add peas and corn and stir to combine evenly
- Cool and split the beef mixture into two separate gallon size freezer bags
- Freeze until ready to use
- Thaw overnight in fridge
- Spray crock with nonstick spray
- Place half of one bag of tater tots in the bottom of crock
- Top with meat mixture
- Add remaining half of tater tots and then top with 1 1/2 cups shredded cheese
- Cover and cook on high for 3-4 hours or low for 6-8
I cooked this on high for 3.5 hours in my 5 quart oval slow cooker
Looking for more freezer meals? How about Slow Cooker Chicken and Dumplings:
Or Slow Cooker Veggie Lasagna:
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I don’t want to freeze this s meal. So what are the instructions for fix and serve immediately, or do you have to freeze???
you can just make half and instead of putting it into the freezer bag go ahead and follow the cooking instructions. Or make the whole recipe, cook half and freeze half for later!
This recipe works great for our family, and it has great results in our slow cooker! Everything nicely cooked and not watery. Last time I didn’t have any tater tots, so I used potato croquette things. I’m currently making a double batch to restock our freezer. Great easy meal!
I’m so glad you and your family enjoy it!!
My wife and eight-year-old son did not like this at all. I think it was the almost rice-like consistency of the tots. They didn’t seem to cook as well as in the oven. We had to trash the leftovers…
I’ve still got a bag of the meat-mixture left and am contemplating what to do with that without waste… Reheat on stove and serve over biscuits? Maybe reheat the meat on the stove and cook the tots in the oven? Maybe some sort of meat pie?
You could easily heat the mixture then layer on the bottom of a casserole dish. Top with tots and cheese and cook in oven at 375 for 20 – 30 minutes or until tots are crispy and cheese is melted.
How many bags of meat do you use?
Of the frozen meat mixture? You will use one bag for each recipe along with one bag of tater tots. And you will still have one left for another meal later!
Is the over all meal suppose to be dry or runny? The crock pot has been on high for about 4 hours and the tater tots are only brown around the edges of the crockpot. Also the sauce is still bubbling through the tots. Is that the consistency I want?
Sorry, I didn’t catch your comment until now! Hopefully it turned out okay! The tater tots won’t be as crispy as the oven and your sauce will for sure be nice and thick and bubbly. Did you do some tots on bottom and some on top? How did it end up turning out?
Have you ever subbed the tots with hashbrowns?! I have all ingredients except the tots but have Hashbrowns!! Looks awesome!! Do u have more freezer meals to share?? Thank you!!
I haven’t tried it yet but it does kind of sound good! Let me know if you give it a go how it turns out! 🙂
oh, and check out this post for some more freezer meal ideas… http://slowcookergourmet.net/2014/08/18/back-to-school-freezer-friendly-crockpot-meals/
Step 8 says to thaw overnight in the freezer..Should that not be thaw in the refrigerator? I am looking forward to getting this into my freezer and crockpot for a fast dinner on one of those hectic
days when we have dance or gymnastics class.
yes, you’re right! Fixed it, thanks for the catch! 🙂
Looks good enough to try the mailing list.