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This simple one skillet French Onion Tater Tot Casserole is the perfect pantry staple recipe to make any time of year. It’s a cross between french onion soup and a classic midwest style tater tot casserole. Slowly caramelized onions, white wine, vegetables, and beef or chicken…all cooked together in one skillet. Then topped off with plenty of cheese, tater tots, and fresh herbs. Simply toss the skillet in the oven to create the perfect cheesy, one skillet dinner. There’s nothing not to love. This dish is easy, takes just about an hour to make, is cheesy, heavy on the potatoes, and all-around delicious!
You guys, this quarantine cooking is getting, well…it’s getting interesting. The honest truth? I have mixed feelings about this recipe. Yes, this is delicious, it’s hearty, it’s cozy, it’s easy, and it’s full of pantry and freezer staples. It’s is THE “quarantined” dinner.
But? It’s also not my usual style of cooking. Or at least not the usual type of recipe I share here on HBH. When my brothers are in Colorado, I cook them their favorites…chicken noodle casserole, potato chip chicken, and basically all the old school Gerard family childhood favorites of our midwest roots. However, I don’t usually share these recipes. But times are a little different right now. I know everyone is in the same boat…cooking with what we’ve got on hand. Using pantry staples and creating simple but delicious recipes for our families during this time.
And that’s where this casserole comes into the story. A week or so ago, I shared on my Instagram stories that I had a bag of frozen tater tots in my freezer. Immediately our Instagram direct messages were flooded with requests for tater tot recipes. And the most requested?
A classic tater tot casserole, also known as tater tot hot dish. Soooo…this is my spin. And although I’m nervous to share it…it is different, it’s also so delicious. My oldest brother, Creighton, a tater tot loving kind of guy fully approves. So you know this is good.
The details on this one skillet french onion tater tot casserole…
As always, step one is finding yourself a great skillet. This is the exact matte black one I am using in these photos. But as I’ve mentioned before, it also comes in this pretty blue color. I love the slightly larger and deeper eleven-inch skillet, but any oven-safe skillet will work great for this recipe. And if you don’t have an oven-safe skillet, just cook everything on the stove, then transfer the food to a baking dish. Use what you’ve got and make it work!
Start with the onions. They need to be deeply caramelized, just as you do when making French onion soup. My secret to the best caramelized onions…butter. And in today’s case…some dry white wine too.
The butter is used for obvious reasons – fat, flavor, and deliciousness. The wine is pretty traditional in most French onion soups, so I wanted to carry those flavors over into this casserole. You’ll cook about half of the wine into the onions. This not only helps the onions to caramelize quickly and evenly, it also infuses the onions with incredibly rich flavor.
If you prefer not to cook with wine, I recommend using about half a cup of apple juice or apple cider when caramelizing the onions. If you don’t have either of those, use broth. As for the remaining amount of wine (another half cup), use chicken or vegetable broth.
Once the onions have caramelized, push them to one side of the pan, add the meat, bell pepper (or mixed frozen vegetables), garlic, and seasonings. Allow the meat to brown, then add the remaining wine and a splash the soy sauce. The soy sauce may seem odd, but just trust me on this, it adds a layer of salty savory flavor.
Next, add a touch of flour, this helps thicken the sauce and make it almost gravy-like.
Remove from the heat and top the skillet with cheese, preferably Gruyere, which makes this similar in flavor to the classic bowl of french onion soup. If you don’t have Gruyere, use Swiss, cheddar, mozzarella, or whatever else you’ve got on hand. All cheese is delicious.
Onto the tater tots.
Here’s the KEY to this dish. I knew that if I was going to cook tater tots, they needed to be extra crispy, not soft and soggy.
So, first…keep those tots frozen until the directions say to place them over top of the cheese.
Second…you need to add that layer of cheese over the meat before adding the tots. The cheese acts as a barrier between the sauce and the tots preventing the tots from getting soggy.
At this point transfer the skillet to the oven, bake until the tater tots are golden. Remove and add the remaining cheese. About fifteen minutes later, you’ll have tater tot casserole with extra crispy, cheesy tater tots sizzling away on op.
It. Is. Good.
And that’s it. Simple right? This dish smells incredible as it bakes away in the oven, but it tastes even better.
The toppings.
This brings me right to the toppings, which I actually kept kind of simple. But sometimes simple is really all you need.
I topped this cheesy bake with fresh chives and thyme. That’s it, I know, it’s shocking, but tater tots are not fancy food, so you know? I skipped the fancy toppings and it’s OK.
What’s great about this one skillet cheesy tater tot casserole is that it incorporates a variety of flavors and textures. Yet it’s all made simply in ONE skillet, using all pantry staple ingredients.
Well, almost all pantry staples. If you don’t have a fresh bell pepper on hand, use a mix of frozen vegetables. Or anything from your fridge that you need to use up.
My only suggestion? Add a fun cocktail to livin’ up your Thursday night. This blueberry lemon thyme smash from last week is my current pick.
Looking for other skillet and or casserole dinners? I have a few to pick from….
One Skillet Saucy Chicken Tortilla Enchilada Rice Bake
One Skillet Cheesy Cuban Chicken and Rice Bake
Broccoli Cheddar Chicken and Rice Casserole
Lastly, if you make this one skillet french onion tater tot casserole, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
One Skillet French Onion Tater Tot Casserole
Servings: 6
Calories Per Serving: 855 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons salted butter
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2-3 medium yellow onions, thinly sliced
- 1 cup dry white wine, such as Pinot Grigio or Sauvignon Blanc
- 1 pound lean ground turkey, chicken, or beef
- 2 cloves garlic, minced or grated
- 2 red bell peppers, chopped (or 16 ounces mixed frozen vegetables)
- 2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves (or 2 teaspoons dried thyme)
- 2 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley (or 2 teaspoons dried parsley)
- kosher salt and black pepper
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour or gluten-free flour blend
- 1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper using more or less to your taste
- 1 cup shredded Gruyere cheese
- 2 pounds frozen tater tots
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- fresh chives, for topping (optional)
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.2. In a large oven safe skillet, melt the butter, olive oil, and onions together. Cook, stirring occasionally until softened, about 5 minutes. At this point, you want to slowly add 1/2 cup of the wine, 1/4 cup at a time, until the wine cooks into the onions. Continue to cook another 8-10 minutes until you've used the 1/2 cup of wine and the onions are deeply caramelized. Push the onions to the side of the pan and stir in the meat, bell pepper, garlic, thyme, parsley, cayenne, and season with salt and pepper. Cook, breaking up the meat as it cooks, another 5 minutes until the meat is browned. Stir in the flour and cook another minute. Add the remaining 1/2 cup wine, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and 1 cup of water. Bring to a boil and simmer until thickened 3-5 minutes. 3. Remove from the heat and sprinkle the Gruyere cheese overtop the meat. Arrange the tater tots on top of the cheese. Transfer to the oven and bake 20 minutes, until the tots are golden. Sprinkle the cheddar over the tater tots, return to the oven. Bake another 10-15 minutes, until the cheese is melted.4. Serve topped as desired with fresh thyme and chives.
Notes
To Make Vegetarian: Instead of using 1 pound of meat, use 3 cups of finely chopped mushrooms (can be any variety or a mix of varieties) plus 1 cup of finely chopped cauliflower (or use an additional cup of mushrooms). Sauté the vegetables as directed to do so for the meat. The cooking times should be very similar, if not the same.
This post was originally published on April 30, 2020
I made this tonight for dinner and everyone loved it! I substituted mushrooms for the meat to make it vegetarian. It took more flour than in the recipe to thicken it, so next time I’ll reduce or omit the water. Thank you for sharing one of your family recipes. I’m sure it will become one of my family’s favorite too! Stay healthy and safe!
I am so glad you enjoyed this one, Kara! Thank you so much for trying it! xTieghan
Very good. Everyone loved it!
Thank you so much Barbara! xTieghan
You wrote that you had a little “back and forth” on sharing this recipe and I am so happy you did. I have a hefty Lodge skillet that was the perfect home. Go with your gut…substance always outlasts style.
Great post this week.
Thank you so much Darren! I am really glad you like this recipe and I hope you try it! xTieghan
This was delicious. We are vegetarian and I am the only one in the family who likes mushrooms so I used the onions, 2 red peppers and a 12 oz. package of cauliflower crumbles for the bottom layer. (They hate cauliflower too but they thought it was extra shredded potatoes. Ha ha.) I used Gruyere for the middle later and then shredded mozzarella for the top layer. Thank you for the vegetarian tater tot casserole I’ve been looking for!
This was delicious. We are vegetarian and I am the only one in the family who likes mushrooms so I used the onions, 2 red peppers and a 12 oz. package of cauliflower crumbles for the bottom layer. (They hate cauliflower too but they thought it was extra shredded potatoes. Ha ha.) I used Gruyere for the middle later and then shredded mozzarella for the top layer. Thank you for vegetarian tater tot casserole I’ve been looking for!
Hi Kristi! I am really glad this turned out so well for you! Thank you so much for trying it! xTieghan
This was perfect comfort food for a quarantine & rainy day. Absolutely delicious. We made the vegetarian version with mushrooms, a bag of cauliflower rice, and added baby spinach leaves. Subbed mozzarella for the gruyere and used cheddar for the top layer. Worked perfectly.
Amazing! I am so glad you enjoyed this recipe, Meg! xTieghan
Passionate about tater tots! I love all of your recipes, because they are so innovative yet something I could see myself making. This looks delicious and comforting and the tatertots remind me of my childhood lol
Aw that is amazing to hear! I hope you love this recipe if you get a chance to try it! xTieghan
Hello!
This may sound a crazy question, but do you think it could work with gnocchi, instead? Tater tots don’t exist in Portugal and I don’t think I’m ready to make them from scratch. But also I never had them, so I don’t know if gnocchi is similar or waaaaay too different and not usable here…
Thank you!
Hi Sofia,
I haven’t tested this and it would be obviously more of a pasta dish, but I don’t see why not! I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
This look delicious is a fab idea especially to use up the little bits of delicious things left in my fridg (little bits of cheese, herbs, scallions..)
Gonna try this this weekend!
Amazing! I hope this turns out well for you Shaunda! Thank you! xTieghan
I think we are all cooking a little out of our norm right now, this looks delicious and comfort food is never a bad idea. Thanks for all your great recipes and inspiration and your photos are amazing. Somehow my food never quite looks like yours at the table lol but it sure is good.
HAha I am sure it looks amazing Sherri! Thank you so much! I hope you continue to enjoy my recipes! xTieghan
Do you have a suggestion to make this vegetarian by leaving out the meat and substituting something else?
Hi Colette,
Yes, you can find that info in the notes section of the recipe!
To Make Vegetarian: Instead of using 1 pound of meat, use 3 cups of finely chopped mushrooms (can be any variety or a mix of varieties) plus 1 cup of finely chopped cauliflower (or use an additional cup of mushrooms). Sauté the vegetables as directed to do so for the meat. The cooking times should be very similar, if not the same.
I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
? more like this. Love your recipes in general, but excited to see a new spin on an old favorite. On the menu soon, it’s perfect as is.
Thank you so much Joyce! I hope this turns out amazing for you! xTieghan
When I saw French onion and tater tots, I would be on it in a heart beat. But, I would just make extra onions and cheese – no meat. I’m not a vegetarian, but I eat a lot that way.
However, I don’t know how it happened, being my sons and all, but neither likes them! It’s sad ?
I hope you do try these without meat, Carol! And neither of them like tater tots?! Cant imagine haha! xTieghan
Any other vegetarians out there? Tieghan’s recipes are pretty easy to vegetarianize with tofu, chickpeas or extra veg. What do you think for this one? Love tots! Thanks again.
Hi Lori! I have not tried it with tofu, but I am sure it will work great if you break it up into crumbles… kind of like a ground meat. Let me know if you try it! xTieghan
yum
Thank you Ruth! xTieghan