These bite-sized, loaded tater tot cups are ready in just 30 minutes! A guaranteed guest favorite at your next game day, BBQ, or party!
Tater tots, cheese, bacon, sour cream, and fresh green onions combine for delicious, loaded tater tot cups! A guaranteed hit with your guests!
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Ingredients
See the recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and quantities.
Tater tots. We are keeping things easy with frozen tater tots! No thawing required. NOTE: We actually found it was easier to warm frozen tots in the oven and then press them into cups than to press thawed tots into a cup form.
Shredded cheddar cheese. Use store-bought shredded or shred your own.
Crispy bacon. Both thin cut and thick cut work great here.
Sour cream and green onions. The finishing touches for amazing loaded potatoes!
If you love fun tater tot recipes, try our delectable Smoked Salmon Tater Tot Bites!
How to make loaded tater tot cups
We use a mini muffin tin to make these a bite-sized appetizer. Add frozen tots to each muffin cup (image 1). Place the pan in the oven to soften the tots and then press the tots down to form a cup (image 2). Add a little shredded cheddar cheese and some crispy, chopped bacon (image 3 & 4).
Bake the tots until the cheese is melted and the tot is crispy and golden brown.
To help prevent the tots from sticking in the muffin tins, remove them from the pans while still hot.
Use a spoon to get the tots out of the tins. While still hot, run the spoon around the outside of the tot, scoop under the tot cup, and lift the cup out of the muffin tin.
Top with sour cream and green onions and serve while hot.
Make ahead and time saving tips
To save time, we like to keep some crispy, cooked bacon on hand to use in recipes, including this one. We cook large batches of bacon in the oven, let it cool, and freeze it in small containers until needed. Cooked bacon can also be refrigerated up to a week.
These easy, loaded tater tot appetizers are a great make ahead option. Bake the tot cups as directed, remove from the muffin tin, let the tot cups cool (do not top with sour cream), and store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. Heat in a 400°F oven until warm and the cheese is melted (8-10 minutes) top with sour cream and green onions and serve.
Equipment
These bite-sized, tater tot appetizers were baked in a mini muffin pan. We baked them in both a metal pan and a silicone pan. They both made a delicious bite with just a few slight differences.
The silicone pan took a little longer to achieve that crispy exterior we wanted in the tots but were a little easier to remove from the pan.
The metal pan will bake tot cups to a golden brown with a nice crispy texture and should be scooped out of the pan using a spoon while still hot.
(The Image below shows tots from both pans. The silicone tots were baked an additional 5 minutes to achieve that crispiness.)
We already mentioned it was easier to warm frozen tots and form them than to use thawed tots. So, what do we use to make a nice cup shape? We found the following items all worked:
- Spoon. Use the back of a small spoon to press the tots around the sides and bottom of the muffin cup. This requires some focus to prevent pressing the tip of the spoon into the tot creating a "line or cut" in the tot.
- Shot glass. Press the bottom of the shot glass into the tots to form the cup. Our least favorite tool since a normal shot glass was a little too large for the mini muffin pans.
- Mini tart shaper. We don't usually like single purpose tools, however, this tart shaper is perfect for pressing the tater tots into the mini muffin pans. There are many different sizes and kinds of tart shapers to choose from. This was our favorite tool for forming our mini tot cups.
Additions and substitutions
Use your favorite cheese here; Colby, Monterey Jack, gruyere, gouda, Swiss, or a smokey cheese like cheddar or gruyere.
Substitute ham, diced chicken, ground beef, or pulled pork for the bacon. Make sure these are all diced small to fit in the bite-sized cups!
Use Greek yogurt instead of sour cream and chives instead of green onions (also called scallions).
Omit the bacon to make these vegetarian. For a vegan appetizer, in addition to removing the bacon, select a vegan cheese that melts. NOTE: if using a vegan cheese, keep an eye on the tots and cover them while baking, if necessary, as vegan cheese usually requires a lower temperature to keep it from burning.
Top with a dash of your favorite hot sauce to add a little kick.
Make a single tot bite!
Follow the same recipe for the tater tot cups but use just one tot in the muffin tin, press flat (it will flatten on the bottom of the muffin cup only - not up the sides), top with cheese and bacon. Bake as directed, remove and top with sour cream. You will have a small bite that is flat instead of a cup. (See images below)
Saving leftovers
The FDA recommends discarding any perishable food that has been out at room temperature for more than 2 hours.
We recommend adding sour cream right before serving, that way if you are within the FDA recommendations, tater tot cups (without the sour cream) will last in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Reheat in a 400°F oven until warm.
We don't recommend saving tot cups that are already topped with sour cream. While they can be stored in the fridge (if within the FDA recommendations) overnight, we prefer serving them hot and they won't reheat well with the sour cream on them.
Some other favorite potato appetizers
Some loaded tot cup FAQs
Unlike our Tater Tot Waffle Bites (which use thawed tots) there is no thawing needed for this loaded tater tot appetizer recipe. We found the tot cups were easier to form when warming a frozen tot until soft than starting with a thawed tot.
This recipe is for a mini, bite-sized, loaded tater tot cup and uses 2 tots per mini muffin cup. However, you can make these a single tot bite (one tot per muffin cup) or make in larger muffin pans (3-4 tots per muffin cup).
The recipe, as written, is not vegetarian since they have bacon. However, this is an easy recipe to make your own, including vegetarian or vegan.
📖 Recipe
Loaded Tater Tot Cups
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 24 cups 1x
Description
These bite-sized, loaded tater tot cups are ready in just 30 minutes! A guaranteed guest favorite at your next game day, BBQ, or party!
Ingredients
- 1 pound tater tots (about 48 tots)
- 4 ounces (1 cup) shredded cheddar cheese
- ½ cup cooked, diced bacon (this is 5-7 slices of bacon)
- 2 ounces (¼ cup) sour cream
- Sliced green onions, for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F.
- Place 2 frozen tots in each cup of the mini muffin pan.
- Place in a preheated oven for 5 minutes or just until the tots are soft and thawed.
- Remove muffin pan from the oven and form the tater tot cups.
To Form Cups: press down on the tater tots forming a cup and pressing the tots together. You can use the bottom of a shot glass, the back of a spoon, or a mini tart shaper. We’ve used all three and they all work. Press down until the tot cup is formed. You don’t want the bottom to be too thin - Top each tater tot cup with shredded cheese and bacon.
- Place muffin pan back in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until the tot cup is crispy, golden brown and the cheese is melted.
- Remove from the oven and gently remove each tater tot cup from the muffin tin. Use a spoon to scoop the cup out if needed.
- Top with sour cream and green onions and serve hot.
Notes
When forming the tot cups, be careful not to make the bottom of the tot cup too thin by pressing down too much. You want the tater tot cup to be sturdy enough to hold all the toppings without falling apart. Our favorite tool for forming the cups is the mini tart shaper. See post above for more information on tools.
To make ahead of time, bake the tot cups, remove from the muffin pan (do NOT top them with sour cream), and let them cool. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator up to 4 days. Reheat in a 400°F oven until hot and cheese is melted, 8-10 minutes. Top and serve
Keep cooked bacon on hand for recipes calling for cooked bacon or to top salads and other recipes. Store in the freezer up to 4 months or in the refrigerator up to a week.
We don't recommend saving loaded tater tot cups (those topped with sour cream). We like serving the loaded tot cups hot and the sour cream won't reheat well.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Appetizer
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 tot cup
- Calories: 82
- Sugar: 0.3 g
- Sodium: 174.5 mg
- Fat: 6.5 g
- Carbohydrates: 3.3 g
- Protein: 2.4 g
- Cholesterol: 10.1 mg
Rhonda says
These are SO GOOD! Easy to eat loaded tots - what's not to love! Plus easy to follow instructions for making the tater tot cups.
Rhonda says
So glad you liked these!
Mike says
I love potato skins, but really hate doing all the work for them, and this scratched that potato-skin-itch for me without having to do all that prep! Crunchy, tasty, and easy to make a whole lot of them.
Rhonda says
We're with you on not missing all the prep for the potato skins but loving the flavors. Glad this scratched your potato-skin-itch!