Potatoes

Potatoes

A quick and easy way to cook a potato is to mash it up, roll it into a little oval and fry it. Boom, you got yourself some tater tots. These little taters can pair with any breakfast, lunch or dinner. If you want some hash browns with your eggs, but don’t want to risk slicing your hand with a shredder, make some tater tots. Your steak fries always end up undercooked? Tater tots. Sick of chips all the time? Tater tots. I think the only meal that cannot be improved by tater tots is soup. But that’s a conversation for another day.

Of course, you can pick up frozen tater tots if you find yourself too busy to mash and roll your own tots. I don’t judge. Either way, they can be the star of the dish or just hang out on the side. You can easily fry them (either air or deep), bake them or put them in the toaster oven. If you decided to buy frozen taters, simply follow the instructions on the back and you got yourself some tots. I personally love my tater tots baked in an oven. They come out nice and crispy.

You can spice up the side dish of tots with a nice cheese dip. Once again, you make your own by melting cheese in a sauce pan and put some spices or jalapenos in to give your tater tots some kick. Obviously, just using some mustard and ketchup can give you a whole new experience with each bite.

These little side dishes can become their own meal in a pinch. These potatoes are simple appetizers for any small gathering. You can wrap up the tots in bacon before cooking them. Cook them together and you have the perfect appetizer or late night snack. Another favorite is to add them to a casserole. Mix up some eggs, peppers, onions, tomatoes, spinach and tater tots into a dish and plop it into the oven. You could pre-cook the tater tots and mash them together to make a crust. The crust can be used for a quiche or a frittata. For dinner, fry up some ground beef and place it at the bottom of a baking dish. Lay some frozen tots on the beef and sprinkle on some cheese. You got yourself a nice comfort meal on a rainy day.

If you don’t want all the carbs that come with potatoes, you can mix it up with cauliflower tots. These healthy alternatives can be a great substitute if you want to start working on the post-quarantine body. Most people sprinkle on some Parmesan cheese on top to cover up the cauliflower flavor. Others just fry the tots in some meat fat, like bacon, to give it more flavor. I might not be willing to try cauliflower tater tots as I am just not a fan of cauliflower in general, but I might try another potato-substitute tot. Maybe a carrot or a turnip tot?

No matter how you eat or cook your tater tots, they will forever be a staple in the world of potatoes.