Homemade Tater Tots: Fact or Fiction?

Who doesn't love tater tots? They are one of my favorite foods. Never mind that they are probably over-processed, full of chemicals, fried, and frozen. They.Are.Awesome. To be honest, if I have the opportunity to eat tater tots, I'm not really concerned with their ingredients and what makes them so good. What I'm concerned about is ordering and eating my freakin' tots..fast! :)

It's kind of rare to see tots on a restaurant menu. I will order them at any and all restaurants that have them on their menu, no matter what. It's definitely not very foodie-like but I don't care!


A few weeks ago, while enjoying some happy-hour adult beverages, Ryan, our friend Thad, and I were discussing Tater Tots and if they could be made at home. A few questions arose from this very serious discussion:

1. How would you go about making a tot?

2. Is it worth it?

3. Is buying the frozen, bagged kind the only way to go?

I've done a little investigating and there isn't a lot of information on how to make Tater Tots. There are Tater Tot casseroles and Tater Tot bakes, and OMG there is such a thing as Maple Bacon Wrapped Tater Tots....but very few homemade tot recipes. And by very few, I'm saying that I only found like two seemingly legit recipes.

So, my good foodie friends, I'm on a quest to find a homemade tot recipe (Or make one up if it comes to that) and make me some tots!

Any thoughts on some good resources? I'm going to consult some cookbooks and do some online sleuthing and see what I find. This is just the beginning, I wanted to get you all involved so this quest can be truly appreciated and hopefully victorious!