Bacon Wrapped Tater Tot Bombs
The most amazing tater tots ever, baked to crisp bacon-perfection. It’s so good, you’ll want to double or triple the recipe!
I have been sick with the flu for the past couple of days, feeling extremely fatigued without any kind of appetite. That’s when Jason offered to cook me breakfast, my favorite meal of the day, except all we had was bacon, cheese and tater tots. But before I could even think about ordering breakfast delivery, I just knew I had to make these tater tot bombs I’ve been seeing all over Pinterest.
And yes. The name definitely lives up to its hype. These tater tot bombs are, well, bomb. No joke. Now I haven’t used the word “bomb” since middle school but hey – that word describes these perfectly. And these tater tots may even have some epic powers because after eating about 20 of these, my flu magically went away.
Flu or not, I’ll still be making these weekly. I just have to remember to double the recipe because these are very hard to share!
Bacon Wrapped Tater Tot Bombs
Ingredients
- 2 cups frozen tater tots, at room temperature
- 1 ounce sharp cheddar cheese, cut into 1/4-inch squares
- 4 slices bacon, quartered
- ¼ cup brown sugar, packed
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley leaves
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat; set aside.
- Working one at a time, wrap each tater tot and cheese square in a piece of bacon. Repeat with remaining tater tots, cheese squares and bacon pieces. Dredge each tater tot in the brown sugar, pressing to coat.
- Place tater tots seam side down onto the prepared baking sheet. Place into oven and bake for 20-25 minutes, using metal tongs to turn at halftime.
- Serve immediately, garnished with parsley, if desired.
Did you make this recipe?
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I had problems. I got the tots to room temp, but needed a toothpick to hold the cheese to the tots. The bacon had to be cut into thirds, to be able to wrap around the tots. Laying them flat on the seam as described, had the cheese melt all over the pan in the first batch. I stood the second batch up with the cheese on top and they turned out better, but nothing like the picture. They were a little ugly, but they did turn out tasty. You apparently want the leanest bacon you can get, so you need to spend on the really good stuff or cut your own.
i made these for a class with this recipe back in 2018 in high school and they turned out perfectly and i got an A+ and i’ve been thinking about them since. it’s been 4 years
These are finger licking deliciousness. We love them.
My sister made this once years ago and they’ve had a special place in my heart(tummy?) ever since. I decided to try to find the recipe and make it myself, and here’s what I’ve found:
The sugar didn’t really want to stick to the bacon, even with pressing, and I loved how sweet my sister’s were. I’d recommend coating the bacon first, and coating both sides- if you like sweet like me.
I also placed my square of cheese in the middle of the bacon, and it ended up keeping the cheese on top to help lessen the chance of the cheese oozing out. I think if I let the tots completely thaw, I would have been able to actually stuff the tot with the cheese but that might’ve made it break. Who knows.
Overall, turned out great. Just can’t seem to get on my sister’s level.. yet!
Best I have ever had
I made this as a side dish for dinner but after reading reviews and instructions I decided to go less “fancy” and more with the “busy everyday woman” mentality when making this dish. I precooked the bacon, coated a casserole dish with cooking spray and lined frozen tater tots inside and cooked them according to their directions. Once they were done I crumbled bacon over them and sprinkled with cheese and put back in oven to melt. Easy and delicious for an every day kind of dish.
I did the same thing. Bacon at 400F for 19min.
Full bag Tater Tots 450 for 20min.
Sprinkle on cheese, sprinkle on bacon, more cheese, sprinkle on some dark brown sugar, warm for 10min at 200F.
I was concerned that these would be greasy so I baked them on a rack and the grease dripped down which worked nicely, but the cheese also dripped out. If the cheddar drips weren’t soaked in grease, they would have been a tasty snack too. Maybe next time I will use my broiler pan so the grease will have a place to go but hopefully the cheese will puddle around the tot. Overall they were a hit, but I wasted some nice cheddar.
I love these little gems. I’ve made them a few times now and they’re so addictive.
First time I made them the tots were a little too mushy for my liking, so I now par-bake them at 400 for 10 minutes or so before assembling and wrapping. As the tots cool, I cut up the cheese squares. I use an aluminum pan lined with a silpat mat. I find that thinner bacon (Oscar Mayer Hardwood Smoked) works best, and a thin coat of brown sugar. Par-baking the tots allows the bacon to get a little crispier. An extra step, but they’re already so easy!
I made these today for a Christmas breakfast at work. I used pepper jack cheese as some other reviewers suggested. Fabulous recipe! Turned out perfect! They were such a hit everyone in the office asked for the recipe!
In the video it did not look like a quarter portion of bacon that you wrapped the tot in, looked like the whole strip.
Jane, the ingredient list indicates 4 slices bacon, quartered, just as the video. 🙂
Hello
This recipe sounds AMAZING.
I cannot wait to try it
Do you think I could use pre-cooked bacon to make these?
It should be fine but without further recipe testing, we cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment regarding substitutions and modifications.
Can you make these ahead of time and keep warm in a crock pot on low???
What a great idea! But unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment when making substitutions and modifications.
A fun and easy recipe! I think it’s a good snack for the super bowl!
i cant believe i was looking up ideas for some good new years eve munchies and came across this tater tot recipe. Couple years ago me and a gal pal smoked a bit of herb and ended up in the kitchen with severe munchies. i had a bag of tots in freezer and bacon in fridge, i decided to be creative and got the fry daddy out and decided to wrap a tot with half strip of bacon and nail it together with a toothpick. so we threw a couple in fryer and we ended standing in kitchen eating whole bag they were so darn good. its a twist on this sites recipe less work, just have to make sure you dont over cook or bacon becomes too hard. 3 min worked perfect for me. I thought i invented this munchie, we even decided to name them PHAT ANGIES. my galpals name is Angie. anyway funny story. ENJOY FOLKS
Could the cheese be left out or will the bacon not stick to the tater tot without it? Thank you very much – I can’t wait to try these!
Yes, the cheese can be omitted.
Can you make these ahead of time and freeze
Unfortunately, I cannot answer this with certainty as I have never tried freezing this myself. Please use your best judgment for freezing and reheating.
I have always done this recipe with frozen tots and it works fine. I’m not very good with following recipes as I usually just use them for the temperature. I believe you should use your best judgement on bacon and cheese. I have never measured either use your best judgement and they come out perfectly. Also using guacamole and salsa with this really makes it the bomb! Like a few others, I took out the sugar..
What do you mean frozen tater tots at room temperature? Am I supposed to thaw out the tots?
That’s exactly right!
We found that 1/4 piece of bacon wouldn’t begin to wrap around the tater tot, unless you mean to slice it the long way into 4 pieces, which would be pretty difficult. I am amazed that more people didn’t have a problem with this. See “Jeansgirl’s” comment. Also it was not clear that the cheese was not 1/4″ cubes, but 1/4″ squares from a “slice” of cheese. My husband thought this sounded good and was the one trying to do this. I think the bacon would be easier if it was at room temp, as someone else commented, and the tater tots not all the way thawed. We may try to make this again. We are currently in the process of making these, so they haven’t been baked yet. Hope they are as good as everyone says!
Can this be done without the aid of an oven? Like, can I fry it on a pan over a stove instead? Currently in college, and I don’t exactly own an oven here, so… please help!
Unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment regarding substitutions and modifications.
I made these and they were terrific. These comments are hilarious.
These were terrible. The tots just turned to mush. And they completely stick to parchment paper so you can’t unstick them. A complete waste of time and ingredients.
My daughter in law made just plain bacon and tots for years and now I make them for the grandchildren and husband. They disappear as fast as they come out of the oven. This will be a great change to our tot menu and look forward to trying these real soon! Thanks for adding these to our recipes.
These do look good. I might even make them ‘popper’ like by adding fresh or pickled jalapeno slices. Looking forward to trying these. Thanks!
I have to say I am glad I found this recipe. My kids and I made it together and it was a huge hit! We had to repeat the next day. Kudos on the recipe!
Omg! Whhhyyyy did I see this on Pinterest AFTER I decided to take a break from eating red meat AND potatoes!
I seriously don’t think there’s a single recipe of yours that I’ve made that hasn’t been outstanding!! I haven’t tried this one yet, but tater tots and bacon…phenomenal.
Also, I’ve shared this on my Super Bowl Recipe Roundup: http://karylskulinarykrusade.com/recipe-roundup-super-bowl/
I’ve made these in a somewhat different variety for some time, but these ALWAYS turn out perfect. What could go wrong? I mean, seriously… it’s BACON!
One thing I did chuckle about was this part of the instructions…
“2 cups frozen tater tots, at room temperature”
“FROZEN… at ROOM TEMPERATURE.” Now I’m not sure about MOST people, but i sure don’t keep my kitchen at below 32* LOL. Great recipe. And BTW… the PF CHANG Chicken Lettuce Wraps are PERFECT. An incredible amount of flavor. Thanks for all the recipes! ~~ Rob
I made these for the first time today. My only suggestion to add to your recipe is to make sure the bacon is also at room temp when you start. I had to use my hands to stretch each piece of cold bacon to have enough to go all the way around the tot. Otherwise these are simple to make and it’s great to use all different kinds of cheeses to make everyone happy!
Can these be prepped ahead of time?
Yes, absolutely.
I really had a struggle making these….trying to wrap 1/4 piece of bacon around a soft tater tot and a small cube of cheese just didn’t work…the bacon piece wasn’t long enough and unfortunately I had cut i all into fourths. There must be some trick you have to make them come out so well. Because i had committed to bringing these, it tok me almost an hour to get enough done to take…
There’s really no trick – simply wrap and bake. That’s it! It doesn’t have to look perfect either – everyone will still gobble these up without any hesitation! 🙂
I made these and they were very tasty. But the tater tot kind of fell apart, they weren’t crispy. Are you suppose to cook them first?
There’s no need to cook them beforehand. Perhaps the tots were undercooked?
So do you stuff the cheese square into the middle of the tater tot and then wrap with bacon?
Yes, that’s exactly right.
Don’t know what I did wrong…I believe I followed the directions to the tee. But the cheese just melted, oozed out, and burned in the bacon grease. I had to cut the tater bombs out of the molten lava….. they still tasted good but certainly KY don’t look like yours! Any suggestions?
Perhaps the cheese was just too big for the tot? Even if the cheese were to completely melt, it should not be oozing out. I recommend using very small pieces of cheese. Hope that helps!
Can these be made ahead and can you freeze them?
Unfortunately, I cannot answer this with certainty as I have never tried freezing this myself – there were no leftovers left to freeze! Please use your best judgment for freezing and reheating.
Do you think this would turn out on a grill instead of baking?
Unfortunately, without having tried this myself, I can’t really say with certainty. Please use your best judgment.
Help I wanna make these for a Halloween party, can u make them ahead like 6 hrs. before there served. How would I prep them. They look so delicious, plan help me
I actually have not tried making this ahead of time but I would imagine it would be best to wrap the tots in bacon and cheese, and then set them aside in the fridge until ready to use. Hope that helps!
it reads like you are to wrap bacon around trots and cheese cubes individually. Are tots thawed? Is tot and cheese combined somehow?
Yes, the tots should be brought to room temperature. From there, you can wrap each tot and cheese square with the bacon.
Chungah, This note is for you and not for publication. How do you do it? So many of these post/questions have already been answered in the recipe and earlier post. You have the patience of a saint, I realize these are all spread over a period of time, but still. I haven’t had the opportunity to try this recipe yet, but when I do, I promise not to critique it and write in with obnoxious and rude comments. I believe recipes are sometimes used as building blocks to other dishes or appetizers. Like maybe one could take and use hash browns, or just plain grated potatoes, ¼ inch strips of bacon, chopped artichokes, diced sweet onions and maybe either pimento or chopped red peppers, all sautéed together, and topped with grated parmesano regiano, right before service as a side dish. You could lead the dish whichever way you want to go with whatever seasoning you wanted to utilize.
Do you think this recipe would still be as good if I substituted regular bacon with turkey bacon?
I have not tried it myself but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work!
Okay great, I will give it a try! Thanks!
We made these over the weekend for Happy Hour without cheese and they were delicious. I had made the “crack dip” that is all over Pinterest for another snack and dipped the bombs in it, out of this world combo, still thinking about how good the combination was, like eating a twice baked potato…..awesome!!
These look amazing! I intend to try these sometime this week while my boyfriend is off from work, so he can help me in the kitchen! I will try to make it back for comments on the finished product.
BTW, sharing your potentially negative experiences is fine, but don’t automatically blame the recipe, please. As you can clearly see, several commenters have had success, as well as the original recipe poster. So the recipe clearly works; if it doesn’t work for you, consider why. What changes, if any, did you make? Is your oven temp consistent? Did you use foil or nonstick spray on your pan? Mention these things, mention that it didn’t work for you, but remember that cooking is an experiment. It might not always work for you, but that doesn’t mean the base recipe is a fail.
Sarah, Thank you, thank you, thank you. While the greatest proportion of the comments have been positive, there have been several that cast doubt on the viability of the recipe itself which makes no sense whatsoever. How could so many have such a wonderful experience, while a handful fail? It leaves the writer at both a disadvantage and a loss for words, while the failure was on the part of the home cook who simply either didn’t follow the easy step-by-step instructions or there was some sort of equipment failure, neither of which was the fault of the host, yet she was being berated for it. People need to think before they blast others for their shortcomings.
I tried this and nothing crisped because it was so greasy. I used wax paper instead of parchment paper but I drained off a half cup of grease before we tried to eat them. The whole thing was just very mushy. Has anybody else had this problem? If so, how did you fix it?
Sue, I recommend using aluminum foil for next time.
your directions were easy to follow,and I had to laugh at some of the commentsas if they were first time cooks lol. they are definitely the bomb so deliciousand thank you for sharing such an easy recipe
I would use frozen tater tots as I used thawed ones and I think they are much easier to wrap when frozen.
I was thinking the same thing..how did yours turn out..do you remember..? (just noticed the date)..hahaha..
Hello,
I live in Australia and we don’t have tater tots here, I’m assuming they are what we call potato gems which are like little nuggets of grated potato, sort of like mini hash browns. Does this sound a similar product to your tater tots?
I have cooked quite a few of your recipes so far and they are all tasty and easy!
Yes, that’s exactly right!
these are good but my cheese melts out a lot & the tots have a tendency to fall apart. Really though.
Malone, perhaps it would be best to decrease the amount of cheese or omit it altogether.
I made these and they’re sooooo good! I would suggest going light on the brown sugar though or even leaving it out completely as, at least for my tastes, it can make it too sweet and overpower the flavor of everything else.
I made these for an office party (200 pieces of yummy goodness) I added jalapeno to half, along with the cheese (for those that wanted a little spiciness in their lives) Packed them in a couple of Tupperware containers – nuked them for maybe a minute – just to warm. They were gone in a flash! Needless to say, this has become one of my go to snacks – soooo yummy.
Has anyone tried making this with Turkey bacon?
I really would like to try this because they look amazing, but would need to use turkey bacon but not sure if it would work. Thanks ☺
OMG! I made these this weekend for something fun, and they were a hit. I made them as is! Delicious. Now I’m thinking of some variations I can do w/ them. Easy to make. No toothpicks needed, which I loved. Great snacks!!! Very rich! Great recipe!
Just made these, I think my husband has fallen in love with me all over again. He keeps moaning, it’s a little graphic, actually. And my 4 year old has just informed me, urgently, that I need to make more. Yum!
I hosted a party tonight, and I made and served these. HUGE HUGE HIT! Seriously they were gobbled up in minutes and every guest asked for the recipe! Thanks!
My boys and I tried these tonight and they are amazing. There’s a wonderful burst of different flavors that come together very nicely in one bite. Can’t wait to make them for other family members. Thanks
I want to bring these to an office party. Do these travel well? If so, how will I keep them warm, or is that necessary?
These are really best when served immediately, although I personally didn’t mind them when they were cold. And yes, if you stack these in some tupperware, they should travel just fine.
I used 2 lbs of tots, 1/2 lb of cheese, 1 1/2 lbs of bacon and added fresh jalapenos with the cheese and it made 80 for a Super Bowl party and there were NONE left!
Made these last night for the Superbowl party and they were gone before the game even started! What a fantastic recipe – thanks for sharing this! I had so many compliments from everyone who attended – and it sounds like I’ll be stuck making these at every family gathering for the foreseeable future!
These were awesome on Super Bowl Sunday. Just a tip, I pre-cooked the bacon in the oven, let cool and cut in half in advance. Since this was the first time making them I thought It would give the best results for crispy bacon. I will make again.
I started off Super Bowl Sunday by making these delicious treats! My husband Gary said they were the best thing he ever had! I used Ore Ida Crispy Crowns, Sargento Double Cheddar Natural Blends slices and Hormel Black Label Brown Sugar thick cut bacon. The trick is to thaw the tater tot in the fridge but don’t let them get too warm on the counter or they will fall apart during construction. Have everything set up, including scissors to cut the bacon into perfect lengths. I pre-cut two slices of cheese to fit on top of the tater tots, and pulled off 6 strips of bacon to have ready to cut-to-fit the tater tots. I placed one piece of cheese on the tater tot and then wrapped the tater tot with a small cut of a bacon strip that would fold over to the bottom. I hand-patted the brown sugar onto the rolls instead of trying to roll the delicate potatoes into the sugar. They baked up perfectly on parchment paper after about 20 minutes and my husband nearly had an orgasm after his first bite. After 30 years together, this was my easiest sex act ever!
I just made these for the Super Bowl. It definitely took more than a quarter of a slice of bacon. The cheese melted all over the pan and some if it burned and stuck to the pan. I followed the directions exactly. They were good but not sure they were worth the cost or the work of cleaning the mess up.
Debbie, you may have used too much cheese for each tot, causing that big mess. The recipe specifically calls for 1/4-inch squares. It may also be best to line your pan with foil or parchment paper for easy clean-up.
that was soooo worth the effort, delisiouso, Will be doing that for football games and camping
fourth of July and every other occasion I can think of , thank you so much for sharing, great ideas to try other cheeses as wELL BUT SO GOOD JUST YOUR WAY tHANKS AGAIN.We are eating these right now for Super Bowl, made a great treat
Potato bomb is EXACTLY what they are BOMB…. They ended up in the trash . Cheese is a waste, melts all out.. Then burns. Tried several batches and got 1 batch that kinda worked. They fell apart , burnt, or bacon not cooked , hashbrowns too mush to turn halfway cause if you try they fall apart . Kept trying to find the problem .EVEN my hubby that likes everything said they didn’t have that great of taste . Went to super bowl party with nothing to pass because even the ones that kinda turned out were just so so, not that great of a taste and wouldn’t put my name on them. The trash can is where they ended up. Waste of time, money and food. Never again! I’m not very pleased right now because all that’s left is a mess to clean up from trying. Don’t try these if you smart.
Tam, I’m sorry that this didn’t turn out for you but instead of blaming the recipe, please remember that there are many factors at play here. First off, the recipe calls for tater tots, not hashbrowns. Secondly, the recipe also calls for diced cheese. Perhaps you used a different kind of cheese or too much cheese? If substitutions are made or if the recipe is not followed as written, the results can be mediocre.
That being said, I hope you get to try this super easy recipe again with stellar results because it really is “the bomb”!
I added a piece of jalapeno, added to the deliciousness!!
I want to make these for a Superbowl party in my only question is can I make them Saturday night and keep them in the fridge and then pop them in the oven Sunday
Yes, that should be fine.
I’m madly in love with these! Since I made them for the first time, I’ve been making them ALL the time! Mmmmmmmmmmmm
Can you use sweet potato tater tot for this recipe?
I haven’t tried it myself but I don’t see why it would be an issue.
I JUST made them with sweet potato tots and they were great. I used Havarti cheese and it did melt all over the pan. We all agreed that the cheese was unnecessary. They were super delicious!
I made these for “girls nite” on Friday and they were a huge hit! I had a different recipe that called for stuffing the tot with cheese. DISASTER!! I gave up and just put the cheese and the tot together and wrapped the bacon around it as you suggest. It worked fine. Yes some cheese oozes out but you definately still taste cheese in these little bites of goodness, I also found the pre sliced cheese to be easier than cubed. My only problem was the brown sugar not sticking to the bacon. I eventually gave up rolling them and just pressed the sugar on top while they were on the baking sheet. Worked out fine.
Baking with a toothpick definatly helps hold the bacon in place and leaves a little handle to grab them off the dish to pop them in your mouth when they are done. I love them!
All my tots exploded in the oven. Had them out and they were at room temperature so I have no idea how they all exploded.
I’m not entirely sure how that coulld happen! Maybe your oven is super hot?!
OH EHM GEE!!! Why oh why have I not seen these until now??? So totally going on the menu the next time I have friends over!! They will be devoured before I can even put them on the serving tray!!
I made this recipe today and although delicious, I had issues with the directions. 2 cups of tater tots yielded me 26 and 4 slices of bacon quartered would have yielded 16 pieces. So already there were issues with quantity but then I quickly discovered that a quarter of a slice of bacon didn’t wrap around a tater tot much less with a piece of cheese. I ended up using small sticks of cheese rather than cubes and thirds of a slice of bacon rather than quarters.
In the end I ended up with 15 tater tot bombs as I had 5 slices of bacon to begin with. The cheese completely melted out onto the pan so I am not sure how much stayed in the bombs. Since I had a bunch of extra thawed tater tots I just cooked them on the same pan.
I would make these again in the future because they were delicious but I would have to experiment with the technique and measurements.
Pia, 2 cups is simply an estimate as I know that some people will not take the time to count out their tater tots. Also, if your bacon is super thick, a quarter-slice will not be sufficient. But with a package of bacon and a bag of tater tots, there’s plenty of room to experiment!
Have you tried this with the lil smokie hot dogs? Same thing just no cheese..wrap them in bacon stick a toothpick in them and pour brown sugar and bake.. amazing!
Can you make these ahead of time and refrigerate?
Yes, that should work just fine.
Great, thank you!!
I just wanted to share something that worked well for me… I took the slice of bacon I cut and pressed it in the brown sugar, placed it sugar side down on my cutting board, took my tiny slice of cheese, placed it in the middle of the bacon slide, placed the tater tot on top and wrapped it. It was truly an easy and amazing recipe! Thank you for your wonderful recipes 🙂
I was disappointed that all the cheese melted onto the pan. Great recipe idea, any recommendations what to do with the cheese? Is it needed?
Thanks!
I love all your recipes on-line, keeping creating!
How much cheese did you use? It’s best to use cut cheese rather than shredded since the latter can become really messy!
I found this on Pinterest, and pinned it for a Christmas appetizer. Well, we forgot to make them Christmas day, so we decided to try them last night. What an epic failure! And I am a really good cook. They stuck to the foil so when I tried to turn them, they got squished. Half the bacon was under cooked and half was over cooked. It was truly, one of those epic – Pinterest fail – moments. But yours just look perfect!! 🙂
Oh no – I am so sorry to hear about your Pinterest fail! Although I would shy away from using aluminum foil. It’s really best to use nonstick spray, or even parchment paper.
Good to know, I missed that in the instructions. I was about to grab the parchment, but usually use foil to bake bacon so I wrongly assumed it would work. Thank you!
I made these last Christmas. The recipe I had called for cutting a hole in the tater tot and inserting the cheese. I found out that trying to cut a hole in a thawed-out tater tot meant a lot of mooshed up mess! So I tried cutting holes in half-frozen tots, and while that wasn’t easy either, it did help a bit. Then I wrapped in bacon, rolled around in brown sugar, inserted a toothpick, and baked on a cookie sheet, seam-side down. Then I transported them to Christmas dinner in a pre-warmed glass baking dish. Once at our dinner, I transferred these to a chafing dish to keep them warm but not hot. I also had a side of BBQ sauce for dipping. Needless to say, they went over BIG TIME and were completely gone in less than an hour. I want to make them again this year, and I think I will try just wrapping the cheese this time instead of inserting it. However, if you are serving these as an appetizer at a dinner party, I highly recommend the use of a chafing dish (if you can find or borrow one). That worked REALLY well for keeping them warm but not making them sogged-out or over-baked. I’m afraid a crock pot would make them too soggy and/or over-baked, and they really aren’t as good served at room temp!!
Ok, my husband is away this week. I would love to give these a test run but I simply KNOW it will end badly – READ: I’ll eat them all in a sitting!! However, I will give them a try next week with family so the decadence can be spread out amongst us. Thanks for the idea!!
I made this for very picky eaters at a pot luck. they were gone in moments! Who doesnt love potatoes and bacon and cheese? They need toothpicks in them during baking.
Chungah, thank you for sharing this most awesome taste explosion! I like to mess around with tastes and have found a couple fav’s with the cheese. First switch was to the jalepeno jack cheese, yummy and to anyone who hasn’t tried the jalepeno jack cheese because they think it will be hot… it is zesty not hot and with the bacon and brown sugar it was delish. The next adventure was with a smoked cheese… smokalicious! The only other change was to have the deli slice the cheese at about a 10 and then I used a pizza cutter to make skinny lengths that were same length as tots. Rolled nicely and got cheese in both bites! Thank you again 🙂
LOL I just have to ask? Both bites?? You are far more restrained and obviously more refined, than I…I fear I will pop the whole thing in my mouth…every time! 🙂 Love the idea of pepper jack…my husband likes spicy and the smoked idea…..BAM!
Cant wait to try them!
Very good recipe!
A few observations:
tater tots at room temperature are more fragile than you think
it takes more bacon than you realize to wrap a tater tot
Check with your wife during cookie season before using all the brown sugar!
1. Yes, tater tots can be fragile, but only if they’ve been sitting out at room temperature for a very long time.
2. Bacon length – that’s really dependent on your taste preferences and how “stretchy” the bacon is. I found that 1/4 piece of bacon is more than enough – anything more is just overkill and too much bacon-to-tot ratio in my opinion.
3. Checking with wife during the holiday season – yes! Good thinking! 🙂
Tried to make them and they were a complete disaster this way. All the sugar burned after 10 mins and smoked up my entire house. I’ll cook the bacon, cheese and tater first and then add sugar see if it works next time.
Oh no! That should really not be happening. I’ve made this at least 5 times and I’ve never had any issues with the sugar burning so quickly. I worry that maybe your oven temperature is not calibrated and it may have been set way higher than it should have been. I highly recommend using an in-oven thermometer – it’s a life-saver!
Chung-Ah, first you should get an award for your saintly patience! I haven’t laughed this hard at ‘questions and comments’ in years. Lord, it’s just a quarter inch cube of cheese!
People, she had the flu, with all the accoutrements! She used what she had; tatter tots, bacon and cheddar cheese. She was healed! Praise God (or Or-Ida). This isn’t particle physics, but it is organic chemistry. Your elements are potato, bacon, cheese. Got it!
I haven’t had Tatter Tots in years, but you have given me good reason to rush to the store this morning and get a five pound bag. Bless you.
Your comment made my morning. Thank you!
Ha…I was thinking the same thing as John above. the comments were just making me shake my head. If people want to try it with a different ingredient WHY do they think YOU would know how it is going to turn out…lol….like he said you were very gracious with your answers!! good job and thanks for what I’m sure is going to become a football party staple!! Can’t wait to try them!
Good Lord, someone who agrees with me.
Love your reciipes, here in Ecuador we don’t get the name brand frozen or packaged items so made these from scratch with homemade cheese and fresh bacon from the butcher. A few twists and turns and voile! delicious! Thanks for your inspiration in the kitchen!
PS. got a good homemade panko?
I’m so glad you tried this with homemade tots! As for the panko, I actually do not have a homemade recipe just yet but it’s on my bucket list!
You call for frozen tater tots at room temperature……
Should the tater tots be frozen or should they be at room temperature? Or is your kitchen at 32 degrees?
That’s exactly what it means, Keith. Frozen tater tots at room temperature. If the recipe were to say “tater tots, at room temperature”, that can be misunderstood as cooked tater tots at room temperature. Does that make sense?
Sorry Chungah, I was just being silly. Frozen tater tots at room temperature are no longer frozen tater tots LOL.
Anyway, thank you for the idea. My girlfriend and I are making them right now 🙂
Keith, why are men so stupid????? Stay out of the kitchen!!!
Made these last weekend for a cocktail party and they were an absolute hit. I made 4 times the original recipe amount and they didn’t last past 5 minutes out of the oven.
I made a couple slight changes to the recipe. First; I used pepper jack cheese to add a little bit of heat. Second, I added chile powder to the brown sugar to add a bit of BBQ flavor to them. Lastly, I found that they cooked best at 375, and they didn’t need to beturned halfway through cooking (and the bacon was still very crispy).
Thanks for sharing the recipe; people loved them.
Would it be possible to make this with vegetarian bacon? My daughter loves cheese, and loves tater tots even more, but has been veg since 2001.
Unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot say for certain if using veggie bacon will work. Please use your best judgment to make the appropriate substitutions to fit your dietary restrictions.
Made these for a Halloween party and called them wolf chow/werewolf chow. Huge hit! I made six dozen and they were wiped out before the party was half over AND I won for most creative/original snack and for creepiest snack. Awesome recipe! Thanks!
Tip: don’t try to soak up the excess oil by draining them on paper towels. The sugar sticks to the paper. Learned that the hard way. Use a wire cooling rack with paper towels under it.
can you make these ahead of time and freeze them?
Unfortunately, I cannot answer this with certainty as I have never tried freezing this myself. I recommend using your best judgment for freezing and reheating.
I made these for my husbands birthday BBQ and they were definitely a hit! However, I would recommend using a bigger piece of bacon. Rather than a cutting the bacon into 4 pieces I’d try 3 or 2. The bacon was too small. I stretched it over the tator tot but it popped open leaving the tot exposed. Still really, really good but next time I’ll use larger strips of bacon.
Hazel, it really depends on your bacon preferences and how thick your bacon cut is. I found that using quarter-pieces of bacon is more than enough but please feel free to use more as needed.
Not a fan of cheddar but the recipe sounds amazing. Any other ideas for a different kind of cheese or maybe make sans cheese?
Yes, these should be fine without the cheese.
If you are not a cheddar fan, I would try gouda or havarti or Swiss or mozzarella……OR whatever cheese you like. OR just make without any cheese at all!!!
Not to sound like a dummy, but how do you place the cheese and tot? side by side or on top of each other under the bacon? Is it one end cheese one end tot? Or bacon over cheese and tot stacked?
You can stack the cheese on top of the tater tot and simply wrap the bacon over both. Hope that helps!
Correction: cook ahead of time
could you cook these I had a time and then rewarm them in the microwave?
Suzanne, you can certainly give that a try but these are best when served immediately.
Looks incredible, I’m wondering if you could stick half a jalapeño in there with tot and cheese, then wrap in bacon and dredge in brown sugar?
I don’t see why not – that sounds amazing!
That is how we make them in TX. I roll slices of jalapenos in there and sprinkle with grated cheese. Serve as appetizers.
These were AMAZING!!!
I might do it with chicken instead of taters.
Does the cheese completely melt in the process of baking? I know it sounds like a stupid question, but I wouldnt like for the cheese to melt and get stuck on my pan. I want these
Yes, the cheese completely melts. I also recommend lining your pan with foil or parchment paper just in case the cheese melts out. Clean up will be a lot easier this way!
These really are the bomb! 🙂 First time I made them I was out of cheese so jus did bacon & tots. Wasn’t sure I’d like the brown sugar so only did half the batch….and when the sugary ones came out all caramelized and crunchy, I regretted not doing the whole batch.
Second batch I got the cheese but then worried I wouldn’t like the cheese with the brown sugar, so I only used cheese on half the batch.
Can you see where this is going? lol Anyone who hasn’t made them yet:
1. Just do it already…they are awesome!
2. Follow the recipe and have no worries…the flavors are perfect together!
Thanks! This is my new go-to appetizer for casual get togethers! 🙂
I don’t understand why so many people are having such difficulty with such a simple recipe. It isn’t as if it is convoluted or technical. A third grader could wrap a quarter of a strip of bacon around a small piece of cheese and a thawed tater tot, then coat it in brown sugar, and put it in the oven. If you want to vary the recipe then do it, if it fails, that’s on you and no one else. Can you color inside the lines yet? This will likely not even get posted, but I find all of this extremely insulting to our host. It is enough to make a person rue the day they ever posted a recipe.
I agree. This is not that hard people. Should be easy.
I have been thinking this exact same thing while reading every single one of these comments. I totally agree. I admire Chunga for not giving a similar retort. The recipe could not be simpler or explained more clearly. I also am incredulous as to how much confusion there is over such a simply stated recipe.
Yea Dan . Agreed. Way over thinking going on here. Be creative people have some confidence in you’re ability !
Do you use a whole piece of bacon or a half slice? Im making these for this weekend Nebraska vs Miami Football party! Cant wait.
Sheri, as indicated in the recipe, you will be using quarter pieces of bacon.
I could be wrong, but I am imagining that the bacon is sort of crispy/chewy but not crunchy, and the tot inside is soft. I wonder what would happen if you flash fried or shallow fried the tots first to make a crispy crust but not really cook them, then wrapped them up and baked them.
The textures of the bacon and the tater tot really complement each other here. But if you prefer extra tot-crispness, you can certainly fry them before, but I just worry that it’s an additional step to such an already easy recipe!
I made these a couple of weeks ago for my boyfriend who of course loves both bacon and cheese..A LOT! he caught me making these, and wasnt too sure about them. Then he ate them and couldnt stop talking about them. I will definitely make these again!
Hmmm, has anyone who has made this tried it with shredded cheese? Maybe just a piece or two of pre shredded cheese? (Might be easier than chopping the cheese to be really small).
Although using shredded cheese may be easier, it’s more likely to create a bigger mess!
I used a press lived cheddar and just cut it into tater tot-sized squares…easy & wraps nicely under the bacon!
Autocorrect fail!! That should have been “pre-sliced” not “press lived”. lol
LOL I kept re-reading your first comment to figure out what “press lived cheddar” was! Glad you posted your correction – I may have been staring at that longer than I should have 🙂
Can these be made ahead of time and be kept warm in a crock pot?
You can certainly try the crockpot method but I worry that the bacon will lose its crispness over time. These are really best when served immediately.
What about assembling them early and then putting them in right before ready to serve? Just trying to cut down on my busy time 🙂
Yes, that should be fine.
I saw a different version of these on The Chew. Made them and fell in food lust! The only real difference is that you use the tip of a knife and make a small cut in the tater to place the cheese into and then place a dab of salsa on top before wrapping in bacon and rolling in brown sugar.
That dab of salsa sounds amazing – will definitely have to try that next time!
So the tots need to be thawed out?
Yes, they should be thawed and set to room temperature.
I’ve tried recipes I found on Pinterest that sounded great but had disappointing results. This is NOT one of them. These little bites are amazing!!! I was bringing them to a pot luck and had to stop myself from eating them all before I left the house.
Was wanting to take these to a brunch, wondering how they were after cooling sitting out at a pot-luck?
This is really best when served immediately.
Does it make a difference if you use ‘regular’ or ‘thick’ sliced bacon?$
Yes, it makes a difference. I do not recommend using thick-sliced bacon as it may be too overpowering for the wrapped-up tater tot.
thanks love your site…keep share the good stuff..:)
these look beautiful; but why not roll the wrapped tots in finely grated cheese
You can certainly roll them in finely grated cheese – I just worry that it’ll be much messier than using cubed cheese.
The bacon gets candied when it cooks by rolling it in brown sugar, if the cheese was out side it would just roll off from the bacon grease …the idea is to incorporate the cheese with the tot then wrap it in the bacon strip. (cheese could also be bought at deli in slice form and 1/2 inch slice like a stick of chewing gum could also be wrapped around the tot with the bacon…just sayin )
How did you keep them from unrolling? Did you use a toothpick?
There is no need for a toothpick. I recommend placing the tots seam-side down on the baking sheet prior to baking.
Do you need the cheese? These look amazing! Love your recipes!
I definitely recommend the cheese. Even though it’s such a small amount, it’s one of the best parts of these tater tot bombs!
I’m confused by the cheese, too. Is it a 1/4 square of cheese from a thin cheese slice? Or a 1/4″ cube of cheese? 1 ounce of cheese is a small amount, so I’m guessing a slice.
Slicey, you will be taking 1 ounce of a block of cheese and cutting them into very small squares – the thickness is up to you. I prefer keeping them small as the size of the tater tot is not very big but if you prefer more cheese, then please feel free to add more to fit your taste preferences. Hope that makes sense!
Using Maple flavored bacon is wonderful.
Also good is drizzling maple syrup over the top before putting the rolled tots in the oven
I came to ask a similar question. Thanks for getting to it first.
Did I miss something? Do u put the cheese inside the tater tot and reform it?
Please refer to step 2:
Working one at a time, wrap each tater tot and cheese square in a piece of bacon. Repeat with remaining tater tots, cheese squares and bacon pieces. Dredge each tater tot in the brown sugar, pressing to coat.
This does not say to stuff the cheese square into the tot!
No, it does not. The directions do not indicate stuffing the cheese into the tater tot. You are simply rolling it within the bacon. Does that make sense?
If the name itself wasn’t enough to catch my eye those pictures sure did! Love it! 🙂
julieblanner.com
i could SO devour many of these tater tots right now.. definitely takes me back to my childhood! love it!
Pretty sure if I got these for Michael he would move the wedding date up—AMAZINGGGG!
You are seriously trying to kill me with these. I need them. I need them now! Sorry to hear you aren’t feeling well – but dang girl… you can cook when you’re under the weather! 🙂 Sending healthy thoughts your way (but keep the good recipes coming, mmmm, k?)
Amazingly delicious!
Sorry to hear you haven’t been feeling well.. These look like the perfect munch for recovery! x
I told everyone in my office about these little babies…we were all salivating just talking about it…Thanks!!
Holy Crap. That’s all.
I don’t think I can make these. I will burn my mouth off eating them straight out of the oven. No restraint.
Stop it. I need these in my life immediately.
What substitute can I use for the brown sugar im a diabetic and would really like to try these ★☆★
Jeanette, if needed, you can omit the brown sugar. This would still be amazing without them! The brown sugar really just adds that sweet crispness to it.
Splenda has their own version of brown sugar. It may be a possible replacement.
I don’t understand how you “wrap” a square of cheese. Where does the cheese go?
You are wrapping bacon around the tot so you can fit the cheese in there. Does that make sense?
If you are using cubes of cheese just squeeze them into the side of the room temperature tater tot.
It’s a flat square, not a cube of cheese.
Thank you. That just clicked it into place for me.
I used pre-sliced cheese (Colby jack and pepper jack). I cut each slice in half and then each half into quarters. Worked very well.
Coconut sugar has a lower GI and may crisp up if you wanted to try that….
These look so monumentally amazing! I am glad you are feeling better
Such a bummer that you have a flu – I hope that you feel better!
But SO sweet of Jason to cook you breakfast…especially these bites of ah-may-zing! Love that brown sugar addition! Pinned!
And, by the way, I just found your blog and have enjoyed it immensely! It is aptly named 🙂
My husband and I are planning a bacon happy hour and these just made the menu – they look amazing!! It would almost be worth it to get the flu to see if 20 of them would have magical powers for me too 🙂
I can totally see you getting into these! I have seen these around too and hopefully they made you feel a little bit better! Hope you’re feeling better SOON!!
Wow! These are pretty epic! : )
Did anyone else find that 20 minutes was too long. Mine were way too caramelized.
Shannon, please feel free to reduce cooking time as needed until the desired consistency/texture is reached. Cooking time will also depend on the thinness or thickness of your bacon.
I made these twice and rolled them in brown sugar the first time, and I made a mess!! 🙁 but the second time I put the brown sugar on the inside of the bacon with the tot and they turned out perfect!! They were a hit!! thank you for this recipe!
Can you please tell me what the best bacon to use. I love the thick cut applewood smoked bacon and did not know if that would work
The thick cut bacon may be too thick to wrap but as always, please use your best judgment.
What on earth is a tater tot?
Little cylinder shaped hash brown potatoes lol