I was browsing through some cooking sites for appetizer ideas, and came across a recipe for making homemade tater tots. I'm not sure why I never though to make these from scratch, maybe because I wasn't sure how good they would come out compared to the ones you buy in the frozen food section, but I was wrong. It's not really a strict recipe per se, but the general process is: Bake some potatoes until they are about half-way cooked, they should still be firm, but slightly softened from their raw state. Once the potatoes cool off enough to handle, peel and grate them on a box grater. Then you just toss in a little flour as a binder, and your favorite seasonings, such as garlic, cayenne, sea salt, rosemary, etc... whatever floats your boat. I've even seen recipes that call for Indian themed spices. Mix everything all together carefully (you don't want to smash the potatoes up too much, especially if you overcooked them). Then take spoonfulls of the mixture and form them into the classic tater tot shape and set them on a baking sheet. You could could just roll them into balls too if you don't want to be too fussy with them. Heat up a pan of vegetable oil, and use the wooden spoon trick to determine if the oil is hot enough (put the handle of it into the oil, and if it starts to bubble it's ready). Then drop a few of them in at a time, and cook them till they are golden brown and crispy. Place the batches on some paper towel to drain off the excess grease. The fun part is coming up with dipping sauces to go along with these too, I've seen recipes for cucumber sauces, bbq sauces, garlic aoili's, etc.
I have made my own before! We just use a lumpy mashed potato basically....so we boil them instead of baking the potatoes to begin with and simply mash them up a bit. Then form them into tater tot shapes, roll them in corn flakes or flour or whatever else to get a crunchy outer coating...and then fry. So yummy!
Corn flakes sound like a great idea! I was thinking of a variation on these as well, perhaps using some shredded zucchini if I squeezed out all the excess moisture and tossed it with a little flour. Then perhaps roll them in panko breading and fry them. I'm just not sure if they will hold together as well as the potatoes.
ohiotom - It's funny that you mentioned Indian-themed tater tots because when I make chicken tikka masala, I make homemade tots with the same spices to go along with it. I do consider myself to be a very good cook with a wide variety of food interests, and I find it to be great fun to combine something fun from my favorite small-town childhood burger joint with Indian food. Oh yeah - it's VERY good. Try it sometime
These recipes sound delicious! I think this would be a great cooking activity for our family. It sounds fun and is definitely healthier than conventional tater tots.
Add an egg. It'll help bind all the zucchini and flour together without changing the flavor. That's what I do when I make zucchini fritters instead of hashbrowns and it works quite nicely.
I was also thinking it sounded like something fun to do for the family. My kids are more inclined to eat it if they help cook it. These sound more nutritious then what comes from fast food.
That is an awesome recipe! I never even thought about making my own homemade tater tots. They sound really delicious and I am sure they are a lot healthier than frozen ones as well. You could make them unique by adding some jalapeno seasoning, ranch or even cheddar. Thanks again for sharing!
This sounds great! And just think of all the variations you could come up with. I imagine sweet potatoes would work as well. Plus, this is much healthier than the grocery store version, since you control the type of oil and all ingredients. You could also combine potatoes with another vegetable for even more variety. Thanks for posting!
Nice share ohiotom! I have made potato patties in a similar way but never thought of making homemade tater tots before. I think I would like them much better than the store bought frozen type. I have never really like them but my partner loves them. I will definately give these a try. I like the idea of adding different flavors to them, too. You may have just changed my mind about tater tots.
