Mexican vegetarian tater tot casserole is a fun dish that the entire family will love. Spice up taco night and have this meatless tater tot casserole instead.
Vegetarian Mexican Tater Tot Casserole
Depending on where you live, you might want to call this mexican tater tot casserole recipe a hotdish instead of a casserole. “Vegetarian Tater Tot Hotdish” has a certain ring to it that I like! The traditional tater tot hot dish comes from the Midwest, specifically Minnesota.
There, a hotdish would include tater tots, ground beef, and a vegetable. This hot dish is, of course, vegetarian, and gets its protein from black beans instead of meat.
Tater Tots never go out of style on the dinner table. Did you know that? It’s true! You can dress up a tater tot in so many ways. For this vegetarian tater tot casserole recipe, we decided that we’d put a Mexican spin on our tots, so we created a Mexican Style Tater Tot Casserole.
What I love about this tater tot hotdish recipe is that it’s classic comfort food. It’s a simple vegetarian recipe instead of beef mixture and it has such a delicious flavor. (If you wanted to add in meat to brown the ground beef up – you could, we just don’t eat meat in our home)
This tater tot casserole with cheese is seriously going to be a favorite in your home.
It is the tots that our entire family loves, including adults and kids. But it takes the flavor up a notch. It adds a Mexican inspired flare to this comfort food dish.
What’s In Vegetarian Mexican Tater Tot Casserole?
The base of this recipe is packed with tasty and filling vegetables. We mixed:
- sauteed onions
- black beans
- corn
- traditional Mexican taco fixings
- gluten-free enchilada sauce ( to make the top layer of the casserole).
Onions
Onions create a great flavor base for this dish. Aside from being delicious and versatile, did you know that they pack a big punch of nutrition? Onions provide vitamins C and B6 as well as Folate and various necessary minerals.
I love to cook onions in a skillet over medium heat and toss in a little garlic powder as well. Really, really good and versatile to add to almost any recipe.
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Black Beans
Black beans are one of my favorite beans to cook with, and I almost always use them when I’m making tacos or enchiladas. Fun bean facts: Black beans are actually a variety of kidney bean, and are called “turtle beans” in some places.
Corn
Mexican style tater tot casserole would not be complete without corn. Corn adds bulk and sweetness to this somewhat spicy dish. Corn, like black beans, is a crop that is native to the Americas. This is why you see it in Mexican and South American dishes so often.
Mexican Tater Tot Casserole – A Simple Recipe
This is such a simple dish to put together. Just place your frozen tater tots in your baking dish, and spoon the veggie mixture on top. Throw it in a preheated oven to bake for about 40 minutes.
A large skillet would work as a baking dish too. I love making casseroles in cast iron pans.
My kiddos love to help put down the layer of tater tots as well, so that is always their job to do. Once you get that oven to 350 degrees, you know it’s time to rock and roll and get to cooking!
Such a simple recipe, isn’t it?
As a final touch, add cheese and chopped black olives and bake just until the cheese starts to melt. Garnish with cilantro and enjoy!
Make this recipe vegan by swapping out the cheese for a non-dairy cheese. I like Daiya or So Delicious shredded cheese. You could also leave out the cheese entirely and this meatless tater tot casserole would still be delicious.
What sides go with this meatless tater tot casserole?
This really can be a meal on its own. But if you want a side dish to go with this Mexican vegetarian tater tot casserole a salad or other veggie-packed side dishes go great with it.
You could serve this Tomato Cucumber Salad or a Mixed Berry Fruit Salad to lighten things up a bit.
Can I freeze this vegetarian tater tot casserole?
I actually have not tried freezing this recipe, but I think it would work well. It would be a delicious make-ahead meal that you could pop in the oven. I would, however, package the cheese, olives, and cilantro in their own container so you can throw those ingredients on at the end.
Do I need to thaw the tater tots for this casserole?
Nope! And actually, I wouldn’t recommend it. The tots would get mushy and start to fall apart if you let them thaw too much. Just put them in frozen. They will cook perfectly that way.
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Mexican Tater Tot Casserole – Tots never go out of style on the dinner table!
Ingredients
- 1 cup onion diced
- 1 T olive oil
- 1 cup frozen corn
- 1 can black beans drained and rinsed
- 1 cup enchilada sauce
- 1/2 bag of tator tots 8 oz
- 1 cup shredded cheese Mexican blend
- 3 oz of diced black olives
Instructions
- Heat over in skillet over medium heat. Saute onions until soft.
- Add corn, beans and sauce to the skillet. Stir to mix.
- Put frozen tots into a lightly oiled 8X8 square dish.
- Pour skillet mixture on top of tots.
- Bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes (covered).
- Remove from oven. Top with shredded cheese and olives. Place back into over until cheese is melted.
- ENJOY!
Notes
What sides go with tater tot casserole?
This really can be a meal on its own. But if you want a side dish to go with this Mexican vegetarian tater tot casserole a salad or other veggie-packed side dishes go great with it. You could serve this Tomato Cucumber Salad or a Mixed Berry Fruit Salad to lighten things up a bit.Can I freeze this tater tot casserole?
I actually have not tried freezing this recipe, but I think it would work well. It would be a delicious make-ahead meal that you could pop in the oven. I would, however, package the cheese, olives, and cilantro in their own container so you can throw those ingredients on at the end.Do I need to thaw the tater tots for this casserole?
Nope! And actually, I wouldn’t recommend it. The tots would get mushy and start to fall apart if you let them thaw too much. Just put them in frozen. They will cook perfectly that way.Nutrition
Does your family love casseroles? Check out our favorite casserole recipes!
Please pin this vegetarian tater tot casserole for later.
Take a peek at the older pictures of this recipe, we didn’t want to delete them!
Bethany says
I already, but I’ll say once again that it looks delicious. I’ve never tried anything quite like it. 🙂
Rosey says
I know the world’s biggest tator tot lover. This would be a huge hit for her. 🙂
rusthawk says
I bet this would be great with some chopped cilantro.
Carol Harrison says
I like how this makes great use of healthy convenience foods – beans, veggies! Healthy can be easy!
Betty says
I have never made a tot recipe like this. Will give it a try. Would add a salad
Betsy Barnes says
We love tater tots, however, I have not yet made any casseroles using them. This recipe looks like a great one to start. I would have some toppings, like sour cream, shredded cheese, salsa, onions and black olives 🙂
wen budro says
That sounds like a delicious way to use tater tots. We all love them. I would probably add some shredded cheddar cheese.
Birdiebee says
I have made several types of tater tot casseroles before but never a mexican-flavored on. This looks really delicious. I pinned this for future use.
Gabrielle Warnars says
This looks like it would be good with sweet potato tots!
Debbie says
This recipe would have been great if it hadn’t dried out. I checked the directions twice and thought I wonder if this should be covered. Turns out it was very dry. My family would not eat it. So, I enjoyed some of it. LOL. Please add that it needs to be covered.
Cindy says
Oh no Debbie, I am so sorry. I haven’t made this one in a very long time. It is on my list to remake in the coming weeks so I can rephotograph it to update it. I will also update the directions. I apologize it turned out dry for you. When reviewing the recipe and seeing 400 degrees, that seems very hot and I can see how it could dry out the dish. I agree that it must have been covered so that the moisture would be kept in. When I make the recipe in the coming weeks, I”ll also test at lower temp as well and will update the directions! Thanks for the heads up, I am glad that at you got to enjoy some of it and I am sorry that your family would not eat it!
Debbie says
Thank you, I also think I will use salsa next time to add a different flavor. I love tater tots with just about anything!!!
Cindy says
I love salsa too! I just found a delicious one at Costco! Salsa + jumbo size = winning! hahaha
Sharon says
What a great recipe! Perfect for when you need a quick but hearty dinner.
Caroline says
I wasn’t brought up with tater tots and haven’t cooked with them but I can see them being popular with kids and the other flavors sound good.
Julie says
Love dishes like this. Protein and carbs are the best.
Annie @ Annie's Noms says
This looks amazing and so full of flavour!! I’m really into casseroles at the moment – maybe because I just got a new oven and want to use it all the time haha! I love all the flavours in this casserole, Mexican is one of my fave cuisines!
Ellen says
This looks like such an easy dish. Perfect for a busy weeknight.
Hannah Healy says
What a cool idea to use tater tots!
Cindy says
Thanks, we love this fun idea too!
Eden | Sweet Tea and Thyme says
Love it! So easy and creative! I’d add guac because I’m such a guac lover lol
Cindy says
Thanks so much!
Suzy says
Looks super comforting! And I love the Mexican twist
Cindy says
Thank you so much!
Heidy L. McCallum says
This is hilarious, a friend and I were just having a convo about Tots— and she said she was bored of them because she sees the same old recipes on Pinterest. I showed her yours…She is now about to eat her words after stopping at the market to pick some up to make your recipe.
Cindy says
Ha, great timing!!
Lisa | Garlic & Zest says
I’m married to a Minnesotan, so I’m all too familiar with hotdish! Love the flavors you’ve melded together in this one – it looks really hearty, too, especially for a vegetarian dish.
Cindy says
Thanks so much! It is such a delicious hotdish!
Stephanie says
From my nine year old, “this was a delicious and nutritious meal for our family”.
We enjoyed this! We are vegan and substituted non-dairy cheese. It was still really good My daughter alternated sweet potato tat-tots and regular ones at the bottom which added a nice variation!
Thank you so much!
Cindy Gordon says
Yay, that is awesome!! Thank you for coming back and letting me know! I LOVE her statement!! That makes my heart so happy! I also love her idea of putting some sweet potato tots in there too! Tell her she’s a genius!