If all of the recipes in the Heavenly Homemakers Recipe Challenge turn out to be this easy…I’ll whip through the list in no time. (But don’t get your hopes up.)
My first idea for and attempt at making Homemade Tater Tots turned out great. Then I tried them a second time…just to be sure. Even better. All six of us were so excited! These look like a tater tot, feel like a tater tot and well (if I do say so myself) taste better than a tater tot (funny thing about fresh potatoes and healthy oil).
My idea was to try the homemade hashbrown trick. Remember, I bake the potato, let it cool, shred it, then cook up the shredded potatoes into hashbrowns. SUCH a fabulous and easy way to make nice hashbrowns. And now…Tater Tots!!!!!!
Here’s how I did it…
Homemade Tater Tots
3-4 medium russett potatoes
Oil of choice (I used the very healthy and delicious Palm Shortening. I’d also recommend Expeller Pressed Coconut Oil because it’s flavorless yet healthy for frying.) (You can read my research based opinions on healthy frying here.)
Sea Salt
First, scrub and bake your potatoes. Allow the potatoes to cool. Peel the potatoes (and save the skins to make Potato Skins as described in Katie’s Healthy Snacks to Go ebook!).
Chop the peeled and cooled potatoes and throw them in a food processor to shred finely. I’d recommend using the “pulse” setting if you have one. You don’t want your potatoes to turn to mush. Well, maybe you do, but I don’t.
If you don’t have a food processor, you can always shred the potatoes
with a cheese grater…it’ll just take a bit longer.
And be careful to keep your fingers away from the grater.
You don’t want fingers in your tater tots. Well, maybe you do, but I don’t.
Next, heat some oil in a skillet (medium heat). You just need enough oil to barely cover the bottom of the skillet. You don’t want greasy tots. Well, maybe you do, but I don’t.
Use a small cookie scoop and pack in the shredded potatoes to make a nice firm ball. (If you don’t really pack it in, the potatoes will just fall apart when you place the ball in the skillet.) Gently set the ball into the skillet. Allow it to cook thoroughly on one side before carefully turning it over. Press the ball down slightly when you turn it. Each side takes about 3-4 minutes to cook.
Remove tater tots once they look nice and crispy and golden brown. You don’t want blackened tater tots. Well, maybe you do, but I don’t. Sprinkle with desired amount of sea salt.
You should eat these right away because you don’t want cold tater tots. Well, (say it with me now) maybe you do, but I don’t.
If you can possibly keep your family out of them…we discovered that these freeze and reheat very well!! We used our toaster oven to reheat some leftover tater tots a day or two after I initially made them, just to test and see if these can be made ahead of time and YAY…it can be done!!
Just for fun, you may also want to check out the Homemade Tater Tot recipe at Finding Joy in my Kitchen. She came up with a different way of making tater tots that looks pretty tasty!
Overall, I’d say making Homemade Tater Tots is easy. Is it as easy as opening up a package and throwing the contents onto a cookie sheet? No. But it sure doesn’t take a lot of effort overall. And then, if you make several batches and freeze some…you’ve got easy, healthy tater tots ready to reheat for a quick side dish or snack!!
Okay…one recipe down…fourteen to go. Unless you count all the other ideas you challenged me with.
Now, go bake some potatoes so you can hurry up and make some tots. You don’t want to miss out on the delicious taste of fresh, Homemade Tater Tots.
Well, maybe you do, but I don’t.
