HOLY GOODNESS. Y’all. Really. Need. To. Make. These. Now.
I’m going to be honest here: making my own tater tots kind of freaked me out big time. See, I don’t know why but in the same way that I’m unreasonably terrified of baking with yeast, I’m almost equally as scared to do something unfamiliar with potatoes. Why? I have no idea, although part of me thinks that since moving to Colorado the altitude has messed with me. Things that used to be easy like baking chocolate chip cookies, making rice, boiling dried beans and working with potatoes have all turned into gigantic projects that I just can’t seem to get a handle on. But as I’ve said before, when a craving for tater tots strikes then I pity the fool who stands in the way.
Cravings are no joke people. No joke.
The funniest part about this is the fact that I got myself all worked up for nothing. Turns out that homemade tater tots are just about the easiest thing in the whole entire world to make. You have potatoes. You have a grater. You have hot oil and salt. The end.
Easy peasy.
One of the best things about making your own tots at home though is that you can get all fancy with the dipping sauce. I like ketchup as much as the next person, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want a little something extra nice for my tots or fries at times. I may not be a fancy-schmancy girl most of the time, but dippers? Different story. I made a simple mixture of a equal parts of sour cream, Greek yogurt, and mayonnaise and then spiced it up with some curry powder, cayenne pepper, salt and black pepper. Nothing crazy, but definitely fancier than ketchup!
SWEET POTATO GOAT CHEESE TATER TOTS
These tater tots take almost no active time to make and come out with a big finish. Sweet potatoes and goat cheese make the perfect sweet-creamy-salty bite!
- 3 small sweet potatoes, washed and peeled
- 1 small Russet potato, washed and peeled
- 1/4 cup flour
- 4 oz goat cheese
- 4 cups vegetable oil
- sea salt
Using the fine side of a box grater grate the potatoes. Drain them as best you can; I wrapped mine in a towel and squeezed out all the liquid I could. Toss them in a bowl with the flour and goat cheese and mix until well combined. Wrap the mixture in plastic wrap until it makes two long tubes of potato mixture about 1 foot long and 1 inch in diameter. Stick in the freezer for about 30 minutes until slightly firm. Using a sharp knife slice the cylinder into nuggets about 1/2 inch thick; leave on the plastic wrap to make it easier to pull off when putting in the oil.
Heat the oil in a heavy-bottom saucepan over low heat until bubbles start to form when you stick a wooden spoon in. Drop 10-12 tater tots into the oil and fry for about 3-5 minutes until golden brown and crisp. Remove to a paper towel-covered plate to drain and season immediately with salt. Work in batches until all of the tater tots are done.
Devour!
Now if only I could get that whole yeast/rice/dried beans thing down I think I’d be set!
ABSOLUTELY amazing!! So good! I’m going to try baking these next time. Oil burns are no fun.
I’d love to hear how you baked them next time! Always looking for healthier options 🙂
Heather, I made these yesterday and they were amazing! Thanks for the recipe!
That’s great Kara! I’m so glad you liked them!
I understand completely. Since moving to Colorado I can’t seem to be able to bake either.
Sorry if this is really obvious but when you grate the potatoes they are raw?
Don’t apologize Kerin! I don’t think I said it in the post – yes, you would grate them while they’re raw – just make sure it’s a fine grater so that they can cook all the way through during the frying process!
I’m making these right now, and having some challenges. When you say freeze til firm, do you mean actually frozen, or almost frozen? Mine have been in the freezer for almost an hour, and they are still quite flexible. They’re falling apart when I cook them.
Mine were to the point that they were almost frozen all the way through, but you could still cut through them fairly easily with a paring knife.
I hope they work out for you!
Can you freeze these? I’m hesitant because raw potato usually turns black, but doesnt seem like they would be good reheated. Just wondering.
to be honest i’m not sure, we ate them all at once! i think sweet potato is a little different, but to be safe i’d wrap them as airtight as possible. and they should be ok reheated in the oven – nice and crisp!
I made these for the family (well, ok my boyfriend made them. I picked out the recipe). They were tasty and addictive. The only thing I found was that they got fully cooked on the outside before they were very hot/cooked on the inside. Luckily the potato is shredded very thinly so it’s not like you’re biting into a raw potato or anything. Thanks for the recipe!
Ohhhhhh, these sound amazing!!! I LOVE sweet potatoes!!! Any idea how these would work baked instead of fried???
you know, i don’t know how they would turn out baked. i think you’d probably want to brush them with some sort of oil so that they sort of oven-fry to get a crispy exterior, but i’m sure they’d be nice and pillowy on the inside!
In case an one is wondering I got the calorie info per serving for this recipe. There are 209 calories per serving, not including the extra fat from frying.
Thanks there Catherine for being the ‘Debbie-Downer’ at the party. LOL
love to try this but could you recommend an alternative to russet potato? I think it’s hard to find it in my area
hmmm…i would say maybe a yukon gold would be fine? any really starchy potato would work fine!
I made these last night but used all white potatoes since that’s what I had. The goat cheese fried right out in some spots and they were kind of dense but tasty. I think I’ll try coarse grate next time when using white potatoes. I’m excited to tweak this recipe – so many possibilities! Thank you for a great idea.
So anyone reading the comments and wondering whether you really have to grate the potatoes with a box grater, or whether you can just do them in your food processor, which is a coarser grate… the answer is, use the box grater. I did mine in the food processor, and it was a MAJOR fail. Also, I would recommend having some extra goat cheese on hand in case if your potatoes are slightly bigger. It seemed like my fail was a combination of coarseness of grate and not enough cheese to hold the potatoes together. It was a hot mess, but the few bits that sort of held together were DELICIOUS! So I’ll definitely try again.
thanks for bringing that up pam! you’re right, and i should have mentioned it, how necessary it is to use the smaller setting on the box grater. i love my food processor attachment, but i knew that the larger shreds probably wouldn’t cook up as well. i’m glad you liked what you were able to try though!
These sound fabulous! I wonder if they would be good baked instead of fried…
Woah. Woah. That’s all I can think to say to this recipe. Woah.
Hi Heather, thanks for the beautiful looking recipe.
I’m gluten-free, and thought swapping out regular flour for GF flour (Bob’s Red Mill) would be no problem. Well, the tots were a disaster, they just fell apart in the oil! But perhaps the potatoes were too wet, do you need to really dry them out a lot? I used a towel to get a good portion of liquid out, maybe not enough.
Either way, I failed on this recipe, but would love to make it work someday soon! -ben
hey ben! you know, i hardly ever cook with gluten-free flours, but from my experience that would likely be the issue. i didn’t squeeze every single drop out of my potatoes, which leads me to believe it would be the way gluten-free flours absorb water and stick together.
i’ll see if i can check with my sister, who’s gluten-free, and find out if she has any suggestions!
Did you ever find a solution to this? I plan to try them this weekend with coconut flour and a little sorghum. Hoping it works!
hey jenn – you know, i never did and haven’t heard back from anyone else. if it works for you this weekend i’d love to know!
I just made these and they turned out awesome! Great simple recipes are always the best.
That’s great! I’m so glad you liked them!
Wondering if these could be baked instead of fried? Anyone try that?
i haven’t, but i *think* it might work if you baked them on a baking rack – that way they could get crispier than if you just put them on a sheet pan. let me know if you find a way to make that work though!
I just had sweet potato tater tots for the first time by Alexia, but goat cheese!? yum-o!
About how many does one serving make??
I’d say there are about 10-15 per serving, and one batch makes around 5 servings or so!
Not sure if I’m reading everything right. Does this mean you’ll have more than one one-foot-long plastic wrapped mixture? It says to roll it to one foot long x one inch wide and cut into 1/2 inch pieces. That only makes 24 which would be two servings. Just trying to get prepared for preparation! Thanks.
sorry, you’re right…it should be two tubes. thanks for catching it!
I literally leapt out of my chair and hustled to the kitchen and made up the dip, because *I had sweet potato fries in the oven!!* It was delicious! Since I like a thinner dipping sauce I diluted with buttermilk (like making ranch dip) which I always have on hand, and spiced it after I had the consistency I wanted. We’ll be making the tots to go with it soon! (goat cheese, what could be bad??)
Yum! I buy sweet potatoes every week, and we eat them roasted, boring, every week. Ha, not next week!
i saw a commercial for sonic’s sweetater tots and have been wanting them. instead, i am making these. asap.
These look absolutely scrumptious!
I need these now!
I love absolutely everything about this! wow!
Whoa, those look incredible! You’re a genius!
Look at you blogging and whipping up so deliciousness! Good for you! I liked your letting go post. Yup let it all go so that you can hold your baby. They will remember you more for the snuggles than the clean bathroom!
oh my these look awesome! everything u make does…i would devour these in a second.
Oh. My.
That is all.
Except… why didn’t I think of this. kbye.
These sound (and look) DELICIOUS! Goat cheese and sweet potatoes are two of my favorite things. Any ideas on how to do these in the oven?
I am completely and utterly in love with you. This recipe made my heart skip a beat.
holy freak these look so good.
I would never have thought to make my own tater tots, not to mention sweet potato ones, but these look delicious! I love the idea of pairing them with goat cheese, makes them a bit classier, no? 😉
Oh wow they are easy to make! I don’t know why I’ve been so intimidate by homemade tater tots! And I love that you can use a box grater. I thought I’d have to buy a potato ricer!
As for the dipping sauces, I totally know what you mean. Ketchup is great but a little garlic aioli never hurt anyone 🙂
These sound amazing and look SO good. Love the dipping sauce as well, I love sauces like that.
Sounds like a heavenly combo of goat cheese & sweet potato. Love this!
These look amazing, Heather. Thanks for taking the mystery out of making tater-tots!
I’ve never made my own tater tots because I’m intimidated too, but I’m glad you debunked the myth that it is hard to cook at home! Your dipping sauce sounds fantastic, too.
Love these! I made something almost exactly the same but baked them and called them “puffs” instead. Tater tots are kinda more fun 😉
Wow! These look impressive!
whoa, these look so delicious! I absolutely love goat cheese in my sweet potatoes, I can’t even imagine how great it would be all fried up 🙂
Whoa– homemade tater tots?!? You just blew my mind 🙂
Oh yum! I am so making my own tater tots! 🙂
Ooohh these look great!!!
This looks amazing and I bet the babies would love it! And I already have everything…. Is this acceptable for dinner?
Oh goodness. My current breakfast now looks like dirt.
I need these in my life. And I’m also afraid of cooking with yeast. 🙂
These look freaking fantastic! Awesome idea!