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This simple one skillet French Onion Tater Tot Casserole is the perfect pantry staple recipe to make any time of year. It’s a cross between french onion soup and a classic midwest style tater tot casserole. Slowly caramelized onions, white wine, vegetables, and beef or chicken…all cooked together in one skillet. Then topped off with plenty of cheese, tater tots, and fresh herbs. Simply toss the skillet in the oven to create the perfect cheesy, one skillet dinner. There’s nothing not to love. This dish is easy, takes just about an hour to make, is cheesy, heavy on the potatoes, and all-around delicious!
You guys, this quarantine cooking is getting, well…it’s getting interesting. The honest truth? I have mixed feelings about this recipe. Yes, this is delicious, it’s hearty, it’s cozy, it’s easy, and it’s full of pantry and freezer staples. It’s is THE “quarantined” dinner.
But? It’s also not my usual style of cooking. Or at least not the usual type of recipe I share here on HBH. When my brothers are in Colorado, I cook them their favorites…chicken noodle casserole, potato chip chicken, and basically all the old school Gerard family childhood favorites of our midwest roots. However, I don’t usually share these recipes. But times are a little different right now. I know everyone is in the same boat…cooking with what we’ve got on hand. Using pantry staples and creating simple but delicious recipes for our families during this time.
And that’s where this casserole comes into the story. A week or so ago, I shared on my Instagram stories that I had a bag of frozen tater tots in my freezer. Immediately our Instagram direct messages were flooded with requests for tater tot recipes. And the most requested?
A classic tater tot casserole, also known as tater tot hot dish. Soooo…this is my spin. And although I’m nervous to share it…it is different, it’s also so delicious. My oldest brother, Creighton, a tater tot loving kind of guy fully approves. So you know this is good.
The details on this one skillet french onion tater tot casserole…
As always, step one is finding yourself a great skillet. This is the exact matte black one I am using in these photos. But as I’ve mentioned before, it also comes in this pretty blue color. I love the slightly larger and deeper eleven-inch skillet, but any oven-safe skillet will work great for this recipe. And if you don’t have an oven-safe skillet, just cook everything on the stove, then transfer the food to a baking dish. Use what you’ve got and make it work!
Start with the onions. They need to be deeply caramelized, just as you do when making French onion soup. My secret to the best caramelized onions…butter. And in today’s case…some dry white wine too.
The butter is used for obvious reasons – fat, flavor, and deliciousness. The wine is pretty traditional in most French onion soups, so I wanted to carry those flavors over into this casserole. You’ll cook about half of the wine into the onions. This not only helps the onions to caramelize quickly and evenly, it also infuses the onions with incredibly rich flavor.
If you prefer not to cook with wine, I recommend using about half a cup of apple juice or apple cider when caramelizing the onions. If you don’t have either of those, use broth. As for the remaining amount of wine (another half cup), use chicken or vegetable broth.
Once the onions have caramelized, push them to one side of the pan, add the meat, bell pepper (or mixed frozen vegetables), garlic, and seasonings. Allow the meat to brown, then add the remaining wine and a splash the soy sauce. The soy sauce may seem odd, but just trust me on this, it adds a layer of salty savory flavor.
Next, add a touch of flour, this helps thicken the sauce and make it almost gravy-like.
Remove from the heat and top the skillet with cheese, preferably Gruyere, which makes this similar in flavor to the classic bowl of french onion soup. If you don’t have Gruyere, use Swiss, cheddar, mozzarella, or whatever else you’ve got on hand. All cheese is delicious.
Onto the tater tots.
Here’s the KEY to this dish. I knew that if I was going to cook tater tots, they needed to be extra crispy, not soft and soggy.
So, first…keep those tots frozen until the directions say to place them over top of the cheese.
Second…you need to add that layer of cheese over the meat before adding the tots. The cheese acts as a barrier between the sauce and the tots preventing the tots from getting soggy.
At this point transfer the skillet to the oven, bake until the tater tots are golden. Remove and add the remaining cheese. About fifteen minutes later, you’ll have tater tot casserole with extra crispy, cheesy tater tots sizzling away on op.
It. Is. Good.
And that’s it. Simple right? This dish smells incredible as it bakes away in the oven, but it tastes even better.
The toppings.
This brings me right to the toppings, which I actually kept kind of simple. But sometimes simple is really all you need.
I topped this cheesy bake with fresh chives and thyme. That’s it, I know, it’s shocking, but tater tots are not fancy food, so you know? I skipped the fancy toppings and it’s OK.
What’s great about this one skillet cheesy tater tot casserole is that it incorporates a variety of flavors and textures. Yet it’s all made simply in ONE skillet, using all pantry staple ingredients.
Well, almost all pantry staples. If you don’t have a fresh bell pepper on hand, use a mix of frozen vegetables. Or anything from your fridge that you need to use up.
My only suggestion? Add a fun cocktail to livin’ up your Thursday night. This blueberry lemon thyme smash from last week is my current pick.
Looking for other skillet and or casserole dinners? I have a few to pick from….
One Skillet Saucy Chicken Tortilla Enchilada Rice Bake
One Skillet Cheesy Cuban Chicken and Rice Bake
Broccoli Cheddar Chicken and Rice Casserole
Lastly, if you make this one skillet french onion tater tot casserole, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
One Skillet French Onion Tater Tot Casserole
Servings: 6
Calories Per Serving: 855 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons salted butter
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2-3 medium yellow onions, thinly sliced
- 1 cup dry white wine, such as Pinot Grigio or Sauvignon Blanc
- 1 pound lean ground turkey, chicken, or beef
- 2 cloves garlic, minced or grated
- 2 red bell peppers, chopped (or 16 ounces mixed frozen vegetables)
- 2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves (or 2 teaspoons dried thyme)
- 2 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley (or 2 teaspoons dried parsley)
- kosher salt and black pepper
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour or gluten-free flour blend
- 1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper using more or less to your taste
- 1 cup shredded Gruyere cheese
- 2 pounds frozen tater tots
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- fresh chives, for topping (optional)
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.2. In a large oven safe skillet, melt the butter, olive oil, and onions together. Cook, stirring occasionally until softened, about 5 minutes. At this point, you want to slowly add 1/2 cup of the wine, 1/4 cup at a time, until the wine cooks into the onions. Continue to cook another 8-10 minutes until you've used the 1/2 cup of wine and the onions are deeply caramelized. Push the onions to the side of the pan and stir in the meat, bell pepper, garlic, thyme, parsley, cayenne, and season with salt and pepper. Cook, breaking up the meat as it cooks, another 5 minutes until the meat is browned. Stir in the flour and cook another minute. Add the remaining 1/2 cup wine, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and 1 cup of water. Bring to a boil and simmer until thickened 3-5 minutes. 3. Remove from the heat and sprinkle the Gruyere cheese overtop the meat. Arrange the tater tots on top of the cheese. Transfer to the oven and bake 20 minutes, until the tots are golden. Sprinkle the cheddar over the tater tots, return to the oven. Bake another 10-15 minutes, until the cheese is melted.4. Serve topped as desired with fresh thyme and chives.
Notes
To Make Vegetarian: Instead of using 1 pound of meat, use 3 cups of finely chopped mushrooms (can be any variety or a mix of varieties) plus 1 cup of finely chopped cauliflower (or use an additional cup of mushrooms). Sauté the vegetables as directed to do so for the meat. The cooking times should be very similar, if not the same.
One of the best dishes I have made. Everyone was asking me for the recipe after!!
Wow that is so amazing to hear! Thank you Brooke! xTieghan
I made this and it was absolutely amazing! i used half beef and half mushrooms. so much depth of flavor. best new recipe i’ve found this year!!
I am really happy this turned out so well for you, Stephany! Thank you! xTieghan
This looks amazing. Do you think shredded hash brown potatoes would work instead of tater tots?
Hey Maria,
I haven’t tried that, but I don’t see why not! I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
This recipe was good, but it was really greasy. I also think those last ten minutes in the oven caused the bottom to start to burn, so I’d be careful about that. I made it in a skillet, but if I make it again, I’ll use a bit of a smaller one.
Hi Kelly! I am sorry about that! Is there anything I can help with? xTieghan
We thought this was delicious! I wasn’t sure in the beginning with so much soy sauce and Worcestershire, but it amazingly all worked out well in the end. I did saute the sliced onions longer than called for since there were so many, they weren’t softening up enough in five minutes. I used ground chicken, added much more cayenne for some extra spice and unfortunately couldn’t quite fit all the tater tots in my very large pan, but what we had was more than enough.I wasn’t really sure when I was supposed to mix the onions into the meat mixture but did so when I added the flour. Definitely will make this again!
Thank you so much Helen! I am really glad this recipe turned out so well for you! xTieghan
I made this tonight and OMG it is the best casserole I’ve ever had!!! I didn’t have white wine, so I used beer and it was PERFECT!!
Thank you so much Sarah!! xTieghan
There is NOTHING more comforting than a decent tator tot casserole, and this recipe did not disappoint. I did make a few adjustments; I subbed the bell peppers with frozen peas and carrots, added a good sized bunch of kale, and used chicken stock instead of water. It’s also likely that I added way more cheese than called for… oops? The only thing I think I may add next time is a tablespoon or so of tomato paste. This was so deep in flavor and texture (and personally, I think the kale took it to a new level). Tieghan has given me the best foundation to form any variation of this comfort-in-a-bowl dish for the rest of forever.
I am really glad you enjoyed this one, Anna! Thank you so much! xTieghan
This sounds delicious! I don’t have any white wine and I’m trying to decide what would be best to use as a substitute—any suggestions?
Hey Marcy,
You could use chicken broth in place of the wine. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
So good! My girlfriend uses a lot of your recipes and wasn’t aware of it. She is a great cook regardless but luv when she uses your recipes! Thank you ?
Thank you so much Phil! I am really glad you both have been enjoying my recipes!! xTieghan
Hi Tieghan.
I made this dish and it was really good. The flavors all came together so wonderfully. I subbed 2 pounds of sliced baby Bella mushrooms for the meat because I love mushrooms and it sounded SO good when you mentioned it in your note, but that was the only thing I changed in your awesome recipe.
I also forwarded this recipe on to my sister who is vegan so I’m sure it’ll be getting rave reviews from her too.
I saw a few comments about it not thickening, and I thought that people who aren’t in high altitude might need to make adjustments, assuming you are still in Colorado as I am.
I plan on ordering your cookbook soon as well as trying a couple more of the recipes on your blog.
Thank you for sharing! It’s a keeper!
Thank you Christine! I am really glad this recipe turned out so well for you! xTieghan
Hi Tieghan.
I made this dish and it was wonderful! I subbed baby Bella mushrooms for the meat just because I love mushrooms and it sounded SO good when you mentioned it in your note. I forwarded this recipe on to my sister who is vegan so I’m sure it’ll be getting rave reviews from her too.
I had to add a little broth with the mushrooms since there was no grease from meat to help cook them, but that was the only thing I added to this awesome recipe. I saw a few comments about it not thickening, and I thought that people who aren’t in high altitude might need to make adjustments assuming you are still in Colorado as I am. I plan on ordering your cookbook next as well as trying a couple more of the recipes on your blog.
Thank you for sharing! It’s a keeper!
Hi Christine! I am so happy this recipe turned out so amazing for you! Thank you for trying it! I hope your sister loves it just as much! xTieghan
I’m so glad you posted this as we are big tot fans. I made it tonight and it was gobbled up.
Thank you so much Suzanne!! I am really glad this turned out so well for you! xTieghan
I had this ginormous bag of tator tots in the freezer and tried to find a quality dinner recipe……I made this tonight and we loved it. Fresh herbs. Fresh vegetables, Great array of flavors. I used 3 onions and caramelized for longer on a lower temp… shared the wine with the recipe[ha!]… my autistic child whose unsophisticated pallet was able to pick up on the “caramelly flavor” of the onion. I was able to use fresh herbs from my garden including the chives on the top. I used Manchego cheese as I’m dairy allergic and it was fantastic. I will certainly try your other recipes too!
Amazing!!! I am so glad this recipe turned out so well for you Karen! Thank you for trying it! xTieghan
How would one make this as a do ahead? Do you think reheat would have a crispy top still?
Hey Amelia,
I would assemble the dish ahead of time and then bake when you are ready to enjoy. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
havent cooked it yet, but five stars for the recipe share. I am cooking this tonight and avoiding extra trips to the store for obvious lousy reasons, I am out of soy sauce, what do you think of a little anchovy paste to provide the salt / umami? or just leave out the soy sauce or just borrow some from the neighbors?….Also, I told my husband to bring home sauv blanc, so he brought home cab sav lol. But what do you think about beer? The beef, skillet, potatoes….seems like a beer combo? As I have not yet tasted it, and it is ingredient heavy, its hard for me to imagine the taste profile and decide these things myself!
Hi Eliza,
I would skip the soy sauce or ask the neighbors? lol I think beer would be a good sub! I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan