One of my favorite things to make when I first moved out from my parents house was <frozen> tater tots – so clearly I use the word ‘make’ loosely! I didn’t cook much and worked an hour away from home so getting home late and hungry, led me to making many pre-made “foods” and just tossing in the oven to re-heat, if you will. So tater tots were always in the weekly rotation!
I’m not gonna lie — I still bought them even when I started cooking a lot and would serve them to my kiddos. They loved them just as much as I did and it was such a good finger food. Those tots and hot pockets (yep……ugh…..I cringe now that I think about it!) were in my freezer pretty much all the time.
Let us fast forward now so I don’t start spinning my wheels with ‘woulda – shoulda – coulda’! Ok — so ….now I love sweet potatoes! I love them mashed, french fried, skinned and zoodled! I have seen sweet potatoes in hash and tater tot form in the frozen sections in some grocery stores but have you checked the ingredients???
I’ll just leave it at that and not say who the company is. But as you can see, there are many ingredients that in my opinion, don’t have to be there!
I had a few sweet potatoes and in deciding what to do with them, I decided to take a stab at Tots! I am pretty happy with the outcome and it’s ALWAYS nice when the hubby keeps commenting on how good they are! I do add some cayenne pepper because I love a little kick but you can certainly omit that ingredient if you prefer.
These are fun on the side, as a starter or in a meal! I used some shredded chicken I had on hand from the day before and topped the tots, added some garlic aioli and green onions — it was kinda like a stuffed sweet potato but with a little more texture because of the tot forms 🙂
- 3 medium sweet potatoes/peeled (about 6 cups)
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup cassava flour
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
- Avocado oil (or favorite cooking oil - I have used leaf lard as well)
- Grate potatoes in a food processor using the grater attachment. Alternatively, grate with handheld grater. (Food processor makes this quick and easy but you will need to take a knife through the larger "strands").
- Place the shredded potatoes in a towel and ring out liquids from potato.
- In a large bowl, mix potatoes, flour, egg and seasonings together.
- In a small pot, heat enough oil to hit the pot about 1/2 way up sides.
- While oil is heating, form your tots. I used a small scooper and just formed into balls.
- Using a mesh handled spoon or slotted spoon, carefully place tots into the oil - about 4 or 5 at a time to keep from crowding. Toss around oil for 4ish minutes and transfer with slotted/mesh spoon to paper towel to drain. Continue with remaining tots. Sprinkle with more salt if desired.
What is the white dollop on top of the pulled pork in the picture above?
Hi Shellie! It’s a garlic aioli. I have a recipe on my blog …it was so good plopped on top! There’s a direct link on the last paragraph of the post 🙂
Hi! Can Tapioca flour / arrowroot be used instead of cassava flour?
Hi Sana! I would try tapioca. Cassava acts more like a traditional flour but I have subbed tapioca in some recipes & it just comes out a little “crunchier” which wouldn’t hurt in this situation! #crispytaters 🙂
Hi Valerie!
I was wondering, could these be baked in the oven instead of frying? If so, what temperature would you recommend and for how long? I love your blog by the way! Thanks so much!
Thanks so much Amanda!! And yes, I’m sure you could bake these in oven. I haven’t tried yet (I should!) but I would say bake at about 425 for 25ish minutes. I would use parchment paper or grease a baking pan. And I would turn the tots a few times throughout cooking. Let me know if you bake them … I’d love to share the baking modification 🙂
Would you be able to use Coconut flour instead of cassava flour?
Coconut flour really absorbs a lot of moisture so you would need to change up wet ingredient measurements. I’m sure almond flour would work though! 🙂