Loaded Tater Tots in the Air Fryer

Name: Loaded Tater Tots in the Air Fryer
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 26 min
Total time: 31 min
Ingredients: 4 slices bacon (cut in to 1/2 inch pieces); 1 pound frozen tater tots; ½ cup shredded colby jack cheese (or shredded cheddar cheese); 1 jalapeno (sliced (can use pickled jalapeños) ); 2 green onions (sliced); ¼ cup pico de gallo (store-bought or this recipe); ¼ cup sour cream

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Total Time: 31 minutes

Servings: 2 servings

Loaded tater tots in the air fryer are easy to make, especially when you can cook frozen tater tots, leaving very little prep!

For the best air fryer tater tots, make LOADED tater tots or “tater tot nachos” in the air fryer, with delicious toppings, and it may just become one of your new favorite air fryer recipes!

air fryer tater tots loaded with toppings — Loaded Tater Tots – Or “Tater Tot Nachos”

Why you’ll love this easy recipe:

Whether you need to add to your list of favorite snacks, or you need an easy appetizer recipe for game day, movie night, or even if you just need a great side dish, these golden brown tots, loaded with cheese, jalapenos, pico de gallo and your favorite toppings, may be the best thing to ever come out of your air fryer basket!

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Why you’ll love this easy recipe:
Ingredients
Instructions
Topping Ideas for Tater Tots
What goes well with loaded tater tots
Dipping sauces for tater tots
More air fryer recipes you’ll love
Variations
Air fryer used for this recipe
Storage
Loaded Tater Tots in the Air Fryer

Ingredients

The best part of these “tater tot nachos”, as we like to call them sometimes, is that you can add your favorite toppings and you don’t have to stick to the ingredients below but it’s definitely our favorite combination!

4 slices bacon, cut in to ½ inch pieces
1 pound tater tots, frozen
½ cup shredded colby jack (or shredded cheddar cheese)
1 jalapeno, sliced
2 green onions, sliced
¼ cup pico de gallo
¼ cup sour cream

Ingredients for loaded tater tots — Ingredients for Loaded Tater Tots

Instructions

Place the uncooked bacon strips into the air fryer at 400°F for 11 minutes until the bacon is crispy. If the bacon is not cooked through, you might need to add a few minutes, depending on your air fryer.

Uncooked bacon in air fryer — Uncooked bacon pieces

Cooked bacon in air fryer basket — Uncooked bacon pieces

Remove the bacon from the basket and place in a bowl/plate that’s covered with paper towels, to set aside until the air fryer tater tots are done cooking.

Add the tater tots in to the air fryer basket. (Ideally, a single layer is recommended, although a little overlap is ok since you’ll be shaking the basket. However it’s best not to put a large amount of tots in the fryer to prevent undercooking.) Set the air fryer to 400°F for 15 minutes, shaking the basket halfway through to stir the tater tots.

frozen tater tots in air fryer — Frozen tater tots

cooked tater tots in air fryer — Frozen tater tots

Sprinkle the tater tots with the bacon and cheese. Set the air fryer to 400°F for 2 minutes until the cheese is melted.

Shredded cheese on tater tots — Shredded Cheese on Tots

Melted cheese on tater tots — Shredded Cheese on Tots

Remove the tots from the air fryer and top them with your favorite toppings! Like

Slices of jalapenos…

Chopped green onions…

Fresh pico de gallo…

Or sour cream!

Topping Ideas for Tater Tots

If you’re looking for more topping ideas for tater tots, here are other favorites you may love:

Guacamole
Salsa
Lettuce
Queso
Black Olives
Refried Beans
Pulled pork
Chicken pieces
Leftover steak pieces
Chili
Jalapeno ranch
Garlic powder
Onion powder

What goes well with loaded tater tots

Although these “tater tot nachos” can be a meal themselves, it’s also fun to serve other favorite appetizers and side dishes with them. Like this taco dip and this frito chili pie that has similar toppings!

Dipping sauces for tater tots

Dipping tater tots in to your favorite dipping sauce can also be a great option! For instance:

honey mustard
barbecue sauce
ranch dressing

More air fryer recipes you’ll love

If you love using your air fryer, then you’ll also enjoy this easy tutorial for air fryer bacon, air fryer tofu, air fryer bacon and these air fryer hamburgers!

Variations

Love the idea of loaded tater tots but want more ideas? Consider the following ideas to use in place of tater tots!

Cauliflower tater tots
Veggie tots
French fries
Sweet potato fries or sweet potato tots
Homemade tater tots
Leftover tater tots
Potato puffs
Air fryer Hashbrowns
Air fryer breakfast potatoes

Can you make loaded tater tots ahead of time?

The longer these tater tots are sitting around, the more they lose their crispy texture, so I recommend eating these while they are hot.

Is there a way to cut down on the cooking time, so I don’t have to wait so long to enjoy these?

The quickest way to make these is by using pre-cooked bacon so you can skip the bacon cooking process.

How do I get the crispiest tater tots?

For crispy air fryer tater tots, using an air fryer is recommended for maximum crispness! However if you don’t have an air fryer, cooking them in the oven on 425°, on a baking sheet in a single layer, for 19-21 minutes is the next best. Microwaving tater tots can give more of a soggy texture though so that’s not recommended.

Air fryer used for this recipe

The air fryer used for this recipe is a Ninja Foodie. However using your favorite air fryer is perfectly fine! Please note that for different, larger air fryer or smaller air fryers, the cook time can vary.

So it’s best to watch to see when the air fryer tots are golden brown for best results!

Storage

If you have leftover tots, if they have toppings on them, they could get soggy. However, it’s worth it to place them back in the air fryer to reheat and warm back up for ultimate crispiness!