I recently was introduced to the concept of a hotdish, which is apparently similar to a casserole and popular in Minnesota and North Dakota. I just loved what a silly and simple name “hotdish” is. Plus, you can make it for your own hot dish. Eyebrow waggle.
I decided to try one out, but to top it with some homemade sweet potato tater tots since I love adding sweet potatoes to pretty much anything. They are a gift to humanity. The trick to this will be not eating these tots before you actually get the hotdish made. They are addictive.
I looked around for some good recipes so as not to reinvent the wheel, but I pretty much ended up winging it both with ingredients and with baking time. Maybe my tots were especially large and needed more time to bathe in the heat? Who knows? The end result, though, were tots that stayed together well, were mildly sweet, and were very crispy. You could turn this into a sweeter side dish by the addition of some brown sugar and cinnamon if that’s more your speed. Paired with some cinnamon sugared cream cheese? Whoa mama.
Someone is going to demand you give them some of your tots.
Here’s how this super easy (no kidding) sweet potato tater tot recipe unfolds:
Ingredients
- 1 large sweet potato
- 2 tablespoons almond flour
- 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- Coconut oil spray
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 425F and line a baking sheet with parchment.
- Poke some holes into the sweet potato and microwave it on high for 4-5 minutes until it's tender to cut but not completely cooked.
- Cube the sweet potato into small chunks and add it to a food processor along with 3/4 cup of the Parmesan, the almond flour, and the pepper.
- Pulse the mixture until it's mashed but still fairly chunky. You don't want this to be too smooth. Alternately, you could mash this by hand since it's pretty soft.
- Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and begin scooping out small balls with your hands, a spoon, or a cookie scoop like I used.
- Roll the balls into the remaining Parmesan cheese, just enough to coat it as much as you can. The cheese can be a little stiff, so grate it as finely as possible. Mine was not quite fine enough, but it got the job done.
- Arrange the tots on your baking sheet and spray them super lightly with some coconut oil spray.
- Bake for a total of 30-40 minutes, rotating once or twice to make sure all sides get crispy. Re-spray the top when you turn them with a little more coconut oil so they brown a little.
- To make these ahead of time, freeze the unbaked tots on a baking sheet for one hour, then transfer the frozen tots to a freezer bag until you're ready to bake them.
Eating these with a dip old school lunch-style is totally acceptable if you’d rather not top them on some kind of casserole. Feel free to pair them with your own favorite sauce like barbecue, mustard, or spicy aioli.
Catherine Clark is a Chicago native sharing noteworthy things she sees and attempts to make in the world. She's a geek, cat lady, designer and editor by day, and noob chef by night.
YUUUUP. Definitely going to try these.
Yesss, do it, Doots! You will not regret that decision.
So excited! I have a HUGE sweet potato sitting on my counter and I wanted to do something new with it that wasn’t going to be a big hassle and take away my study time. TATER TOTS it is!!! Thanks! 🙂
Oh man, I hope you love them! I couldn’t get enough. 🙂