Sloppy Joe tater tot casserole is both quick and easy and kid-friendly. With all the flavors you love in a Sloppy Joe and the fun of tater tots!
Today we’ll be making sloppy Joe tater tot casserole. It’s an easy meal to put together that’s kid-friendly and super yummy. I wanted to play around with some tater tots because they are so darn cute so in today’s recipe, we’ll be doing just that.
And seriously, these little things are like an army. I had a ton of fun lining them up in the casserole dish so this could also be a group activity with your kids.
It has all the flavors you love in a Sloppy Joe with all the fun of tater tots. There’s also a ton of cheese to appeal to the cheese-loving eaters out there. There’s some cream cheese mixed in with the beefy sloppy Joe sauce and generous layers of cheddar in between that and the tater tots.
So despite being a very simple casserole to throw together, this is not lacking in flavor and should appeal to both kids and adults alike. So let’s start cooking.
How To Make Sloppy Joe Tater Tot Casserole (1 Min Video)
What You Need For Tater Tot Casserole
Here’s what you need to make this delicious casserole. You can use any kind of color for the bell peppers, I just went with red. I used canned corn but you can also use frozen corn. Also, feel free to substitute the onions and garlic for onion and garlic powder.
Shred your own block of cheese or buy the pre-shredded bagged kind to make things easier. The sloppy Joe sauce flavor really stands on its own but I added some smoked paprika because the smokier, the better! I used the canned Manwich sauce for this recipe.
SLOPPY JOE TATER TOT CASSEROLE RECIPE TIPS
Sauté the onions, garlic, bell peppers, corn and some ground beef in a skillet. Then add in the cream cheese, Sloppy Joe sauce and season it with smoked paprika and salt and pepper to taste.
Spread the meat base in a 9×13 casserole dish and top with some cheddar cheese. Have fun lining up your army of tater tots and top it with even more cheese love. You don’t need to cook the tater tots beforehand and it’s perfectly fine using them straight from frozen. All you need to do is let them sit at room temperature for a little while so they don’t stick together and are easy to separate and line up.
Some notes: I used about 90% of the bag of frozen tater tots so you might have leftovers like me. I also added some smoked paprika and salt and pepper because even though the Sloppy Joe sauce tastes great on its own, I wanted even more flavor and smoked paprika really brings the flavor together.
And that’s about it. Enjoy your tater tots and happy eating!
MORE KID-FRIENDLY RECIPES TO TRY
- Bacon Cheeseburger Tater Tot Casserole
- Slow Cooker Beef and Cheese Pasta
- Pizza Pasta Casserole
- Oven-Baked Chicken Strips
- Sour Cream Beef Noodle Casserole
Did you make this recipe? Rate it!
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Sloppy Joe Tater Tot Casserole
- Total Time: 40 mins
- Yield: 6-8 1x
Description
Sloppy Joe tater tot casserole is both quick and easy and kid-friendly. With all the flavors you love in a Sloppy Joe and the fun of tater tots!
Ingredients
- 1 lb. ground beef
- 1/2 sweet/yellow onion, diced
- 1 teaspoon garlic, minced
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 1 can (15 oz.) corn, drained
- 1 can (24 oz.) Sloppy Joe sauce
- 4 tablespoons cream cheese
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded and divided
- 32 oz. frozen tater tots
Instructions
- Over medium-high heat, brown beef until cooked. Drain any fat and remove and set aside.
- In the same pan, saute onions and garlic until translucent.
- Add red bell pepper and corn and cook until soft.
- Add beef, Sloppy Joe sauce, cream cheese, paprika and salt and pepper to taste. Stir to combine.
- Simmer over medium-low heat for 5 minutes.
- Pour the beef mixture into a 9×13 casserole dish and spread evenly.
- Top with a layer of 1 cup of cheese.
- Arrange tater tots and sprinkle with remaining cheese.
- Bake at 450°F for 20 minutes or until the tater tots are crispy and golden.
- Dish and serve hot.
- Enjoy!
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
Comments & Reviews
hi, can’t give it any stars yet as I haven’t made it! I live in the UK – what is Sloppy Joes sauce?
It’s ground beef in a tomato sauce/ketchup base mixed with other seasonings. It comes in cans stateside but you can also make it from scratch. I have a recipe for homemade sloppy Joe sauce if you’re interested.
I just made it yesterday.Oh my God, it is so delicious.I mak this again and again.And my husband loved it too
I’m so glad this casserole was a hit! This is an older recipe of mine that remains a favorite so I’m always happy to hear it’s still doing well. I hope you enjoy it just as much the next time you make it, Rosanna.
I’m making this casserole ahead of time for a friend recovering from surgery. Do you have any adjusted cooking times when the casserole has been refrigerated?
Good question! I would take the casserole out of the fridge and let it sit on the counter for 30 minutes before baking to bring it to room temperature first. Then maybe add an extra 10-15 minutes of baking time to account for the fact that it’s baking from being chilled.
I hope your friend recovers quickly!
Made this tonight, suggest NOT putting the remaining chesse sprinkled over the tots until its nearly done baking. The cheese gets cooked too much at 450 degrees. I had to cover it to keep it from burning more which defeats the purpose of crisping up the tots.
Thanks for trying it and your tip! Tips are always welcome on the blog. 🙂