Tater tot casserole or hot dish, whatever you call it, it’s freaking amazing!
Yes, you heard right. VEGAN MEXICAN TATER TOT CASSEROLE. Did you know most tater tots are vegan? Did you know you are only about 20-30 minutes away from the best damn meal of your life? Well, here it is. This is great for so many occasions, perfect for large or small families, healthy and kid friendly! I probably don’t need to tell you I’m obsessed.
You can’t get much simpler than this tater tot casserole. The filling is tvp, black beans, corn, crushed tomatoes and taco seasoning. This only takes about 5 minutes. Then you just pour into a casserole dish, top with frozen tater tots and vegan cheese. Then bake.
To get all fancy, I like to put toppings on mine. Guacamole, lettuce, cilantro, whatever you want. I just really want my food to make people say “well, la dee da.” It is an important life goal.
This vegan Mexican tater tot casserole is my current favorite lazy dinner. Tater tots. Taco Filling. Guacamole. What more could a girl ask for? Maybe a nap?
There is not a single person I have made this for that wasn’t instantly in love. You can totally change up the protein as well, soy chorizo, tofu crumbles, or just more beans would all be incredible. Really anything topped with tater tots is a good idea. Well, maybe not desserts, but you get what I’m saying.
Vegan Mexican Tater Tot Casserole
Ingredients
- 2 C. Textured vegetable protein(TVP), I used Bob's red mill
- 2 C. Vegetable broth
- 3 Tbsp. Taco seasoning
- 1 Can(15oz.) Black beans, drained
- 1 Can(15oz.) Corn, drained
- 3/4 C. Crushed tomatoes
- 2-3 C. Tater tots(frozen), I used Trader Joe's
- 1/3 C. Vegan cheese, I used Follow Your Heart
- Salt and Pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- In a large non stick skillet, heat the vegetable broth on high. Bring to a simmer. Add the TVP. Stir and reduce heat to medium low. Cook for a minute until the TVP has absorbed all the veggie broth.
- Now add 2 Tbsp. of the taco seasoning. Stir into the TVP.
- Next, add the drained black beans and drained corn. Stir to combine. Then add the crushed tomatoes. Stir.
- Add the remaining 1 Tbsp. of taco seasoning. Simmer for 1-2 minutes. Now taste and adjust seasoning. Add salt and pepper if needed or more taco seasoning if it is too bland still.
- When the filling is ready, pour into a baking dish. I used a 9 inch baking dish. Smooth out filling.
- Then place the frozen tater tots on top in whatever pattern you want, covering the entire baking dish.
- Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes. When you have about 5-7 minutes left, pull the dish out of the oven and top with vegan cheese and return to the oven for the last 5-7 minutes. Once the tater tots are nice and brown and cooked through and the cheese melted(as much as vegan cheese will melt) remove from the oven.
- Serve with guacamole, salsa, cilantro or whatever you want! Serve immediately.
Notes
You and Connoiseurus Veg think alike!!
Made this for dinner tonight. Oh my it was good! Subbed tvp for vegan chorizo. It was a hit. Will definitely be in my rotation! Thank you for sharing!!
Hey, Lauren! This recipe sounds amazing and I want to try it for dinner tomorrow night! Quick question though: what is the purpose of the TVP? I do a WFPB diet and I find myself looking at more and more vegan recipes for inspiration and sometimes I am unfamiliar with some ingredients I see (such as TVP).
Thank you!
TVP is in crumbles, so it looks a great deal like ground beef, and can also replace it nicely because it is high in fiber and protein! It also has a nice firm texture so it can hold up and won’t get mushy or anything. It comes dry so it lasts for a long time, it’s cheap and can be used in so many different things! I hope that helps!
Yes! This helps so much! I’m excited to try the recipe and I actually decided to make this tonight. I found the TVP just now at the store when I was getting the tater tots. I will be subbing sweet potato tots for regular tots due to inflammation issues from regular potatoes, but other than that, I will stick to your recipe!
I’ll report back how it came out for me!
Thanks again for a great recipe post!
Your food is the greatest. Can you come up with a great jackfruit recipe?
Thank you so much! I can totally work on jackfruit recipes!
Looking for something non-soy to use instead of TVP. What do you think about replacing with quinoa to add another texture (instead of just adding more beans)? And how would you suggest working the quinoa in?
Quinoa sounds like a great idea! I would just cook the quinoa first and then add it in to be sauteed with the black beans and corn! I think that would be delicious!
Hi there, I just made your recipe as I was watching chopped (haha), anyway this was the bomb!! The only changes I made was to use use corn tots (slightly sweet and so yummy) in place of tater tots, and I used the last piece of seitan my husband makes, as the protein. It was what I had on hand, so I decided to just go for it. Delish! It was fast, easy, and I’ll definately make it along with my usual favorites. I also have been eating wfpb for about a year now, my husband is not wfpb (or vegan) but he’s vegan friendly. Thanks for sharing with us all. ; -)
Linda
My kids don’t like tater tots (are they my kids?!?). You think hashbrowns might work?
Totally! I think hashbrowns would be delicious!
I made this for brunch yesterday for a bunch of my friends and they all loved it. I tweaked the recipe just a bit. I sauteed onion, red bell pepper, garlic and some chipotles in adobo sauce first. Then I added tempeh and vegetable broth followed by Trader Joe’s Soyrizo. Spiced it up even more with some cumin and cayenne. I skipped the vegan cheese shreds and instead made a nacho cheese out of potatoes nooch and served that on the side.
wish I could rate more than 5 stars because this was SO DAMN GOOD. My fiancé and I devoured it! I used gardein beefless crumbles, and also made some vegan cheese sauce to add to the top instead of just the shreds. thanks for the recipe!
Made this last night for the whole family and it was a huge hit! Even the pickiest eaters cleaned their plates:) I did soyrizo from Trader Joe’s in place of the tvp and it definitely added a spicy kick. We will certainly add this great recipe into our rotation. Thanks!
I Made this last night for our Cinco de Mayo dinner…it was amazing!! We used quinoa instead of tvp and it turned out perfect. My 7 year old said, mom…put this on our list of favorites! Thank you for such an easy and healthy recipe!!
Amazing!!! Used sweet potato tots because it is what I had and it was so so good.
Any recommended brands for vegan shredded cheese? I’ve seen slices but not shredded.
Lauren prefers VioLife, which is carried at many major grocery chains!
I made this recipe yesterday for my family. Overall we liked it, but it was very salty. Next time, I think I’ll opt for low sodium taco seasoning and no salt tomatoes.
Hey Lauren! I’ve been following you on ig and finally got to try one of your recipes! This casserole came out so good. I did a small section with dairy cheese for my husband haha. I have leftovers. Do you have any reheating tips?
My family loves this dish! I added a sauteed red bell pepper and a red onion, and used fire roasted crusted tomatoes. Other than that, I followed the recipe. Another winner, thanks for the fantastic recipes! You’ve made our switch to plant based eating much easier.
I’m a huge fan of this. I use TVP in many things, but I have also used mushrooms (I like button and portobello chopped up) and walnuts (but are a bit bitter and if you don’t like that, don’t use. You can also use the impossible burger stuff, but it is processed and not really that healthy. BUT for picky eaters and needing a quick tasty meal, it works. I love also adding Tofutti sour cream to ours. So good. I’m not a big fan of any of the vegan cheese. Tastes to much like a plant. Not cheese. But as mentioned above VioLife is okay. Miyoko’sCreamy texture cheese is with chives is the best. You simply mix it in the sauce and it makes it richer.
Good Luck and Bon Appitite!
This is a regular for dinner at my home – we love it! Even my non-vegan husband!! I use Trader Joe’s Soyrizo (about half the log). I have used it with salsa instead of tomatoes, I have added sautéed onion. All great! I serve with tortillas and vegan queso or guac and it’s just so great! Who doesn’t love a tot
This was delicious! Very easy to throw together. I admittedly changed a few things (like adding ground turkey and cheese on half the casserole for my very un-vegan husband) but I plan to make the vegan version again because I enjoyed it so much! Added a chopped onion and maybe twice the amount of taco seasoning plus some chipotle seasoning to taste. Wonderful!
This recipe is such a hit. Even my non-vegan friends and family members devour this.
So, I was preparing this recipe, put the filling into my casserole dish and went to the freezer to get my tater tots. I turn around and there my boyfriend is, spooning some of the filling into a hot dog bun! lol! He says thought it was done. *rolls eyes*
He says the filling is delicious, though! I can’t wait to taste the finished product!
This is SO GOOD!! I use the Impossible Spicy Sausage rather than the TVP and only use half of the taco seasoning since the sausage is already seasoned. So quick and easy to throw together and so tasty! This will be a regular meal in our house from now on! Thank you!
If I were to want to freeze this recipe.. how would you advise I go about that?
My family loved this! My husband said he would eat this every week. Haha I’d love to experiment with using grounds or chorizo as well. Would I just do 2 cups or would it be more? I also added green pepper and would probably try jalapeños too. Oh and I used vegan pepper jack cheese. Thanks for another great recipe!
Yet another winning recipe from you! Perfect for a taco Tuesday when time is limited. I prepared the filling before taking my daughter to dance. Came home put the tots on top and popped in the oven! The icing on the vegan cake is that it’s kid approved!