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.
Tater tot casserole or Hot dish, whatever you call it, this vegan Mexican version is out of control delicious!
- 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
- Guacamole
- Cilantro
- Salsa
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Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
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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.
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Now add 2 Tbsp. of the taco seasoning. Stir into the TVP.
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Next, add the drained black beans and drained corn. Stir to combine. Then add the crushed tomatoes. Stir.
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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.
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When the filling is ready, pour into a baking dish. I used a 9 inch baking dish. Smooth out filling.
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Then place the frozen tater tots on top in whatever pattern you want, covering the entire baking dish.
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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.
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Serve with guacamole, salsa, cilantro or whatever you want! Serve immediately.
This can be prepped ahead. Just make the filling, put into the baking dish and put in the fridge. When ready to make, just top with frozen tater tots and bake.
The recipe calls for 2-3 cups of tater tots, because it will depend on what the shape and size of your baking dish is, since you need to cover the whole thing.
You can substitute the tvp and veggie broth for soy chorizo, tofu crumbles or just more beans if you want.
Things2Eat
April 6, 2018 at 6:40 pmYou and Connoiseurus Veg think alike!!
Amy
May 2, 2019 at 11:34 pmMade 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!!
Rebecca Y.
April 6, 2018 at 6:51 pmHey, 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!
Lauren Hartmann
April 6, 2018 at 7:30 pmTVP 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!
byoungonline
April 6, 2018 at 9:09 pmYes! 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!
Courtney
April 17, 2018 at 11:30 pmYour food is the greatest. Can you come up with a great jackfruit recipe?
Lauren Hartmann
April 18, 2018 at 3:32 pmThank you so much! I can totally work on jackfruit recipes!
Michelle
April 28, 2018 at 2:45 pmLooking 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?
Lauren Hartmann
April 30, 2018 at 1:38 pmQuinoa 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!
Linda
July 15, 2018 at 1:44 amHi 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
Britta
January 2, 2019 at 4:30 pmMy kids don’t like tater tots (are they my kids?!?). You think hashbrowns might work?
Lauren Hartmann
January 2, 2019 at 9:32 pmTotally! I think hashbrowns would be delicious!
Molly
February 19, 2019 at 3:23 pmI 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.