Homemade tater tots are easier to make than you think and so much better than the store-bought tots. Make them with simple ingredients – they’re naturally gluten-free – plus I’ve got a recipe for a homemade ketchup too.
My kids used to love eating tater tots. And who doesn’t? I used to sneak in a few tots myself before I served them to my kids. But then one day I checked out the ingredients on the bag and was shocked.
POTATOES, VEGETABLE OIL (SUNFLOWER, COTTONSEED, SOYBEAN, AND/OR CANOLA), SALT, YELLOW CORN FLOUR, ONIONS, DEXTROSE, DISODIUM DIHYDROGEN PYROPHOSPHATE, NATURAL FLAVORING.1
First of all, vegetable oil (particularly soybean and canola) should be a cause for concern. These oils are inflammatory in the body and can cause a lot of health issues. They are also heavily refined and derived from GMO sources.
Dextrose is another name for sugar but most dextrose in the US is derived from GMO corn and heavily refined.
Disodium dihydrogen pyrophosphate is a food additive often used in packaged tater tots, french fries and hash browns to prevent color change and oxidation. It also lengthens the shelf life of packaged foods.2 I couldn’t find much else about this additive, which makes me want to avoid it more.
And finally, the “natural flavoring” in a package of tater tots is anyone’s guess.
Then, I thought I’d buy tater tots from natural brands instead. Surprisingly, I couldn’t find anything in my local health food store that didn’t have dextrose, vegetable oils or other ingredients I wanted to avoid.
How to Make Gluten-Free Homemade Tater Tots
Homemade tater tots are pretty easy to make. The only thing that takes some time is forming the tots but that can be a fun job to enlist the kids to help.
1. Heat oven to 400 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, toss lard or oil with potatoes, onion and garlic.
2. Add potato mixture to a large baking pan. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until potatoes are soft (don’t overcook). Remove from heat and let cool for 10 minutes.
3. Add potato mixture to a food processor and pulse 7-8 times or until diced chunks are the size of small pebbles or chunky. Don’t pulse too long – you don’t want mashed potatoes.
4. Return mixture to a large mixing bowl. Add Parmesan, arrowroot powder, salt, pepper and paprika. Use a spatula to mix well. Again, don’t mash the mixture.
5. You have two options here to form the tater tots. You could also hand roll each tot but it takes longer.
- Spoon about 1 cup of the mixture onto parchment paper (cut out about 8? x 8?). Use parchment paper like a sushi roller and roll the potato mixture to about 1-inch in thickness. Unroll to show long tube of mixture. Cut in 1-2-inch tots and set aside.
- Line a large baking pan (make sure it fits in your freezer) with parchment paper. Spoon all of the mixture into the baking pan. Mixture should be about 1-inch thick. Freeze for about 20-30 minutes to firm up mixture. Remove from freezer and cut into tot-sized shapes. Set aside.
- At this point you can freeze the tots for later use. I recommend setting out on a baking pan or cutting board about 1 inch apart and freeze for 20-30 minutes (if you did the freeze and shape style to form the tot, you could skip this step). Then transfer the tots to a freezer-safe container and use as needed. Bake according to step 8 when ready to cook.
6. To cook, heat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking pan with parchment paper (reuse the parchment paper used to form the tots earlier). Line tots about 1 inch apart in the baking pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes.
How to Make Homemade Ketchup
Homemade Ketchup is SO EASY to make – and this version doesn’t even require cooking, yet it contains beneficial probiotics (from whey or fresh sauerkraut juice) to help support a healthy digestive system. So now you can encourage the kids to eat their ketchup to get a daily dose of probiotics.
1. Mix all ingredients in a medium-sized bowl. Combine well.
2. Pour into a glass Mason jar (leave at least 1-2 inches from the top free for air). Seal tightly with a lid and let sit for 2-3 days at room temperature.
3. Use as needed and store in the refrigerator.
More Side Dishes You Like
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Gluten Free Homemade Tater Tots
Ingredients
- 4 large Russet potatoes peeled and diced
- 1/2 yellow onion diced
- 2 cloves garlic fined chopped
- 3 tbsp lard or coconut oil
- 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese grated
- 1.5 tbsp arrowroot powder
- Celtic sea salt to taste
- black pepper to taste
- paprika
Instructions
- Heat oven to 400¯F/200°C degrees.
- In a large mixing bowl, toss lard or oil with potatoes, onion and garlic.
- Add potato mixture to a large baking pan. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until potatoes are soft (don’t overcook). Remove from heat and let cool for 10 minutes.
- Add potato mixture to a food processor and pulse 7-8 times or until diced chunks are the size of small pebbles or chunky. Don’t pulse too long – you don’t want mashed potatoes.
- Return mixture to a large mixing bowl. Add Parmesan, arrowroot powder, salt, pepper and paprika. Use a spatula to mix well. Again, don’t mash the mixture.
- You have two options here to form the tater tots. You could also hand roll each tot but it takes longer.
Sushi roller style
- Spoon about 1 cup of the mixture onto parchment paper (cut out about 8? x 8?). Use parchment paper like a sushi roller and roll the potato mixture to about 1-inch in thickness. Unroll to show long tube of mixture. Cut in 1-2-inch tots and set aside.
Freeze and shape style:
- Line a large baking pan (make sure it fits in your freezer) with parchment paper. Spoon all of the mixture into the baking pan. Mixture should be about 1-inch thick. Freeze for about 20-30 minutes to firm up mixture. Remove from freezer and cut into tot-sized shapes. Set aside.
- At this point you can freeze the tots for later use. I recommend setting out on a baking pan or cutting board about 1 inch apart and freeze for 20-30 minutes (if you did the freeze and shape style to form the tot, you could skip this step). Then transfer the tots to a freezer-safe container and use as needed. Bake according to step 8 when ready to cook.
- To cook, heat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking pan with parchment paper (reuse the parchment paper used to form the tots earlier). Line tots about 1 inch apart in the baking pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes.
Notes
Tools & Equipment
Nutrition
Homemade Ketchup
Ingredients
- 6 oz organic tomato paste
- 2-3 tbsp raw honey
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 clove clove garlic, finely minced
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/8 tsp paprika
- 1/8 tsp onion powder
- 1/8 tsp clove
- 1/8 tsp cinnamon
- 2 tbsp liquid whey or vegetable brine (such as sauerkraut juice) optional - will extend the shelf life
Instructions
- Mix all ingredients in a medium-sized bowl. Combine well.
- Pour into a glass Mason jar (leave at least 1-2 inches from the top free for air). Seal tightly with a lid and let sit for 2-3 days at room temperature.
- Use as needed and store in the refrigerator.
Nutrition
Photo credit: Bigstockphoto.com / FomaA
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Hi Tracey,
I’m wondering if you could ballpark the potatoes for me by weight? I usually get the 3lb bag of organic russets and they’re rarely bigger than the palm of my hand.
I haven’t had tots in years and my toddler never has had them- really looking forward to giving these a go! Thank you so much for posting ?
Hmmm I don’t know by weight but about the size of the palm of my hand.
Do uou tjink they will still form without the parm? I cant have dairy.
Try it and let me know how it goes. 🙂
These look so good, so happy I can make these without nasty additives!