Comforting and plant-based this vegan tater tot hotdish is the perfect cozy dinner.
Jump to RecipeAs a born-and-raised Minnesotan, tater tot hotdish is my ultimate comfort food. And yes, it’s hotdish and not casserole over here. :P Typically, we make our tater tot hotdish with meat, but since I have so many friends eating more plant-based I decided to test myself and see if I could make a vegan tater tot hotdish. And lo and behold, here it is!
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The first thing I like to do is bake my tater tots for a bit so that they’re crispier in the hotdish. This is totally optional and up to personal preference, you can just add them frozen to the hotdish if you’d like. I just love that crunch though, so that’s the first thing I do so that they can bake while I’m prepping everything else.
While your tater tots are baking (if you’ve chosen to do this step), heat the olive oil in a dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the onion and garlic and saute until onion is translucent, or about 3 minutes. Enjoy the smells while you’re doing this (this step is not optional :P).
I use a dutch oven so that I can saute my veggies in the same dish I’m baking in. If you don’t have one, you can also use a glass casserole dish for the baking part and cook your veggies in a saute pan. You also may be able to use your stock pot as well, just make sure it’s oven-safe.
Once your onion is translucent, add in the mushrooms and vegan plant-based crumbles and saute until mushrooms are softened and crumbles are heated through, about 3 minutes. Personally, I prefer the frozen plant-based crumbles’ texture, but you could also use vegan ground. Basically, use whichever plant-based “ground beef” substitute you’d like!
Then, coat everything with the flour and ground black pepper. Once coated, pour in the soy milk (or your other favorite non-dairy milk). Wait until you see the milk start to bubble before turning off the heat.
Arrange the tater tots on top of your veggie mixture. Don’t stir them in, just let them sit on top. Cover, and bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for about 45-50 minutes. Remove the cover for the final 10 minutes of baking so the tater tots can get nice and browned. Let your hotdish sit for about 5 minutes before serving.
Can’t you just feel the cozy vibes from this dish? I certainly can! Store any leftovers in an airtight glass container in the refrigerator for up to 3-5 days, and enjoy!
If you try this recipe, please be sure to leave me your thoughts and a rating in the comments below. Don’t forget to tag me @HookomOnHealth and use the #HookomOnHealth so that I can see your creations online!
Please note there are Amazon affiliate links in this post. While the cost to you is the same, I do earn a small commission on any sales made through the links in this post. I would never recommend anything that I don’t believe in–thank you for your support!
Vegan Tater Tot Hotdish
Ingredients
- 1 (32 oz) bag frozen tater tots (approx 4 cups)
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1/2 medium yellow onion diced
- 8 oz baby bella mushrooms finely chopped
- 10 oz frozen plant-based crumbles
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 cups soy milk (or other non-dairy milk of choice)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and line a baking sheet with silicone baking mat, parchment paper, or foil.
- Spread tater tots evenly onto baking sheet and bake in preheated oven for 10-15 minutes or until to desired level of crispiness. Baking tater tots before putting them in the hotdish is highly recommended, but not required.
- Heat olive oil in a large, oven-safe dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add garlic and onion to dutch oven and saute until onion is translucent, about 2-3 minutes.
- Add the mushrooms and plant-based crumbles and saute until mushrooms are softened and crumbles are heated through, about 2-3 minutes.
- Add ground black pepper and all-purpose flour and stir until the contents of the dutch oven are evenly coated.
- Add the soy milk and stir until the mixture comes to a boil. Once mixture is boiling, turn off heat.
- Arrange tater tots on top of the veggie mixture. Cover the dutch oven, and bake in preheated oven for 45-50 minutes, or until hotdish is golden-brown. Remove cover for the final 10 minutes of baking.
- Let hotdish sit for 5 minutes before serving.
Notes
- I use my Le Creuset enameled cast iron dutch oven for this recipe so that I can saute and bake in the same dish, but you could also use a glass casserole dish to bake your hotdish or an oven-safe stock pot or deep skillet.
- I used Beyond Meat's plant-based crumbles, but you can use any plant-based crumbles of your choosing.
- Store any leftovers in an airtight glass container in the refrigerator for up to 3-5 days.