Home Made Interest » Recipes » Appetizers » Cheeseburger Tater Tot Cups
published on January 30, 2024
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These mini cheeseburger tater tot cups are crispy one bite tater tot cups filled with cheeseburger and topped with Big Mac sauce. They are an easy appetizer for your game day party!
I’ll admit I’m a tater tot fanatic. If I find a place with tater tots on the menu they are instantly my new favorite restaurant. Tater tots are little, crisp, golden, bites of potato deliciousness!
These delicious cheeseburger tater tot cups are like wrapping your cheeseburger up in french fries. Are you drooling yet?!
This is one of the best game day foods! Serve it alongside one of our slider recipes and some crispy chicken wings and air fryer nachos while you cheer your team on.
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Ingredients You’ll Need
Cheeseburger Tater Tots:
- Frozen Tater Tots – Any brand will do!
- Ground beef – We use 80/20 ground beef. Make sure to drain off the excess liquid after cooking!
- Onion – a small onion, preferably yellow or white.
- Seasoning – Salt and pepper are the only seasonings you’ll need for your ground beef.
- Condiments – Mayonnaise, yellow mustard, ketchup, and pickle relish all come together to give the ground beef that burger flavor.
- Cheddar cheese – Shredded cheddar cheese is out go-to for burgers but you can use any cheese you like.
- Mini Pickles – Tiny pickled that are usually found with the condiments and other jarred, pickled foods such as pickled onions, artichoke hearts, and roasted red pepper.
Big Mac Sauce:
- Condiments – Mayonnaise, yellow mustard, and pickle relish give this special sauce it’s bold flavor.
- White wine vinegar – this vinegar is slightly less sharp than straight white viengar and we think it gives the sauce a more pleasant flavor.
- Seasoning – Paprika, onion powder, and garlic powder
How to Make Big Mac Sauce
- Step 1 – Combine. Place all ingredients in a bowl and whish together. It’s that easy!
How to Make Cheeseburger Tater Tots
Step 1 – Prepare oven. Preheat oven to 425°F.
Step 2 – Cook meat. Brown ground beef in a skillet over medium high heat. Once meat has browned drain the grease then add beef and onions back to the skillet and cook until the onions have softened.
Step 3 – Add condiments and seasoning. Add mayonnaise, mustard, ketchup, and pickle relish to the ground beef and stir to combine. Salt and pepper to taste.
Step 4 – Prepare pan. Grease a mini muffin pan and place three tater tots in each cup. Bake for 10 minutes.
Step 5 – Create cups. After 10 minutes remove the muffin pan from the oven and use a tamper to press the tater tots down into each cup. This will create a tater tot cup.
Step 6 – Fill. Fill the tater tots with the ground beef mixture and top with cheddar cheese.
Step 7 – Bake cups. Place the tater tots back in the oven and cook for another 15 minutes.
Step 8 – Cool. When the Cheeseburger tots come out of the oven let them cool in the pan for 5 minutes or so, then gently remove them from the pan and place them on a serving tray.
Step 9 – Garnish and serve. Drizzle the special sauce over the cheeseburger tots and top with mini pickle slices. Serve and enjoy!
More Tater Tot Recipes:
- Taco Tater Tot Bites
- Loaded Tater Tot Bites
- Sausage, Egg, and Cheese Breakfast Tots
- Ham and Cheese Tater Tot Skewers
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Servings: 16
Prep Time: 20 minutes mins
Cook Time: 35 minutes mins
Total Time: 55 minutes mins
Cheeseburger Tots
Created By:
These Cheeseburger tots are tater tot bites filled with hamburger, cheese, pickles, and a special sauce.
Print Recipe
4.19 from 168 votes
Ingredients
Cheeseburger Tots
- 48 Frozen Tater Tots
- 1 pound Ground beef
- 1/2 cup Finely diced onion
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoons Mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons Yellow mustard
- 2 tablespoons Ketchup
- 2 tablespoons Pickle relish
- 1 cup Shredded cheddar cheese
- 24 Mini Pickles for garnish
Special Sauce
- 1/2 cup Mayonnaise
- 4 tablespoons Pickle relish
- 2 tablespoons Yellow mustard
- 1 teaspoon White wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon Paprika
- 1 teaspoon Onion powder
- 1 teaspoon Garlic powder
Instructions
Preheat oven to 425°F.
Brown ground beef in a skillet over medium high heat. Once meat has browned drain the grease then add beef and onions back to the skillet and cook until the onions have softened.
Add mayonnaise, mustard, ketchup, and pickle relish to the ground beef and stir to combine. Salt and pepper to taste.
Grease a mini muffin pan and place three tater tots in each cup. Bake for 10 minutes.
After 10 minutes remove the muffin pan from the oven and use a tamper to press the tater tots down into each cup. This will create a tater tot cup.
Fill the tater tots with the ground beef mixture and top with cheddar cheese.
Place the tater tots back in the oven and cook for another 15 minutes.
Remove the cheeseburger tots from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes before removing them from the muffin pan.
While the cheeseburger tots cool mix together all of the special sauce ingredients.
Drizzle the special sauce over the cheeseburger tots and top with mini pickle slices. Serve and enjoy!
Nutrition
Serving: 3tots, Calories: 241kcal, Carbohydrates: 25g, Protein: 13g, Fat: 10g, Saturated Fat: 4g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 27mg, Sodium: 311mg, Potassium: 380mg, Fiber: 3g, Sugar: 1g, Vitamin A: 150IU, Vitamin C: 1.7mg, Calcium: 80mg, Iron: 2.3mg
Nutrition Disclaimer: We are not certified nutritionists. Nutrition facts are an estimate and are provided as a courtesy. They are generated by an online API which recognizes ingredient names and amounts and makes calculations based on the serving size. Results may vary.
Course: Appetizer
Cuisine: American
Appetizers Game Day Recipes
121 Comments / Leave a Comment »
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121 comments on “Cheeseburger Tater Tot Cups”
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Erin — February 17, 2018 @ 9:41 pm Reply
Yum!! These were delicious! I made a few additions: added mushrooms to my meat and onion mixture, along with Montreal seasoning and garlic salt. Mine too, were a little mushy and I didn’t read the comments first, so I flipped them upside down and baked for an additional 10 minutes. They. Were. Awesome!
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Melinda — February 21, 2018 @ 10:34 am Reply
Great! The mushrooms and onions depending on how long they cooked for adds extra moisture too.
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Rich — February 24, 2018 @ 5:04 pm Reply
These were a big hit at the Cub Scout banquet, lots of compliments
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Amanda — March 5, 2018 @ 11:40 am Reply
Are these freezable?
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Melinda — March 6, 2018 @ 9:53 am Reply
Do you want to freeze the tot cup empty or filled?
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Norene — April 21, 2018 @ 7:43 am Reply
Are they freezable after cooking? Thanks
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Melinda — April 23, 2018 @ 3:19 pm Reply
Hi Norene, I would not recommend freezing them.
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RENEE — April 15, 2018 @ 5:52 pm Reply
the tater tot cheeseburger needs some work. Too much pickle relish, no need. The hamburger mixture itself needs flavor. I don’t think the sauce is needed at all but if desired maybe some heat would step things up a bit. On the positive side…the tater tors used for a crust r geeat
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Scott — May 26, 2018 @ 10:06 pm Reply
Is that a regular muffin pan or mini muffin pan?
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Kat — May 26, 2018 @ 10:29 pm Reply
It is a mini muffin pan.
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Tiara — June 1, 2018 @ 6:55 pm Reply
We really love these and have made them numerous times! My sister in law recommended them and I can taste why! I like the bottoms decently crispy so after smashing then with a shot glass or measuring cup I usually crisp them up a little extra. And the sauce is so good! I’ve learned we like to have a good green salad and often we have applesauce or mandarin oranges and bananas, too. Sometimes whole grain bread as well. The sauce is great on burgers, too.
Tonight I think I’ll try making this in a rectangle baking pan just to see if it cuts down my prep time since we have a family of 9. First time we had these one of my younger children thought I called them burgen cups (Trolls) and every since that’s what we lovingly call them!-
Melinda — June 3, 2018 @ 6:57 pm Reply
It brings us so much joy knowing how much your family enjoys them. Thank you for sharing!
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Mere — April 26, 2019 @ 4:30 pm Reply
Tiara, did you by chance ever make these in a 9×13 pan? If so, how did they turn out? Thanks!
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Vicki — August 18, 2018 @ 1:13 pm Reply
Did you use sweet pickle relish or dill pickle relish?? I want to make these today for our fantasy football draft party!
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Kat — August 18, 2018 @ 1:17 pm Reply
Hi Vicki, I used dill pickle relish. I hope you like them as much as we do!!
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Vicki — August 18, 2018 @ 1:26 pm Reply
Perfect! Thanks so much. I can’t wait to make them!
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Miranda — September 22, 2018 @ 12:47 pm Reply
I’m wondering if I can make these ahead of time to take to a party, and if they should be reheated?
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Kat — September 22, 2018 @ 2:47 pm Reply
I think they are best fresh but if you make them ahead of time and need to reheat u suggest putting them back in the mini muffins tin and heating them in the oven on 350F for 10 mins or until warmed through
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LadyJ1225 — October 29, 2018 @ 7:14 pm Reply
Oh my gosh, these are wonderful! Maybe too wonderful. I made a batch to take to a party but 3/4 of them were eaten before I even had a chance to put them on a plate. Good thing I had enough ingredients to make another batch. And since they are so easy and quick to make, it was no problem to whip them up in no time. Dee-lish! Thank you = )
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Kat — October 31, 2018 @ 9:10 am Reply
Lol I know that feeling. They are irresistible!
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Merilee — November 11, 2018 @ 12:39 pm Reply
Three tater tots don’t fit in a mini muffins tin…at least MCains don’t which are the best kind in my opinion. Soni changed it to two.
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Gloria — November 17, 2018 @ 12:09 pm Reply
I don’t know how you get three tat or tots in a mini muffin pan
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Stephanie — November 25, 2018 @ 6:58 pm Reply
This recipe was super yummy, the idea very creative! I used sweet relish because that’s what I had and it tasted great! I followed the recipe exactly otherwise and had no problems with wetness or being able to fit the tots into a mini muffin tin. Loved it!
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Melinda — November 26, 2018 @ 9:54 am Reply
Thank you Stephanie! We love hearing recipe successes.
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Elaine — December 24, 2018 @ 11:53 am Reply
What is a tamper? The photo of an “ end
of something” doesn’t ring a bell?-
Kat — December 24, 2018 @ 12:02 pm Reply
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Kara — January 7, 2019 @ 6:42 pm Reply
I made this and it only made 12 with 1 lb of meat
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Kat — January 8, 2019 @ 2:47 pm Reply
You must have packed just a little bit more meat into each of yours than we did :). I hope you liked them!
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Sandra — January 30, 2019 @ 9:40 pm Reply
Are these gluten free??
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Melinda — January 31, 2019 @ 5:27 pm Reply
Depends on which tater tots you buy. Most have gluten, I believe. Always check label though to be sure.
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Kim Canaday — December 14, 2021 @ 9:38 pm Reply
I made them gluten free. Ore Ida crown or tots are gluten free. The only difference I used was dairy free cheese. I made one tray gluten free and one that was not. The gf were just as good!
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Cindy A. — January 31, 2019 @ 8:17 pm Reply
What’s the difference between India relish and sweet relish? My supermarket didn’t have dill relish!
No problem w tater tots-stand them upright. Did have trouble finding tamper-had to improvise.-
Kat — February 1, 2019 @ 11:27 am Reply
I’ve never heard of India relish so I’m not sure (but I kind of want to try it now!). If you can’t find dill relish you can use dill pickles and just finely chop them or put them in a food processor.
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Kelly — February 8, 2019 @ 6:17 pm Reply
These were absolutely delicious!! I made them for our super bowl party and I thought a few of the guys were going to fight over the last few. The only changes that I made were adding worchestire sauce to the burger and baking the tater tot shells for about 10-15 minutes longer because I like my tater tots super crispy. I’m making them again tonight to take to my parents for them to try!
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Kat — February 8, 2019 @ 7:14 pm Reply
I’m so happy you liked them (I hope your parents do too!!)
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Joan — March 31, 2019 @ 5:56 pm Reply
Do you use sweet pickles or dill?
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Kat — March 31, 2019 @ 5:57 pm Reply
In the big make sauce it is dill relish. On top I used mini dill pickles.
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Heather Yost — April 1, 2019 @ 8:44 pm Reply
OH MY these were so so so good.
I almost couldn’t stop eating them.
Here’s my substitutions to make a little healthier and dairy free.Use a food processor to make your own hashbrowns – sweet potatoes are higher in nutrition. I used white potatoes for this though. Fry up the potatoes.. then continue to follow direction where you bake for 10 minutes… then smash down.
In the meat mixture (i use grassfed beef), add 5 slices of chopped nitrate free (cooked) bacon. For ketchup, I used the sugar free ketchup (thrivemarket.com) I added a 1/4 (ish.. I don’t measure), onion salt. And instead of the relish mixture, I took some regular pickles and some sweet pickles… and just diced them up. Use the other ingredients as listed… and bake as recipe states.
I topped it with Diya cheese and lightly sprinkled Himalayan sea salt on top.
OH MY — so good. Thank you for the recipe
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Yvonne Schultz — November 10, 2019 @ 7:07 pm Reply
Are these supposed to be served hot or room temperature?
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Kat — November 11, 2019 @ 2:28 pm Reply
Since they are made for parties they are fine to serve at room temperature but like most things they are best served hot. To be honest they don’t last very long after they come out of the oven so they don’t cool down for long 🙂
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Jeanette hendren — January 30, 2020 @ 4:34 am Reply
Can you make these and freeze? I’m trying to make stuff that I can freeze that would be quick and easy to reheat for my daughter in college. Between school and being a workaholic she has no time. I made these tonight and everyone loved them.
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Kat — January 30, 2020 @ 2:15 pm Reply
I’ve never tried it but I think it’s worth a try!
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Brenda — December 24, 2019 @ 11:08 am Reply
Can I make the first part up to the tatertot cups being filled and then bake the next day? Heading to my moms for Christmas and these would be great but would need to cook them after being put together when I get there.
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Kat — December 24, 2019 @ 10:23 pm Reply
I’ve never tried it but I think it would work. The second baking should crisp them up.
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Diane McPhee — December 30, 2019 @ 5:58 pm Reply
Can you make this ahead of time and reheat???
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Melinda — January 7, 2020 @ 2:17 pm Reply
I haven’t tried it. Next time I make them I will test it out and get back to you.
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Suzanne — January 22, 2020 @ 2:21 pm Reply
These look so good! Is this “tot base” good with any other recipes or topping?
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Kat — January 22, 2020 @ 2:32 pm Reply
These are good with multiple fillings. Try our Taco tater tot bites – https://www.homemadeinterest.com/taco-tater-tot-bites/ , Loaded tater tot bites – https://www.homemadeinterest.com/loaded-tater-tot-bites/ and our breakfast tater tot bites – https://www.homemadeinterest.com/sausage-egg-and-cheese-breakfast-tots/
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Vanessa — January 22, 2020 @ 2:22 pm Reply
Thanks for sharing! How far ahead of time can I make them?
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Kat — January 22, 2020 @ 2:31 pm Reply
You can make the ground beef portion of them the day before. Just reheat it in the microwave for a minute before stuffing the tater tots. Since these tots are best right out of the oven, or as close as you can get, we suggest making them right before your party starts. You can do step 4 & 5 (the first round of baking) an hour or two before and then cover and leave them out at room temperature. Just before the party stuff them and do the second round of baking to crisp them back up.
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Jo-Ann Jewett — February 15, 2020 @ 12:41 pm Reply
I made these for Super Bowl. My family loved them and asked they be made for every get together. I changed the the recipe just a bit. I used regular sized muffin pans and 3 tots in each. Also after mushing I cooked again to get more crispy. Next time I am using 4 tots and super crisping them before filling. I may even consider using aluminum baking cups as they are difficult getting out of the tins. Sticking was not so much an issue but they are heavy and want to tear. They swore they tasted like an In and Out Burger Which I have never had but they were Big Mac tasting to me.
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Vicki — March 1, 2020 @ 9:39 am Reply
These were so easy and delicious! I will be making these again! I ran out of time so didn’t make the sauce that went with the recipe. Not sure I would make it they were good all on their own!
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Cyndee Hinrichs — June 7, 2020 @ 3:04 am Reply
Thee are fab !,, you can make the shells ahead, get em crispy. Place on a tray and chill till ready to use. Then fill with anything. I’ve use smoked sausage, bacon , turkey, roast beef, mingled with different cheeses and green or red onions. Then add condiments beside mayo mustard. Try salsas, salad dressings, horseradish anything..then proceed in heating, whenever you’re ready!
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Ed — December 20, 2023 @ 3:39 pm Reply
Have made these multiple times and they are always a hit. However, making the cups has been hit or miss. I read another tater tot cup recipe and they had a great idea. Make the cups in two steps: 1) use the back of a spoon to push down/combine the tots 2) Create the hollow.
They said that if you didn’t have a tamper (or a muddler), use a small medicine measuring cup. Won’t stick and the tapered shape makes it easy to twist and remove.
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Jill Luettgens — January 29, 2024 @ 8:23 am Reply
These were very tasty- loved the sauce. However, I had a heck of a time trying to smash 3 tots in the mini pans and fit the meat. I did get most of the meat in (probably could have made 4 more tots with the leftover meat). So I’m thinking next time only 2 tots or move to a regular muffin pan. They crumbled apart after cooling so we needed a fork to eat them. Again, very tasty but the tot ratio is off in my opinion. 🙂
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Kat — January 29, 2024 @ 10:22 am Reply
Hi Jill, I’m glad you liked them and sorry for the technical difficulties! We really mash those tots into the mini muffin tin so that they kind of smoosh down and crawl up the sides, they can come up over the edge of the tin a bit. The more firmly you press them the better they hold together once they come out of the oven.
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