Bacon Cheeseburger Crock Pot Tater Tot Casserole
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
A delicious twist on a classic casserole! This easy Bacon Cheeseburger Crock Pot Tater Tot Casserole is loaded with hamburger, bacon, vegetables in a creamy sauce and topped with Tater Tots and cheese. A comfort food made easy!
When the weeknights get busy, my crock pot always come to the rescue. It’s so easy to throw ingredients together and then let it do all of the work for me. This bacon cheeseburger crock pot tater tot casserole is a prime example. Cheesy, creamy beef loaded with tater tots, all cooked together in the crock pot.
Tater tot casserole is such a comforting dish too. It’s extra delicious on a cold evening, but I’ll eat it all year long! If you’re looking for recipes that make a load of servings, you’ll love slow cooker cheeseburger casserole. You can save all of the leftovers and have more than enough servings for the next night’s dinner. Or, easily serve a large group of people with this simple dish.
Then, let the crock pot take care of dinner the other nights with my crock pot spaghetti or crock pot beef stroganoff recipes.
Why You’ll Love Bacon Cheeseburger Crock Pot Tater Tot Casserole
- If you need more recipes for meal prep, then add this crock pot tater tot casserole to your list!
- This crock pot dinner is a set and forget recipe. Place everything in the slow cooker and then go about your day!
- This recipe uses no canned soup, making the taste extra fresh and rich. Seriously, so much better than using canned soup!
Ingredients for Bacon Cheeseburger Crock Pot Tater Tot Casserole
- Lean ground beef – I recommend using 93/7 beef so that this casserole doesn’t get too greasy. You’ll still want to drain off any fat that cooks out of the beef.
- Frozen tater tots – Grab a bag of frozen tater tots from the freezer section of your local grocery store. You can also the little hashbrown bites too
- Chopped bacon strips – Use thick cut bacon and dice the strips into small little chunks.
- Diced onion – The more mild flavor of white onion or yellow onion are best for this recipe.
- Minced garlic – A dash of freshly minced garlic add lovely flavor to bacon cheeseburger tater tot casserole.
- Frozen mixed vegetables – You can also use a can of mixed veggies, but they will likely cook more quickly and could become mushy.
- Cheddar cheese – Shred your own cheddar cheese for extra melty goodness!
- Milk – Whole milk will produce the most creamy results, but you can use any other type of milk that you want.
- All purpose flour – All purpose flour acts as a thickener for all of the filling ingredients to make it the perfect texture.
- Worcestershire sauce – Worcestershire really takes this cheesy casserole to the next level, so don’t leave it out!
- Sour cream – The secret ingredient to making the gravy in the beef mixture extra creamy and delicious.
- Hot sauce – A tiny splash of hot sauce gives a good tang and kick to the cheeseburger beef mixture.
- Salt and pepper – Simply season with salt and pepper to elevate the flavor of this dish.
Helpful Tools
How to Make Bacon Cheeseburger Tater Tot Casserole
Brown ground beef, diced bacon, diced onion and minced garlic in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook until there is no pink left in the beef.
Next, sprinkle the all purpose flour over the browned ground beef and stir well. Then add the milk, Worcestershire sauce and hot sauce to the pan and mix until thoroughly combined.
Cook for 2-3 minutes until the mixture has thickened. Remove it from heat and stir in the shredded cheddar, frozen mixed veggies and sour cream.
Spray your crock pot with non-stick cooking spray. Then, arrange tater tots in a single layer on the bottom of the crock pot.
Pour the meat mixture over the tater tots and then place the remaining tots on top of the casserole.
Cover and cook on low for 3 to 3 and a half hours. When there are 10 minutes left for the casserole to cook, sprinkle extra cheddar on the top and cook until it has melted.
Serve immediately!
What to Serve with Bacon Cheeseburger Crock Pot Tater Tot Casserole
You can eat this slow cooker cheeseburger casserole all on its own, but I never turn down an opportunity to make a good side dish. Bacon wrapped green beans pair deliciously with tater tot casserole, as well as air fryer zucchini fries.
Make a fluffy side of dinner rolls or a buttery side of cheesy garlic bread. A crunchy cold salad or broccoli salad would also go great with crock pot tater tot casserole. Don’t forget the grand dinner finale of s’mores bars for dessert!
How to Store Leftover Bacon Cheeseburger Tater Tot Casserole
FRIDGE: Transfer leftover casserole to airtight container and store in the fridge for up to 3 days. Reheat in the microwave or oven until warmed through.
FREEZER: This casserole freezes really well! Place leftovers into an airtight container, divide into individual servings if you want. Freeze for up to 3 months. Allow to thaw in the fridge overnight before reheating.
Can I make bacon cheeseburger tater tot casserole in the oven?
If you don’t have a slow cooker, you can still make this recipe in the oven! Follow all of the instructions and do everything the same, just use a 9×13 pan. Bake in the oven at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 40 minutes, until bubbly.
You can also freeze the casserole this way. Assemble the casserole in a pan and just stick it in the freezer, don’t bake it. When you’re ready for a cheesy bacon casserole dinner, just pop it into the oven from frozen and add 10-15 minutes onto the cook time.
Can I use canned soup in the beef mixture instead of making gravy?
If you need this recipe to be even extra quick, you’re more than welcome to use canned soup. Cream of mushroom and cream of chicken would both work great. Just skip the all purpose flour, milk, and sour cream.
Once you add the soup, mix everything well. If it looks a little dry, add in some sour cream and that should help!
Pro Tips for the Best Crock Pot Tater Tot Casserole
- Serve your slow cooker cheeseburger casserole with ketchup for extra yummy results!
- Dice up some green onions and add them to the top of the casserole when you sprinkle more cheese on it.
- Add extra flavor by using seasoned frozen tater tots. Yum!
This slow cooker bacon cheeseburger tater tot casserole is sure to come in handy on a busy evening! I can’t wait to hear what you think of it!
More Slow Cooker Recipes You’ll Love
- Warm up on a chilly winter evening with this Easy Crockpot Chili recipe!
- Crock Pot Beef Stew is a hearty meal. Make it whenever you need something really filling and are craving stew.
- Love chicken pot pie? Did you know you can make it in the crock pot? Yep, this Crock Pot Chicken Pot Pie is insanely easy and so good!
- Save oven space around the holidays by making Crock Pot Sweet Potato Casserole.
Did you make this? If you snap a photo, please be sure tag me on Instagram at @julieseatsandtreats or #julieseatsandtreats so I can see your yummy treat!
Crock Pot Bacon Cheeseburger Tater Tot Casserole
Ingredients
- 2 pounds lean ground beef
- 10 strips bacon diced
- 1 small onion diced
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- ⅓ cup all purpose flour
- 3 cups milk
- 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- dash of hot sauce optional
- 3 cups cheddar cheese plus a little extra for topping if desired
- 12-16 ounces bag frozen mixed vegetables
- ¼ cup sour cream
- salt and pepper to taste
- 32 ounces bag frozen tater tots
Instructions
- In a large skillet brown ground beef, bacon, onion and garlic over medium heat until beef is no longer pink. Sprinkle the flour over the ground beef and stir well to combine. Stir in the milk, Worcestershire sauce and hot sauce. Cook for 2-3 minutes or until thickened. Remove from heat and stir in the cheddar, frozen vegetables and sour cream.
- Spray the crock pot with non-stick spray. Place some tater tots in the bottom of the crock pot. Pour meat gravy over tater tots. Arrange remaining tater tots on top. Cover and cook on LOW for 3-3 1/2 hours. In the last 10 minutes of cooking sprinkle with extra cheddar if desired. Cover and finish cooking.
A says
I was going to make this for bunco. I may have missed it but how many does it serve? We have 12 in our group.
Julie says
This recipe makes 10 servings.
Chaerli says
This recipe was amazing and simple! Loved it and will definitely be making in the future!
Julie Evink says
So glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for coming back and commenting and rating it!
Hailey says
Made this tonight. So good my husband made the comment this was his favorite hotdish he has ever had.
Julie Evink says
It’s our favorite too! So glad you guys enjoyed it!
Jacqueline says
Can this be made in the Instant Pot?
Julie Evink says
Sorry we’ve never test it that way!
Lynsi says
Made this tonight and it was a HUGE hit!!!!
Julie Evink says
YAY! It’s one of our favorites!
A says
This dish was brought to our church’s ‘stick to your ribs’ themed potluck. It was so delicious, I had to get the recipe! Turkey bacon was used instead and it was still… soooo… goood!
How do you think it’ll turn out if frozen then reheated?
Thanks!
Julie Evink says
Oh my gosh. I want a themed potluck like that!!! I think it would be fine to freeze it then cook it!
Casandra says
You should probably state to cook the bacon first. I made this and ended up with soggy chunks of bacon, and a huge amount of grease.
What a waste of $25
Julie Evink says
It would be really helpful if you would read the directions considering it says too “In a large skillet brown ground beef, bacon, onion and garlic over medium heat until beef is no longer pink. “!!
Lynsi says
I couldn’t help but to laugh out loud reading your response lmao
Julie Evink says
Sometimes…. I just can’t … 😉
Karl says
I think that lesson was well worth the $25.00.
Sharon says
I saw this recipe on Pinterest and I literally just drooled like a maniac!! Adding ingredients to the shopping list right now!! This sounds like a great fire station meal!!
Julie Evink says
Hope you love it!
April says
Tater Tot casserole is one of my favorite comfort foods! I love this version! I also never thought about making it in the slow cooker – that’s pretty brilliant! This is going on my regular meal rotation…the kids loved it!
Julie Evink says
So glad you enjoyed it!
Britni says
This is a fun twist on Tater Tot Casserole! Always looking for easy meals. Thank you
Julie Evink says
Aren’t we all 🙂 Enjoy!
Candace says
I hate it when people say…”I followed this recipe exactly but changed this, this, and this….” haha, so I’ll say my comment is that this recipe is very easy to adapt and still taste delicious. I was on a quest to use up some ingredients that I had and mine looked like this: ground turkey instead of beef, no bacon (though I wish I’d had some!), corn instead of mixed veggies, I had pepper jack and Monterrey jack cheese to use up instead of cheddar. I halved the recipe in the crockpot. I really liked the base of this and that I didn’t have to use ‘cream of’ soup. I’ll definitely make this again (it may be a different combo next time 🙂 ! Thanks!
Julie Evink says
Haha, I only hate it when they adapt alllll the things then complain it didn’t turn out 😉 Your combo sounds great!
Lisa says
Hi, question. Your finished product looks like the tator tots were on top, instructions say on the bottom. Which is correct? TIA!
Julie Evink says
*Arrange remaining tater tots on top. Cover and cook on LOW for 3-3 1/2 hours. In the last 10 minutes of cooking sprinkle with extra cheddar if desired. Cover and finish cooking. *
Jodi says
Do u cook tator tots first or put in crock pot frozen?
Malinda@CountrysideCravings says
Place them in the crockpot frozen.
Sam says
Boy, those are the brownest frozen tater tots ever! ?
Nikki says
What cream soup would you use?
Julie Evink says
In a typical tater tot casserole I use cream of mushroom so I would use a couple cans of that!
Amanda says
I’m sure my family will LOVE this with all the flavors, but I have one question. Drain the grease after cooking the beef and bacon or just add the flour with it?
Thanks!
Amanda
Malinda Linnebur says
If there is more than 4 tablespoons (1/4 cup) then drain some off. Thanks and I hope you enjoy!!