Big Mac Tater Tot Casserole

Big Mac Tater Tot Casserole is a fun, easy kid friendly dinner. Cheesy burger filling with Big Mac special sauce topped with cheddar cheese and crispy tots!

This cheeseburger-inspired Tater Tot Casserole is about to be your family’s new favorite Weeknight Dinner. So good that your kids will be asking you to skip the drive thru and make this instead!

Big Mac Tater Tot Casserole in baking dish

BIG MAC TATER TOT CASSEROLE

Thanks to a generous serving of our spot on Big Mac Special Sauce, every bite of this tasty casserole is like eating a Big Mac and fries all at once! If you don’t already keep a cup or two on hand, our Special Sauce can be made in just minutes to for this easy casserole.

This quick and delicious Big Mac Tater Tot Casserole is one that the whole family will go crazy for and you will love too! It has all the flavor of a junk food feast without any of the preservatives and it’s much more budget friendly. Serve your cheeseburger casserole with favorite burger toppings, like tomato and pickles, and a drizzle of extra Big Mac Sauce!

What to serve with this casserole?

Big Mac Tater Tot Casserole makes an easy weeknight meal with kid friendly veggie sides like Roasted Broccoli. Go big McDonald’s cheeseburger flavor and serve along with Big Mac Salad. For more Big Mac inspired meals, you gotta try our Big Mac and Cheese, Big Mac Sloppy Joes, and Cheeseburger Casserole!

Big Mac Tater Tot Casserole is a great freezer friendly dinner to make ahead of time! You can either double the recipe by using the slider tool in the recipe card, or divide into 2 8×8 foil pans. An 8×8 pan of Big Mac Tater Tot Casserole will feed about 4-5 people. Your casserole can be baked from frozen and is perfect for busy weeknights, dropping off to a friend in need, or as a babysitter dinner.

MORE EASY CHEESEBURGER RECIPES

Make Big Mac Tater Tot Casserole Ahead of Time

This is a great dish for meal prep, just follow the easy make ahead directions:

  • Prepare the cheeseburger filling as usual in a 9×13 baking dish or divide evenly between 2 smaller (8×8) aluminum foil baking pans.
  • Cover beef mixture with cheese and frozen tater tots.
  • Wrap pan tightly with plastic wrap, then aluminum foil, before freezing up to 3 months.
  • Remove plastic wrap and foil before baking Big Mac Tater Tot Casserole from frozen for 50-60 minutes. 

Square of Big Mac Tater Tot Casserole on white plate

MORE HAMBURGER RECIPES

VARIATIONS ON BIG MAC TATER TOT CASSEROLE

  • Bacon: Bacon makes everything better! Add 6-8 slices cooked, crumbled bacon to the cooked beef mixture or mix in 2-3 tablespoons bacon bits.
  • Meat: Use any ground meat instead of ground beef like ground turkey, ground sausage, or ground chicken. If using a leaner ground meat, add a tablespoon oil to the skillet when browning.
  • Big Mac Sauce: The copycat Big Mac Sauce is where it’s at but you can use Thousand Island in a pinch. Add a tablespoon of sweet pickle relish and an extra bit of ketchup to get the dressing closer to the special sauce flavor.
  • Potatoes: You can swap the frozen tots for frozen french fries, sweet potato puffs, hash brown rounds, shredded hash browns, or diced potatoes. If you use thawed potatoes, just reduce the cooking time by 15-20 minutes.

Slow Cooker Big Mac Tater Tot Casserole

  • Brown ground beef and onions in a skillet until no longer pink and onions are soft.
  • Drain grease and transfer beef mixture to a slow cooker.
  • Stir in remaining ingredients except half the shredded cheese and frozen tater tots.
  • Layer reserved shredded cheese and tater tots over cheeseburger filling.
  • Cover top of crockpot with a paper towels or thin kitchen towel to absorb moisture.
  • Secure slow cooker lid and cook on low for 4-6 hours, or high for 2-3 hours.

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HOW TO STORE BIG MAC TATER TOT CASSEROLE

  • Serve: Big Mac Tater Tot Casserole is best served hot and fresh for the crispiest tots. Keep at room temperature for up to 2 hours before storing.
  • Store: Transfer Big Mac Tater Tot Casserole to an airtight container, or cover with foil, and refrigerate for up to 3 days. Reheat in the oven to crisp the tots back up.
  • Freeze: For best results, freeze Big Mac Tater Tot Casserole in a baking dish, covered tightly with plastic wrap and foil, for up to 3 months. Bake from frozen or thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.

Baking pan of Big Mac Tater Tot Casserole

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Big Mac Tater Tot Casserole

Big Mac Tater Tot Casserole is a fun, easy kid friendly dinner. Cheesy burger filling with Big Mac special sauce topped with cheddar cheese and crispy tots!
Yield 8 servings
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 55 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
Course Dinner
Cuisine American
Author Sabrina Snyder

Ingredients
 

  • 2 pounds ground beef , 85/15
  • 1 cup Big Mac Sauce , recipe
  • 1 cup onion , diced
  • 1 tablespoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon pepper
  • 6 slices American cheese , chopped
  • 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese , divided
  • 32 ounce frozen tater tots

Toppings

  • 1 cup iceberg lettuce , shredded
  • 1/2 cup tomatoes , diced
  • 2-3 slices American cheese , diced into small pieces

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  • In a large skillet, cook beef and onion over medium heat until browned and onions are translucent.
  • Add the Big Mac Sauce, American cheese, ½ cup shredded cheese, garlic powder, salt, and black pepper to the skillet and mix well.
  • In a 9x13 pan layer the beef, then the remaining cheese and finally line up the tater tots before baking for 45 minutes uncovered.
  • Top with diced tomatoes, shredded lettuce, and American cheese to serve.

Nutrition

Calories: 710kcal | Carbohydrates: 38g | Protein: 32g | Fat: 49g | Saturated Fat: 17g | Cholesterol: 121mg | Sodium: 1562mg | Potassium: 786mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 529IU | Vitamin C: 12mg | Calcium: 365mg | Iron: 4mg
Keyword: Big Mac Tater Tot Casserole

Big Mac Tater Tot Casserole collage

About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Sabrina Snyder is a professionally trained personal and private chef of over 10 years who is the creator and developer of all the recipes on Dinner, then Dessert.

She is also the author of the upcoming cookbook: Dinner, then Dessert – Satisfying Meals Using Only 3, 5 or 7 Ingredients which is being published by Harper Collins.

She started Dinner, then Dessert as a business in her office as a lunch service for her coworkers who admired her lunches before going to culinary school and becoming a full time personal chef and private chef.

As a personal chef Sabrina would cook for families one day a week and cook their entire week of dinners. All grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning was done along with instructions on reheating. As a private chef she cooked for private parties and cooked in family homes in the evenings for families on a nightly basis after working as a personal chef during the day.

Sabrina has been certified as a ServSafe Manager since 2007 and was a longstanding member of the USPCA Personal Chef Association including being on the board of the Washington DC Chapter of Chefs in the US Personal Chef Association when they won Chapter of the year.

As a member of the community of food website creators Sabrina Snyder has spoken at many conferences regarding her experiences as a food writer including the Indulge Food Conference, Everything Food Conference, Haven Food Conference and IACP Annual Food Professionals Conference.

Sabrina lives with her family in sunny California.

Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. If you enjoyed the recipe and would like to publish it on your own site, please re-write it in your own words, and link back to my site and recipe page. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

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Comments

  1. Fantastic! This will be used again, but I added pickles on top of the tator tots when I took it out of the oven. Love it!

  2. I made this tonight with your recipe for the Big Mac sauce. My husband and my son absolutely LOVE it! They both asked me to make it again. This recipe is a keeper.