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Tater tots are hands-down my favorite frozen item to make in the air fryer. When prepared right, each bite is crispy-potatoey goodness. Tater tots are the ideal dipping sauce delivery system – just drag one flat end in ketchup, barbecue sauce, ranch dressing or your favorite condiment and you have the perfect bite. The best news is that they are super easy to prepare – just know one important trick to get delicious tater tots out of your air fryer.
How Many Tater Tots Can I Air Fry At Once?
This is the most important question to ask yourself before air frying tater tots. But it’s not about “can” – it’s all about “should”. Even smaller air fryers can hold half of a bag of frozen tater tots, but that doesn’t mean they should. The most important variable to get right for perfect air-fried tater tots: the capacity-to-tot ratio. The amount a 5.3 quart air fryer cooks perfectly probably won’t come out as well in a much smaller 1.6 liter air fryer. But once you figure out your air fryer’s perfect tot capacity, you’ll never want to be without a bag of frozen tater tots at the ready.
The Secret to Perfect Air Fried Tater Tots
The number one trick to perfect air-fried tater tots is to cook them in a single layer in your air fryer. Yes, you can cook a lot more in an air fryer if you layer them, but trust me – that’s not the way to go. If you go that route, they will cook, but the crispness will vary from tot to tot. And that’s assuming you’re shaking the basket/mixing them at least once during the cooking time. It’s very likely some will lack any crisp even though they are properly heated. Alas, there’s nothing sadder than a tater tot not reaching its full potential…
To get the best results with your air fryer, fill it with a single layer of tots and no more. Even if you have to make multiple batches, it will definitely be worth it.
If you HAVE to cook multiple layers at once (a tater tot emergency!), then be sure to shake/mix/stir the tots at least once during the cooking time (which you might need to up by a minute or two due to opening and closing the air fryer multiple times).
Prepare perfectly crisp tater tots in your air fryer in minutes
- One bag of your favorite frozen tater tots 9 tots are one serving
- Spritz of your favorite air frying oil
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Spray basket with oil (or use a parchment liner).
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Pour 1/2 bag of tots in the basket (one layer for best results).
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Cook at 400 degrees for 8-10 minutes, shaking/mixing half way through.
Plate and enjoy!
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Forgot the non-stick spray & added a single layer of Costco frozen fish sticks on top. Shook all 1/2 way through & they turned out perfectly !!
That’s great! Will have to try that combination. We are learning new stuff all the time.
Just got my air fryer & am so glad I don’t have to heat up the house by turning the oven on! I’m still in the experimental stage, lol
Did this tonight turned out perfect! Way better than the oven! Thanks!
Were tater tots frozen or thawed?
we used frozen ones.
What is the time for a whole 32oz bag?
The whole bag makes it a little trickier because of how thick the tots will be. You will need to shake them more often. I would suggest trying 20 to 24 minutes and stir them 3 times during the cooking.
Got awesome taste. Thanks for your suggest on the recipes.
How many should you put in a 3.7 cooker and for how long?
Hi, Barbara – We recommend air frying a single layer of tots, so however many that would be for your air fryer. Eight minutes with a shake/mix halfway through is likely all you’ll need.
Came out perfect. Followed directions exactly. Thank you so much. Will check out your other recipes for sure
Couldnt gey my basket to rotate!!!
Hi, Becca – I’m not sure what you mean by rotate. Do you mean you couldn’t remove it during cooking in order to stir/shake the tots?
I bought an air fryer last fall, along with a pressure cooker.
I’ve used the pressure cooker but not the air fryer.
I recently bought a bag of ‘Tater Tots’ at Costco, so thought
I would try ‘frying’ them for a real late brunch.
With all the above suggestions I sure they will turn out great!
Absolutely perfect and didn’t heat up the house. The grandkids inhaled them.
using the PowerAirFryer Pro here and one bag of tots takes two racks to cook and I ran it for 15 min … top rack was done but bottom one needed more crisping so I switched them and back in for 5 min…Next time I’ll go 10 min, switch the racks around and then 10 more
Have done the frozen tator tots and so much crispier than you get when they are done in the oven.
Do you have a recipe to make from instant mashed potatoes? I have a quantity of the instant and am looking for ways to use it. Thanks.
Oh, that’s an interesting idea! I think it would be difficult to make tater tots, but I have been thinking about making air fryer potato cakes from left over mashed potatoes.