Loaded Twice Baked Tater Tot Casserole
This loaded twice baked tater tot casserole is a everything you wanted in loaded baked potatoes but even better--layered with a rich béchamel sauce, juicy chicken, cheese and bacon this is a knockout recipe perfect for a hungry table!
Servings 4 -6 servings
Ingredients
For tater tots
- 1/2 a bag of Alexia crispy seasoned potato puffs
For chicken
- 2 boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 paprika
- 1/2 tsp all purpose seasoning like Maggie
- Salt and pepper to taste
For béchamel sauce
- 2 tbsp butter
- 2 tbsp flour
- 1/2 cup of regular milk
- 1/2 cup of heavy cream
- 1/2 cup of cheddar cheese shredded
For topping
- Diced chicken thighs
- Chopped chives
- 4 slices of bacon chopped
Instructions
- First, season your chicken, then air fry for 12 minutes on 400 degrees flipping half way through
- While chicken is cooking, pre-bake the tater tots in a small casserole dish, for 10 minutes on 400 degrees - do not over pack the dish as you will need space to layer the rest of the ingredients
- While tater tots are cooking, make cheese sauce
- To a skillet, melt butter on medium heat and then whisk in flour
- Slowly add milk while whisking, then add heavy cream
- Don't stop whisking until the sauce begins to thicken
- Once the sauce begins to thicken, turn off the heat and slowly add cheese while whisking
- Once cheese is added, season to taste with salt and pepper and set aside
- Sauce should be silky smooth and thick
- Remove potatoes from the oven and top with cheese sauce, diced chicken, chopped bacon, chives and cheese
- Bake casserole for about 10 minutes of until everything is nice and melted together
- Remove casserole from oven and serve warm
Notes
Though separate, the cook time for the chicken is included in the total time for the dish--you want to cook the chicken while the tater tots are cooking for the first 10 minutes so it's ready to go when everything goes back in the oven.