One of the most iconic breakfasts is tater tots which is crispy, crunchy, and golden brown made from potatoes, flour, pepper, salt, and butter.
Yes, you can microwave frozen tater tots, When microwaved, tater tots become warm but they are not crispy as you get from the oven, grill, or air fryer.
When frozen tater tots are heated in the microwave, there may be a change in the taste and texture. Microwaved tater tots are soft and mushy and do not have the crispiness which you expect from them.
They can become hard as a rock if you heat them in the microwave for a long time. For getting crispy frozen tater tots in the microwave, you should have crisping paper or sleeves known as heat susceptors.
This will be provided in the microwavable tater tots. The contents of this package can be microwaved and in return, you get crispy, golden brown tater tots.
Below are the steps to follow for microwavable tater tots:
- There must be dotted lines on the top of the container, tear it and throw it away.
- The tab on the back of the container is to be lifted.
- On the remaining box, place the tater tots in a single layer side to side.
- Put this in the microwave and run the appliance for 3 ½ minutes.
- Flip the tater tots in between so that you get crispiness on both sides of the tater tots.
- Once done, let it stand for 1 ½ minute.
- Take them out and serve them hot with ketchup.
Once microwaveable tater tots are made crispy in the microwave, they should not be reused with crisping paper as the suspector is held to the package with the help of glue and this gets damaged with the first use.
When you microwave it for the second time, the glue may leach into the food making it unfit to eat.
How to microwave tater tots?
To microwave tater tots, follow the below-mentioned steps:
- Take a microwave-safe plate and spray some vegetable oil on it.
- Place the tater tots on the plate in such a manner that they are not touching each other. There should be placed spacing them out.
- Put this plate in the microwave and run the appliance for 30 seconds.
- Flip the tater tots and microwave again for 30 seconds.
- Repeat this process until they are heated evenly. Mostly, tater tots are heated evenly in 5-6 minutes.
How long to microwave tater tots?
Generally, it takes 5-6 minutes to microwave tater tots. If the tater tots are frozen, they may take a little longer.
If you want to have crispy tater tots, they should be baked in an oven. Sometimes you can get microwaveable tater tots which you can microwave and can get crispy tater tots. The steps to follow in this case are already mentioned above.
After heating, tater tots can be served with ketchup or some hot dogs heated in the microwave, and your quick tasty snack is ready to eat.
Apart from snacks, these can be put on the top of burgers, potato casseroles and even on salads.
Are frozen tater tots fried?
Yes, frozen tater tots are fried and precooked already. You just need to heat them and you get hot, crispy, golden brown tater tots in just a few minutes.
Grated potatoes along with flour, salt, pepper, and butter are shaped into small cylinders and deep-fried to get tater tots. To use them for a longer time, these are frozen.
Whenever you want to have a crispy time immediately, think of tater tots. Get a package of it, microwave, bake, or deep-fry them and enjoy with ketchup, or with burgers and casseroles.
The frozen crispy tater tots act as a delicious side dish for your meals. Even though these are mouth-watering and easy snacks, they are not healthy. Frozen tater tots, even if baked instead of frying, have a lot of fats that are added at the time of processing.
How to make frozen tater tots crispy?
To make frozen tater tots crispy, you should use one of the following methods:
In the Oven
In this method, preheat the oven at 350 degrees F. On the baking sheet, place all the frozen tater tots. Put a little oil on them and add seasonings to them.
Toss the tater tots, oil, and seasonings well with your hands and spread them as much as possible. Cook them for 5 minutes and check-in between to prevent them from overcooking.
Frying on the Stovetop
Take a frying pan and add oil to it upto ¼ inch. Put it on the stovetop and let the oil become glistening hot. Now, add a handful of frozen tater tots to it.
Fry them until they become crispy hot and turn frequently in between. Use a spatula or slotted spoon to get them out from the pan and drain them on a paper towel. Add salt and pepper to them, and serve hot.
In the Air Fryer
In this method, take the basket of the air fryer and spray some cooking oil on it. Put the desired amount of tater tots on it and cook them for about 20 minutes at 400 degrees.
While cooking, shake them well. When tater tots are crispy brown, take them out and serve hot. Heating frozen tater tots in the microwave are not recommended as these do not become crispy and brown as you want.
Conclusion
Hope the above information on tater tots is useful to you. It should be noted that if you want crispy brown tater tots then microwaving is not a preferred method.
But if you want microwaveable tater tots, you can still get the crispy texture of the tater tots from the method mentioned above. Just remember, tater tots are your companion when you want a delicious snack in just a few minutes.