These easy air fryer tater tots are the quickest way to get perfectly crisp tater tots when using frozen tater tots. No matter the air fryer model you use, your air-fried tater tots are sure to become a go-to favorite!
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I don't like to drag out a fryer or fill a frying pan with oil for cooking up tater tots at home, so they have been oven-baked for many years in our home.
Not anymore! Cooking up frozen goodies like these Ore-Ida tater tots, french fries, onion rings, and more is now completely done in one of my air fryers.
I always love hearing what foods are called in other regions of the states. So far I have found that my simple 'tater tots' are also called tater puffs, tater kegs, tater crowns, or spud puppies.
What do you call these bite-sized shredded potatoes? Let me know in the comments below!
🥘 Ingredients
All that you need for these super crispy tater tots is a touch of oil for your air fryer basket or tray and a sprinkle of salt.
- Tater Tots - Use your favorite brand! We love Ore-Ida and Alexia brand. You can even use the Alexia sweet potato tots or Green Giant veggie tots!
- Olive Oil Spray - A handy spritz or mister makes short work of coating your air fryer, but a pastry brush can also be used to coat the bottom and sides.
- Sea Salt - To taste, and a few turns of freshly ground black pepper is a nice touch too!
Be sure to see the free printable recipe card below for ingredients, exact amounts & instructions with tips!
📖 Variations
Try some of these easy seasoning options.
- Cajun Tots - toss frozen tater tots in 1 tablespoon of Cajun seasoning (the best Cajun seasoning brands are McCormick Gourmet Collection, Slap Ya Mama, Zatarain's, and Tony Chachere).
- Garlic Tots - sprinkle or toss the tots in 1 tablespoon of garlic salt or a combination of 2 teaspoons garlic powder with 1 teaspoon onion powder and a pinch of salt.
- Ranch Tots - toss frozen tater tots in 1 tablespoon of ranch seasoning packet mix (½ the packet) before air frying.
- Taco Tots - toss tater tots in 1 tablespoon of taco seasoning before cooking.
- Seasoned Tots - toss frozen tater tots in 1 tablespoon of either Lawry's seasoning salt or Accent flavor seasoning before cooking.
🔪 How To Air Fry Tater Tots
No matter the style of air fryer you are using, it is always optional to use any extra cooking oil. The tater tots turn out delightfully crispy either with or without a quick coating of spray oil.
*Note that the first two methods are my recommended way to cook tater tots in an air fryer. The basket option frequently results in broken tots.
- Preheat your air fryer to 400ºF (205ºC) and lightly spray or grease your basket or trays with your preferred cooking oil. *You can also cook your tater tots at 350ºF (175ºC) to have less chance of burning if you look away at the end of the cooking cycle.
- Basket style air fryer - arrange the tater tots in a single layer in the air fryer basket and spray with olive oil, then sprinkle with salt. Set the timer for 15 minutes, then toss the tater tots every 5 minutes until crispy.
- Convection oven style air fryer - arrange the tots in a single layer on your trays, spray with olive oil, then sprinkle some salt over them. Set the timer to 14 minutes and cook them on the 'AIR FRY' function. Rotate the tater tots at the halfway point in the cooking time and continue cooking until crispy.
- Using a rotating basket - to cook the frozen tater tots with best results, pour about half of the 16-ounce bag into the basket. Set your air fryer to the 'AIR FRY' function for 12 minutes then select 'ROTATE' ( which can be used in any cooking mode ). Check at the end of the cooking cycle and continue cooking until crispy if needed.
Remove cooked tater tots from your air fryer and serve immediately with your favorite dipping sauces. Enjoy!
💭 Angela's Pro Tips & Recipe Notes
- The directions for air fried tater tots will also work for sweet potato puffs, Yukon select puffs, millet tots, and mashed potato bites!
- Mini tater tots will crisp up faster than standard-sized frozen tater tots. Reduce the cooking time by a few minutes. Minis are usually crispy in 10-12 minutes.
- Tater or potato rounds and potato bites may take a few minutes extra to get nice and crispy. Tater rounds and potato bites are usually nice and crisp around the 16-18 minute mark.
❓ Do I Have To Preheat My Air Fryer?
No, not necessarily. Typically, I do not preheat my basket-style air fryer. My convection oven-style Instant Pot Vortex Plus has the preheating time built into the cooking time that you set on the 'AIR FRY' function.
Starting without preheating does add a few minutes to the cooking time, but your air fryer heats quickly! There is no noticeable difference to me in the end result of my crisped tater tots when preheating vs not preheating.
However, with larger air fryers this may be more of an issue. The preheating allows all of your foods to cook as evenly as possible.
>>>See All Of My Tasty Recipes Here!<<<
🥡 Storing & Reheating
To store any leftovers, place the tater tots in an airtight container. Leftover tater tots will refrigerate for 3 - 5 days.
You can also freeze leftover tots. Place in a single layer on a baking sheet and transfer to your freezer.
Once frozen, transfer the tater tots to a freezer storage bag or an airtight container. Re-frozen tater tots can be kept in the freezer for 1 month.
Reheating
To reheat, simply warm them in your air fryer. You can ensure a crispy texture by heating them in this method.
Reheat in a single layer at 400ºF (205ºC) for about 7 - 10 minutes in your air fryer. If your tater tots have been re-frozen, add a minute or two to the reheating time.
😋 More Great Air Fryer Appetizers
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📖 Recipe Card
Crispy Air Fryer Tater Tots
Ingredients
- 1 lbs tater tots (1 pound or 16 ounce package frozen tater tots)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil spray
- 1 teaspoon sea salt (to taste)
(Note: 2x or 3x only changes the ingredient list)
Instructions
- Preheat your air fryer to 400℉ (205℃) and spray or use a paper towel to coat the air fryer basket or tray with olive oil.
- Place frozen tater tots in the air fryer basket or on your air fryer tray in a single layer. *You may need to do this in batches, depending on the capacity of your air fryer.
- Spray the tater tots with olive oil.
- Sprinkle salt over the tater tots.
- Cook for 7 minutes and then turn over and continue cooking for another 7. Add additional time if you want them crispier.
lora says
Do the convection directions also apply to ranges with air fry modes and trays? I’m finding that seems to be different for temp and timing than countertop models with baskets.
Angela @ BakeItWithLove.com says
I treat my convection style air fryer like a preheated basket style air fryer when cooking from the standard air fryer instructions. It's always a safe practice to check your food a few minutes earlier than the recipe says when using trays rather than a basket. Hope that helps!
Sheila says
Why did my tots fall apart in the rotating basket. Had to turn them into hash browns
Angela @ BakeItWithLove.com says
Oh no! I've never had that happen to me but I am sorry to hear that you had to switch gears. The only thing I can think of (other than brands, not all being equal) is how thawed the tots may have been. I would think even partially thawed tots would not hold up as well.
Or the number of tots may have been too much or too little. I've always used what I felt was about half a 16-ounce bag of the Ore-Ida brand tots. Let us know specifics so that we can point out the potential issues to everyone. Thanks so much!! ~ Angela
Charles says
The rotating basket just resulted in a bunch of broken up tots. I used 1/2 bag of the Ore-Ida tots that were fully frozen. The convection method came out great though. I used 1/2 bag and put them on two perforated trays and swapped the tray positions half-way through.
Angela @ BakeItWithLove.com says
Thanks for stopping in to share with us! I'm adding notes to the post about rotating the tots!