If you had a high school cafeteria, chances are there were tater tots served right beside the fries. These crafty, starchy fry substitutes are delicious and in this recipe, Steve takes the store bought tots and up’s them a notch with his Indian Spiced BBQ Tater Tots.

They’re Not a French Fry But… What are They?

Well it seems that ingenuity is how this tasty food came to be. Wikipedia shares the story on how these were created:

“Tater tots were developed in 1953 when American frozen food company Ore-Ida founders F. Nephi Grigg, Golden Grigg, and Ross Erin Butler Sr. were trying to devise a recipe to use leftover slivers of cut potatoes that would otherwise be thrown away.”

The potato pieces were grated, seasoned and formed into the small tubular shape then frozen. This frozen food became a hit not only in USA but around the world. Australia, Canada, United Kingdom, Korea and China all have a version of the tater tot each with seemingly a different name. But in the end it seems for many, they will forever be “tater tots”.

They are so popular there is even a Tater Tot Festival in Ontario, Oregon. Imagine that? Lots of community events for this festival and I am sure there are food trucks with of course, tater tots on the menu.

How to Spice-up Tater Tots

One of the key characteristics of a tater tot is the crispy, starchy outside. The starch is naturally within potatoes and after grating them and forming into tots, it is this ingredient that provides the crunch on the outside.

So we know tots need to be crunchy but how do you spice them up? Of course you can a spicy seasoning like House of Q Peppered Bovine or even adding cayenne to House Rub. But you can also add that character by using a sauce. In this recipe, Indian Spiced BBQ Tater Tots Steve takes one of his favorite BBQ sauces and adds even more character to it. Think of this tater tot recipe to be similar to chicken wings where they are seasoned, cooked then sauced to deliciousness!

The trick to saucing dishes like this is to preheat the sauce. This makes the sauce more viscous or better to coat all the edges of whatever you are saucing. There is no need to boil or reduce the sauce just warm through and make sure the flavour is what you want. Add character ingredients as you see fit like more herbs, more savouriness, tanginess or even making the sauce more sweet. Whatever your plan or vision is, have fun doing it!