Dude.... crispy, crunchy, Air Fryer Tater Tots - without using a single drop of oil?
Get ready folks ... because these little guys are THE BOMB!
I happen to love watching Diners, Drive-Ins, & Dives, and last night this gal made the most mouth-watering tater tots I'd ever seen. You better believe I'm not just sitting there ....heck no I'm taking notes! And I knew I was going to have to try these in my new Air Fryer.
People ask me why I watch Triple D, because it's usually very focused on meat dishes. Well every now and then a little gem like this pops up..... something that I instantly know I can tweak a little to make it vegan or oil free. And even if they are showing something I know I'll never eat.......there's usually a cool looking sauce or dip.
I actually get a lot of ideas from shows like these. I like Bobby Flay too, and Alton Brown's Good Eats.
Remember, I'm all about taking everyday comfort foods, and converting them into healthier versions we can eat....like these Tater Tots. So the more ideas I can get, the better.
As far as these Tater Tots are concerned, I seriously can't describe how good these are..... these little balls of crunchy potato goodness. I mean who woulda thought?
Handmade Tater Tots.... without using a single drop of oil? Guys, it just doesn't get any better than this.
You ready for this one?
Let's do it.
Air Fryer Tater Tots
We're going to start with some Russet Potatoes, and keep in mind that each large potato will yield about 7 tots.
First, preheat your oven to 400 ° F, then add 2 Tbs of hot water to 2 Tbs of Dehydrated Chopped Onions and set aside (or mince about ½ cup fresh onion and set aside).
Peel and clean 3 large Russets or Idahos. We're going to grate these potatoes directly into a large bowl of cold water. This helps prevent browning, and we also want to rinse off as much starch as we can. Once the potatoes have been grated and are soaking in the cold water, strain and rinse.
I dumped mine into my colander to strain, which frees up the bowl I was just using to place my dried potatoes back into.
Reach into the colander and grab a handful of potatoes and SQUEEZE as much water out as you can. Transfer these potatoes back into the now empty bowl, and continue until all the potatoes have been transferred.
Add 2 Tbs of Corn Starch to the squeezed out potatoes and mix throughly. Transfer this potato mixture onto a baking sheet and bake at 400° F for 20 minutes. Not only does this further dry the potatoes out which adds a nice texture, it also steams them a little.
Let the potatoes cool, and season with the onions, 1 teaspoon Garlic Powder, 1 teaspoon Garlic Salt, and 1 Tbs minced Chives. Mix thoroughly.
For the last step I used what is called a Melon Baller, or a Cookie Scoop will work too. I just added one in my Amazon Store so you can see what I'm talking about. They are handy, but if you don't have any fancy gadgets like this no worries... you can just use your hands. Just grab about 1-2 Tbs or so of potato mixture and form into a ball. (wet hands helps prevent sticking).
Place the balls into your air fryer as you make them. Each ball should be slightly smaller than a golf ball, or the size of ½ an egg.
Finally, simply Air Fry at 350° for 20 minutes, or until crispy. (Note: start pulling the basket for a quick shake and to check for doneness after 10-15 minutes)
Note: For those of you who do not have an Air Fryer, I did try to make these in my regular Toaster Oven......not the same....not even close. The bottoms got crispy, but nothing else. If you have a convection oven - that might work. If so, please let me know.
There you have it - crispy, crunchy, handmade Tater Tots without a single drop of oil. For dipping I like straight up Ketchup, although my Cool Vegan Ranch Dressing might be pretty good too.
Next up - yes those Christmas Tamales are coming - but this recipe just begged to go out first......so stay tuned.
Air Fryer Tater Tots
- Prep Time: 40 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 3 people 1x
- Category: Snack
- Cuisine: American
Description
Dude.... crispy, crunchy, Air Fryer Tater Tots - without using a single drop of oil? Get ready folks ... because these little guys are THE BOMB!
Ingredients
- 3 large Russet Potatoes ((cleaned and peeled))
- 2 Tbs Dehydrated Chopped Onion ((or ½ cup freshly minced))
- 2 Tbs Corn Starch
- 1 Tbs Chives ((minced))
- 1 tsp Garlic Powder
- 1 tsp Garlic Salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Add 2 Tbs of hot water to 2 Tbs Dehydrated Onions and set aside. Or, finely mince ½ cup fresh onions.
- Peel and wash 3 large Russet Potatoes
- Grate potatoes into a large bowl and add cold water to cover. Strain potataoes through a colander and rinse.
- Grab a handful of the drained potatoes and squeeze out as much water as you can. Place these potatoes back into the bowl.
- Add Corn Starch to potatoes and mix thoroughly.
- Spread potatoes evenly on a baking sheet and bake in 400 degree oven for 20 minutes.
- Allow to cool, and then sprinkle on the onions, garlic powder, garlic salt, and chives. Mix well.
- Using wet hands, or a melon baller, scoop 1-2 Tbs of potato mixture and form a tight ball. Place into Air Fryer basket.
- Air Fry at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until browned. Pull basket occasionally for a quick shake and to check for crispiness.
Keywords: fat-free tater tots
Grace McAndrew Whitnah
Chuck, could I make these potatoes that are already baked?
Robin Plett
I think my biggest problem is how much is 3 large potatoes? Since I had a bag of tiny little russets I googled, probably overthinking, but that's how I roll and came up with the information that a large russet can weight anywhere from 10-28oz. I went with 16oz per spud and so weighed out 48oz and that made ALOT, Probably should have put them on two cookie sheets for the initial oven bake.
I shredded them in the food processor in two batches and immediately plunged them into ice water. that worked. I increased the corn starch, but not the other spices and I should have.
Next time I'll trust myself more! It's isn't like baking a cake, right? It doesn't have to be exact to be good. Also, I'll shred in the food processor and then chop to get much smaller bits. The long threads I ended up with would have been great for hash browns, but were very difficult to work with as tots. Hmmmm and maybe a flax egg?
Nancy
A follow up to my last comment. I used the rest of the partially cooked potatoes this morning. The potatoes kept well in a zip lock bags for 2 days. I put them in the waffle iron and had wonderful hash brown waffles.Partially cooking the potatoes before putting them in the waffle iron was great.
★★★★★
Nancy
I have made these twice. The first batch I did by hand and followed the recipe. The second time I shredded a whole bags of potatoes in the food processor. I added more spices and baked two cookie sheets in the oven. I air fried about a dozen tots and put the rest of the shredded and partially cooked potatoes in a zip lock. This is how I would recommend batch cooking them. Do the final air fry just before serving. I also made the ranch dressing from this site and the tots dipped in the ranch was really good. The ranch from BNV is the best recipe I have found. Thanks
★★★★★
Stephanie Rodriguez
Hi Chuck,
Do you think these could be made and reheated somehow? Looking for something I can batch cook for my kids on Sunday and then reheat throughout the week in the mornings. Thanks!
Chuck Underwood
You could always try
Susan
I don't get step 5 either, put in reg. Oven at 400 for 20 min? Then add spices and with wet hands make tots? Just does not sound right
Chuck Underwood
We are trying to remove as much starch, AND dry these potatoes out, as we can. They will still be sticky enough to hold together.
MaryAnn
Slightly off topic but in searching for a ketchup recipe, this posting came up. You mention that you use ketchup with these-do you have an oil and sugar free vegan ketchup recipe also? Thanks in advance.
Chuck Underwood
Nope...not yet. Sorry.
Ruth Rivera
Try Straight Up Food for an oil free, salt free ketchup recipe.
Bill
These turned out to be quite good I thought. I didn't understand the point of step 5: Grab a handful of the drained potatoes....." I DID it, but I didn't understand WHY I did it!
★★★★
Shelly Dunn
I can't on here just to figure that out! I think it means a handful at a time.
Harry
Anyone try these with frozen shredded potato from grocery? They are zero fat and zero added salt, just thought it would cut down on the baking time
Theresa Gelso
I made these in a convection oven, they came out perfect! I wouldn't want to make these for an entire family, unless someone did the clean up! 😉 Still searching for a frozen tater tot without all the extras.
Theresa Gelso
Can you bake them in the oven?
Chuck Underwood
Convection oven - probably. Regular oven? Doubt they'd get crispy.
Gretchen
I loved them! We cooked them in our NuWave air fryer for 15 minutes on 350 degrees. We've made this recipe twice so far and will be trying out new seasoning combinations this week!! Thank you for this!
★★★★★
Missy
Could I substitute Yukon gold potatoes? Thank you!
Chuck Underwood
I haven't tried it with those potatoes....so not sure. Try it!
Susan and Paul Lindquist
Looking at air fryers! What brand do you recommend.
I am also a new vegan. McDougall is my guru!
Chuck Underwood
I have heard good things about the Phillips Brand (I have one in my SHOP page). I personally have a NuWave Brio.
PollyS
excuse me, 350 for 20 minutes
PollyS
My son followed your directions to the letter and had a problem.
20 minutes at 400 was far too long. They tots ame out almost burned and very hard. Are some air fruyers more powerful than others?
★★★
Chuck Underwood
That very well could be......but when using an air fryer I always pull the basket occasionally for a quick shake and to check for cripiness....I just edited the recipe to note that. Sorry they came out so browned.
Darlene
It looks to me like the 20 minutes at 400 is in a regular oven, not the air fryer. Could that be the problem?
Carleen
Any thoughts on of frozen shedded hash brown potatoes would work? And, would anything need to be modified