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Crispy air fryer frozen tater tots! Delicious, tasty tater tots in your air fryer. They are beautifully crispy, and compared to deep fried tots, they’re much healthier because you are not using oil in the cooking process.
How to Cook Air Fryer Frozen Tater Tots (Potato Puffs)
You don’t need to use any extra oil or spray for this recipe. The tater tots actually are already oiled. You can, if you want, use some oil to give your tots a little extra crispy crunch, but this is not at all an absolute must. You can add some dip on the sides, and serve a plate of your freshly air fried tater tots as an awesome snack. There’s a real crunch factor to this that you don’t get with regular ovens.
Do You Need to Thaw Tater Tots First?
No! In fact, your tater tots are actually better if they just go straight into the air fryer. Cooking the tots from frozen gives them the kind of crispy outside and smooth, fleshy inside that you want. Your little potato puffs might actually get a little soggy, rather than crispy, if you thaw them, as this will allow the water frozen in the puffs to penetrate the crispy coating.
How Long to Cook Frozen Tater Tots in Air Fryer?
Because there are so many different sizes of tater tots and air fryers, you may need to adjust this recipe to suit the situation. However, you only really need to alter the cooking time and temperature. Adjusting your cooking time and temperature for the size of your tots and power of your fryer will set you on the path towards perfect, crispy tater tots.
We advise that you use our temperature recommendations as a guide, and make any changes based on how that suited your first batch of tots.
Cooking Time and Temperature ( Instant Vortex Air Fryer)
- There are plenty of factors that will influence your cooking time and temperature. The size and number of tater tots you’re cooking is one. The thickness, size, and even the tater tot coating can vary from one brand to the next.
- Air fryers also come in a variety of different sizes, and with smaller fryers you should really avoid overcrowding the fryer basket if you can. About a pound’s worth of tater tots should be plenty to get a nice snack without overcrowding the basket.
- Because air fryers cook by moving extremely hot air over the surface of the food being cooked, if you crowd the basket, this air won’t be in contact with all the surfaces of the tater tots. This can lead to uneven cooking. It’s best just to be patient and give your tots plenty of room in the basket.
- Avoid filling your basket more than halfway full and you should be fine.
- We recommend air frying at 356°F| 180°C for 8-10 minutes. Larger, thicker tater tots will require a cooking time closer to eight minutes, while smaller, thinner ones will likely cook through in five minutes. Use your judgement and enjoy!
More Air Fryer Recipes
Air Fryer Frozen Chicken Nuggets
Frozen Fish Sticks in Air Fryer
Sweet and Sour Chicken Air Fryer
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Air Fryer Frozen Tater Tots
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 pound 500 grams Frozen Tater Tots (Potato Puffs)
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat your air fryer.
- Place the frozen tots in your air fryer basket and arrange in a single layer. Don’t overcrowd the basket. No oil is needed.
- Air fry at 356°F| 180°C for 8-10 minutes. Shake the basket halfway through cooking.
- If needed air fry further for 1-3 minutes or until crispy.
- Season with salt and pepper.
- Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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