Air frying tater tots are super quick and easy to do, you won't believe how fast you can cook the frozen tater tots in air fryer recipe!
Whether you want them as part of a meal or as a simple snack, making air fryer frozen tater tots just can’t be beaten if you want them super crispy AND fast! It's a WHOLE LOTTA YUM!

Crispy and Delicious Air Fryer Tater Tots from frozen!
We try to eat as healthy as possible at home due to food allergies and health considerations, but we’re all human, am I right? Who doesn’t love to periodically pop a frozen dish in their air fryer or oven to make dinner even easier!
If you can’t have gluten like me, then having a variety of side dish ideas that are potato based are a fabulous idea. Not only are many store-bought varieties gluten free, but they’re vegetarian and vegan too.
Nowadays you can even find healthier tater tot options at the store like the Trader Joes frozen tater tots we used without extra artificial ingredients, or many grocery stores carry Alexis non-gmo pre-seasoned tater tots with some organic ingredients too.
- You can't cook tater tots faster at home than making air fryer frozen tater tots
- You get that crispy exterior and tender interior just like restaurant tots!
- The only ingredient you need for this recipe is a bag of frozen tots and cooking spray
- Frozen tater tots in air fryer are gluten free, vegetarian, and vegan.
Serve the air fryer frozen tater tots recipe with air fryer Italian sausage or brats, boneless pork chops, or chicken wings, and then make an easy salad on the side for a complete and tasty meal the whole family will love.
Or why not have an air fryer snack party and serve multiple air-fried frozen items like the frozen tater tots in air fryer alongside air fryer mozzarella sticks or air fryer frozen corn dogs?
Ingredient notes
One reason we loved to eat air fryer frozen tater tots is that you basically just need one ingredient....a bag of packaged tater tots! Most brands come pre-seasoned or at least already coated in canola oil so you don’t need to add extra oil or seasoning unless you want to--the best kind of no muss no fuss cooking.
When you’re craving potatoes and don’t have time to bake them for one hour and want something other than air fried French fries, these are a fantastic alternative.
Again, we live near Trader Joes so used their brand of tots, but ANY brand you can get locally works great!
- ½ lb-1 lb frozen tater tots
- Non-stick cooking spray or canola oil (optional)
Don’t have an air fryer yet?? After tons of research, we decided to purchase an air fryer/toaster oven combo and it replaced our old countertop toaster oven. We also just bought a smaller 2nd air fryer that was one of the Consumer Reports “best buys”—gotta love it when it works well AND costs less!
Having two air fryers means that you can cook a main dish in one while cooking a side dish at the same time in the other.
How to Air Fry Frozen Tater Tots
Since tater tots in an air fryer are already pre-seasoned, you don't need to do any prep work for this recipe. And if you're wondering how to make air fryer tater tots, it's as simple as preheating your unit, spreading them evenly on a pan, and flippig halfway. Easy peasy!
We cooked the batch on 400F since cooking foods quickly at a high temperature makes for a crispier exterior texture yet the inside still stays moist.
At the grocery store you’ll be able to find bags of frozen potato tots between 1-2 lb, how many you can cook at one time depends on your air fryer make and model. If you have a toaster oven model you can simply lay them on the basket with space in between each tot. The capacity of the larger air fryer oven models can be double of what the smaller basket style can hold.
If you have a smaller capacity model, you can layer them in the basket and will need to shake them periodically to get them as crispy as possible.
Preheat the air fryer to 400F.
Spray the rack or basket with non-stick cooking spray to prevent sticking (if it isn’t already a non-stick surface) and simply lay the tater tots on the air fryer rack or in the basket. If your surface IS non-stick, do NOT use cooking spray like Pam.
Cook the frozen tater tots in an air fryer oven for 8 minutes if you have a toaster oven style model like our Instant Pot Omni Plus, flip them over and continue cooking until crispy which will take about 7 more minutes. Our air fryer tater tots ended up taking 15 minutes in total to cook, but different types of air fryers might take a different amount of time. It’s super important to keep an eye on the temperature to get the hang of how long to cook frozen tater tots in air fryer for your exact model.
If you have a basket style air fryer you’ll still want to cook them at 400F, but instead of flipping after 8 minutes, you’ll need to shake your basket every 5 minutes to get all of them crispy. It’s possible you might need to cook them longer than 15 minutes, depending on your make and model, and how crisp you like them.
Compare the 15 minute cook time with the oven?! To cook these in the oven, by the time you heat up your oven for 10-15 minutes and bake them for 30-35 minutes, the oven baking method takes more than double the air fryer frozen tater tots do! PLUS they turn out SO much better.
Enjoy! Serve the frozen tater tots air fryer recipe with ketchup, tartar sauce, Ranch, or eat them plain. They’re delicious no matter what.
Recipe tips
- Cook them from frozen, do not defrost the tots first
- Any air fryer model will work for this recipe, if you have a basket style toaster oven until lay them in a single layer and flip halfway during the 15 minute cooking time. If you have a basket style, shake the basket every 5 minutes.
- Do not add a cooking spray like Pam when you're air frying tater tots in a non-stick basket. Cooking spray leaves a sticky film that CAUSES sticking to non-stick surfaces. Add a spritz of oil if preferred, but they do already come oiled and did not need extra oil in our experiments. If you have a non-stick cooking tray then YES, you can add Pam to that type of unit.
- Serve with your favorite dip like ketchup or Ranch dressing, have an air fryer party and serve multiple types of snacks at the same time or in batches.
- Be sure to preheat the unit to get the correct cooking time.
Storage and reheating
- Storage: You can store leftover cooked tater tots in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 4-5 days.
- Freeze: Leftovers can be frozen again once they’re cooked, they’ll keep for up to 2-3 months in the freezer.
- Reheat: The best way to reheat tater tots is in the air fryer. Preheat the air fryer for 3-5 minutes on 400 F and then air fry for 2-4 minutes until warm and crispy.
Questions
To get the BEST results, lay the tots in a single layer in the cooking pan. While you can technically stack the tots in a basket style unit, they won't get as crispy compared to laying them in a single layer. Be sure to shake the basket every 5 minutes.
Tater tots are done when they are golden brown and are crispy on the outside. This typically takes about 15 minutes in a preheated air fryer set to 400°F (200°C). Remember to shake the basket or turn the tater tots halfway through the cooking time for even cooking.
More Air Fryer Frozen Recipes
- Air fryer frozen French fries
- Air fryer frozen chicken wings
- Air fryer pizza rolls
- Air fryer eggrolls from frozen
- Air fryer frozen taquitos
- Air fryer frozen mozzarella sticks
Frozen Tater Tots (Air Fryer Recipe)
Make an easy frozen tater tots in air fryer recipe in just 15 minutes! Perfectly crispy on the outside and yummy on the inside, plus they cook in half the time as an oven.
Ingredients
- ยฝ lb - 1 lb frozen tater tots
- cooking spray
Instructions
- Preheat the air fryer to 400F
- Spray basket or tray to help prevent the food from sticking.
- Cook on one side for 8 minutes and then shake or flip the frozen tater tots.
- Cook for 7 more minutes, for a total of 15 minutes, until they're cooked through and crisp on the outside.
- Serve warm and enjoy!
Notes
- Cook them from frozen, do not defrost the tots first
- Any air fryer model will work for this recipe, if you have a basket style toaster oven until lay them in a single layer and flip halfway during the 15 minute cooking time. If you have a basket style, shake the basket every 5 minutes.
- Do not add a cooking spray like Pam when you're air frying tater tots in a non-stick basket. Cooking spray leaves a sticky film that CAUSES sticking to non-stick surfaces. Add a spritz of oil if preferred, but they do already come oiled and did not need extra oil in our experiments. If you have a non-stick cooking tray then YES, you can add Pam to that type of unit.
- Serve with your favorite dip like ketchup or Ranch dressing, have an air fryer party and serve multiple types of snacks at the same time or in batches.
- Be sure to preheat the unit to get the correct cooking time.
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Nutrition Information
Yield 4 Serving Size 6 piecesAmount Per Serving Calories 220Total Fat 9gSaturated Fat 5gTrans Fat 0gCholesterol 25mgSodium 460mgCarbohydrates 25gFiber 1gSugar 3gProtein 9g
The nutritional data is for the Amy's organic cheese pizza bites, if you purchased a different brand the info might change.
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