Cheesy Chicken Tater Tot Casserole

This Cheesy Chicken Tater Tot Casserole is comfort food perfection. It’s made with a rich creamy soup filling loaded with tender bites of chicken and green beans, layered with melty cheddar cheese, and topped with crispy, golden-brown tater tots. This dump-and-go meal is so quick to prep and extra family-friendly!

this Recipe

Chicken Tater Tot Casserole with Chicken – The EASY Way!

This Cheesy Chicken Tater Tot Casserole is just like your classic ground beef tater tot casserole, but better. In part because it’s made with tender bites of chicken, but also because it’s just so good and very kid-friendly

This recipe combines creamy chicken soup, creamy mushroom soup, sour cream, milk, and cheddar tossed together with cooked chicken and green beans, then layered into a casserole dish with even more cheese and topped with tater tots. The extra hot oven creates the best tot texture and the creamy casserole gets so deliciously gooey thanks to the cheddar.

We have hundreds of casserole recipes on the site like the Creamy Chicken Rice Casserole, our popular Mexican Chicken Casserole, and our Million Dollar Chicken Casserole and the viral Chicken Cobbler. This Tater Tot Chicken Casserole hangs up there with the best!

Why I LOVE this recipe!

• So easy. This recipe takes no more than a few minutes to throw together and uses already-prepped ingredients for easy assembly.
• Family-friendly. What’s not to love about a rich creamy chicken base topped with cheese, more cheese, and crispy tots? This is a hearty dinner that everyone will devour.
• Extra crispy tots. One of the best parts about tater tots is the crisp. This casserole bakes at 400ºF to ensure the tater tots on top get extra golden and crisped. The texture is unmatched!
• Feeds-a-Crowd– This recipe is easy to scale to feed as many hungry mouths as you need.

Recipe Notes

This chicken tater tot casserole recipe is as simple as promised! Just a few minutes of prep needed for a family friendly meal.

In this section I am going to go through a few tips and tricks I use for how to make chicken tater tot casserole to get the absolute best and most delicious results.

Make sure to scroll to the bottom for the FULL recipe card.

Ingredients + Substitutions

• Cooked Chicken – Whatever neutrally-seasoned cooked chicken you prefer will work. Chicken breasts, chicken thighs, shredded, diced, rotisserie, etc.
• Frozen Green Beans – You can add them to the casserole frozen or speed up the cooking process and thaw them first.
• Cream Soup – cream of chicken soup and cream of mushroom soup
• Sour Cream
• Milk
• Salt and Pepper – To season the casserole base. Add as much or as little as you like.
• Sharp Cheddar Cheese – For the best texture, I recommend shredding your own cheese, but if you are in a hurry, pre-shredded will work!
• Frozen Tater Tots – As with the green beans, you can add the tots frozen or thaw them first so the casserole cooks a little bit faster.

Recipe Step by Step

I am going to highlight a few key steps in the recipe here, but make sure to jump down to the recipe card for comprehensive instructions on how to make Cheesy Chicken Tater Tot Casserole.

Recipe Tips

1. To thaw or not to thaw…You can either add the frozen green beans and frozen tater tots to the chicken casserole frozen OR thaw them both in the fridge before assembling. If you thaw them first, you can bake the casserole for closer to 35-45 minutes. If you add them frozen, you will likely need the full 55 minutes so everything is properly heated through.
   
2. Season to taste. If you want to make your casserole even richer, try adding a tablespoon of chicken base to it. This gives it a richer chicken-y flavor. If you do this, you may want to omit the salt since chicken base tends to be salty on its own.
   
3. Layer the cheese under the tots. I like to stir half of the cheese into the casserole, then layer half under the tots on top of the filling. Layering the cheese underneath the tots allows it to get nice and melty without burning and keeps the tots exposed to the heat for the perfect crispy texture.
   
4. Preheat the oven. The oven temperature for this recipe is hotter than normal at 400ºF. This is the key to those extra crispy tots. Make sure it’s nice and hot before you add in the casserole.

Recipe Short Cuts

If you need to make this recipe, but are extra short on time, here are a few ideas that can help make this recipe even faster!

• Thaw the tater tots and green beans – To cut down on the baking time just a little bit, you can thaw the frozen green beans and tater tots in the fridge before adding them to your casserole. If you do this, bake the casserole for 35-45 minutes instead. Just make sure everything is heated through before serving.
• Assemble it ahead of time – Mix and layer the casserole as directed but don’t bake. Instead, cover and place in the fridge overnight or wrap it tightly and store it in the freezer. When you’re ready to cook, thaw overnight in the fridge if frozen, then bake as directed.

Recipe Variations

If you love this recipe as much as we do and want some quick ways to change it up for variety, these little tips will do the trick!

• Add other veggies – Make a chicken broccoli tater tot casserole. You can also use a bag of frozen mixed vegetables for a little more color, but my go to is always carrots and onions
• Spice it up – Feel free to kick the flavor up a notch by adding other seasonings to the salt and pepper combination.
• Use another meat – Feel free to swap the cooked chicken out for another cooked meat. You can do the classic ground beef or swap it out for turkey.
• Add some bacon – No one will ever be mad about some bacon sprinkles
• Make it vegetarian – Leave out the meat and add more veggies or use chickpeas in place of the chicken. Potatoes are also a great way to make a vegetarian dish a little heartier.

Freezer Meal Instructions

Making this chicken tater tot casserole recipe into a freezer meal is simple! Follow the steps below and you can store this recipe in the freezer for up to 3 months.

1. Assemble the casserole as instructed, but don’t bake.
2. Wrap tightly with foil, then plastic wrap, and store in the freezer for up to 3 months.
3. When you’re ready to cook, thaw in the fridge, remove the wrap, then bake as directed or until heated through.

What to Serve with Chicken Tater Tot Casserole

Since this dish has the classic flavors of comfort food, it will pair well with many of your favorite comforting side dishes. There are both classic options and some healthy options to keep it light.

Side Dish Ideas

• Brown Butter Broccoli – Turn a basic side dish into an irresistible one with this brown butter broccoli recipe.
• Crock Pot Corn on the Cob with Garlic Butter – Turns out, the crockpot yields the best corn on the cob!
• Best Ever Garlic Bread – Sink your teeth into a soft, buttery, garlicky slice of the best garlic bread of all time.
• House Salad– This one is just like you get at Texas Roadhouse or Outback. So good!

You can choose one or add a few sides to make a wholesome, well rounded dinner. 

Chicken Tater Tot Casserole Leftovers

If you have leftovers after making tater tot casserole with chicken, then it is your lucky day! It saves and reheats well, and can make the start of another delicious dish.

To save leftovers, separate into meal sized portions and then place in an airtight container and store:

• in the refrigerator for 3-4 days
• in the freezer up to a month

More Casserole Recipes

If you enjoyed this recipe, I really hope you will take a moment to grab a few more easy recipes for another busy night!

You can check out all of my casserole recipes here, or see a few of our readers favorite recipes below.

• Jalapeño Popper Chicken Casserole
• Chicken Enchilada Casserole
• Green Chile Chicken Casserole
• Cheesy Broccoli Chicken and Rice
• Ultra Creamy Chicken and Rice Casserole