This Instant Pot tater tot casserole is a hearty and filling warm comfort dish packed with ground beef, corn, cheese, and crispy tots. You're going to love this simple and easy food dish recipe.

We love to eat tater tot casserole around here, especially when I don't feel like cooking up anything fancy. But making it in the Instant Pot is so much fun.
My oven-baked Tater Tot Casserole Recipe is fine and dandy, but something about cooking in the Instant Pot is always appealing, possibly because there are fewer dirty dishes involved (or at least- it feels that way).
I could also enjoy this Instant Pot tater tot hotdish simply because it's flavorful and easy to make. Whatever the reason, it's a delicious dinner dish that keeps the kids coming back for seconds.
Why This Recipe Works
- Basic ingredients. We just need some simple ingredient sot make this tasty casserole in the Instant Pot.
- Easy prep. The prep work for this recipe is pretty minimal. There are about 10 minutes of active time where you're just mixing things around as they cook, and after that, it's time for a little patience as the IP does its thing.
- It's filling. This is one of those recipes that will have you feeling stuffed in no time. It's perfect for feeding the family something comforting too.
🥘 Ingredients
Ground Beef- You'll want to use some ground beef or even ground turkey for the meaty filling.
Onion- Adding in onion will give us a nice depth of flavor.
Seasonings- We keep the seasonings simple with some salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
Beef Broth- This is the base of the recipe and creates a rich broth. It also replaces the water your Instant Pot normally needs to operate.
Cream of Mushroom Soup- Adding in a can of condensed soup gives us a thicker filling and way more flavor.
Whole Kernel Corn- Add in some corn for a nice crunch of sweetness.
Sour Cream- Adding in sour cream will make the filling a little more tangy and rich.
Cheddar Cheese- Putting cheese into anything can make it taste good. We love adding sharp or medium cheddar cheese to our tater tot casseroles.
Tater Tots- You'll need some of your favorite frozen tater tots for this recipe.
For the exact amounts needed, please see the recipe card below.
🍽 Equipment Needed
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🔪 Instructions
Check out how to make Instant Pot tater tot casserole with these simple step-by-step instructions:
Cook tots as directed on package instructions.
While tots are cooking, prepare the filling in the Instant Pot.
Set Instant Pot to Saute Mode and cook the ground beef and onions until beef is browned and onions are cooked. Add in garlic powder, salt, and pepper.
Stir in beef broth.
Lay your corn on top of the ground beef mixture.
In the center of the pot, add your cream of mushroom soup. DO NOT STIR.
Close the lid and seal the vent.
Set to High Pressure for 4 minutes.
When the time is up, do a Quick Pressure Release and open the lid.
Stir in the sour cream and 1 cup of the cheese.
Add in the cooked tater tots and the remaining cheese.
Stir to combine.
Serve warm.
🍴 Recipe Tips
Making this pressure cooker tater tot casserole is simple and easy. The most time consuming part is cooking the tater tots in the oven for a crisped texture. You can use a toaster oven, air fryer, or other means to make crispy tots, but tossing them on a sheet pan and in the oven for a few minutes is pretty simple as-is.
The result of this tot casserole is a wet filling with crispy tots and packed with cheesy creamy goodness in every bite. You can follow the instructions on the recipe card note section to thicken up the filling if preferred.
💭 FAQs
Technically this dish classifies as both. A hot dish is a main meal one dish type of recipe that combines cream of something soup, vegetable, and something starchy.
In this Instant Pot tater tot casserole recipe, we used cream of mushroom, corn, and tater tots. Casseroles, however, are a combination of items cooked together that can be served for any purpose or function (breakfast, dinner, etc.)
You can use either one! For canned corn, drain the liquid first. You can even rinse it if desired. For frozen, just use as-is.
Serving this dish with simple sides like a salad or more cooked veggies are always a hit around here. The main dish already has meat, veggies, and starch so keeping sides simple help to keep the casserole the star of the show on the dinner plate.
Here are some more great Instant Pot recipes to try
- Instant Pot Apple Pie Filling
- Instant Pot Chicken Spaghetti
- Instant Pot Green Beans
- Instant Pot Brussel Sprouts and Bacon
📖 Recipe
Instant Pot Tater Tot Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 pound Ground beef 80/20 ($3.37)
- 1 cup Yellow onion ($0.70)
- 1 teaspoon Garlic powder ($0.10)
- 1 cup Beef broth ($0.33)
- 1 can (10.5oz) cream of mushroom soup ($0.50)
- 1 can (14.5oz) whole kernel corn, drained (or 1 cup frozen) ($0.50)
- ½ cup Sour cream ($0.40)
- 2 cups Cheddar cheese, shredded ($1.98)
- 16 ounces Tater tots ($0.84)
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Cook your tater tots according to the package directions in the oven. You can prepare the Instant Pot portion of the recipe while they're baking.
- Set your Instant Pot to Saute and cook the onions and beef until cooked. Add in the garlic powder, salt and pepper.
- Stir in the Beef broth.
- Layer the drained corn on top of the beef and then spoon the mushroom soup onto the center. DO NOT STIR.
- Close the lid and seal the vent. Cook on High Pressure for 4 minutes.
- Do a Quick Pressure Release and open the lid.
- Stir in the sour cream and 1 cup of cheddar cheese.
- Add in your cooked tater tots and the other cup of cheddar cheese. Stir.
- Serve warm. Mixture will be runny but will thicken slightly as it cools.
Robert Newcomer says
I used your tatertot recipe from the Google,the family said it was great. I made the other dishes that came with the tatertot recipe you had on line,no complaints, ALL WERE GREAT: Thank you. ........ . Robert