When you are looking for the perfect appetizer for your cookout or game day, look no further than these grilled bacon wrapped tater tot bombs. These quick and super-easy two-bite appetizers have a high “wow” factor in not only taste, but presentation as well.
This comes from one of our food truck visits at a brewery. Those menus have really inspired us, and we had lots of fun making street-food inspired creations like Grilled Seafood Tater Tots with Creamy Remoulade Sauce and the Beer and Smoked Cheese Dip.
These are darned right amazing. We’ve had the tater tot bombs before with the bacon and brown sugar but we decided to add the cheese and jalapeño for a pop of extra flavor it really took these to a new level.
🥔 Ingredients
Tater Tots | Use frozen tater tots in a bag.
Bacon | Make sure to use thinly sliced bacon for this recipe. Alter the flavor by using maple flavored.
Jalapeño | This is going to enrich the flavor altogether. We used 1-2 thin slices but would have been happy with a 3-4 slices or a hotter pepper. It’s up to you to dial in the heat level.
Brown Sugar | Plain brown sugar is all you need. We have made these using a brown sugar/creole seasoning mix as well and it was scrumptious.
🔥 Instructions
Tater Tot Bombs
Step One: Cut the bacon in half. Take one slice of the bacon and lay a tater tot on top. Add a small piece of cheese, a thin slice of jalapeño and a slice of red pepper and roll it up. Sprinkle or roll in brown sugar.
Note: If the bacon does not stick to itself, or you picked up a thicker slice, just use a toothpick to hold it together. Easy Peasy!
Step Two: Place the wrapped tater tots on a slat cast iron skillet over a hot grill set to 375 degrees. Don’t go too hot or it will burn.
Step Three: Grill for about five minutes. You want the bottom to be cooked nicely before you turn it over. Remove once both sides are fully cooked. Look for the indicators we talk about in How to Tell When Bacon is Done.
Sour Cream Chive Dip
Step One: Combine 8oz of sour cream, onion powder, chives, and green onions in a bowl and stir well.
Step Two: Place in the refrigerator for 4-8 hours to have flavors meld together.
Dip the bacon wrapped tots in the fresh sour cream dip!
❗ Expert Tips
If you want less of a char, add the brown sugar towards the end of the cooking. It is absolutely amazing and provides a great sweet taste.
You control the heat by how much jalapeño is included. There wasn’t a ton of heat with one slice, and it worked perfect with the sweetness of the sugar and the cool dipping sauce.
Recipe FAQ
Nope. You are good to go to pull these right out of the freezer.
Unfortunately, these don’t store well after cooking but don’t worry about it as they go fast and they are so addicting!
This will stay good for about three days in a sealed container.
Simple changes to the vegetables, mix up the jalapeños, switch the cheese, add spices to the brown sugar and change the flavoring of the bacon. The ideas to mix this up are endless and you can make these different each time.
Related Recipes
Grilled Bacon Wrapped Tater Tots
Ingredients
Bacon Wrapped Tater Tot Bombs
- Tater Tots frozen, in the bag
- Bacon thinly sliced
- Cheddar Cheese
- Jalapeño
- Red/Orange Pepper
- Brown Sugar
Sour Cream Chive Dip
- 8 oz Sour Cream
- 1 tsp Onion Powder
- 2 tbsp Chives chopped
- 1 Green Onion finely chopped
Instructions
Bacon Wrapped Tater Tot Bombs
- Cut the bacon in half. Take one piece of half cut bacon and lay a tater tot on top. Add a small piece of cheese, a thin slice of jalapeño and a thin slice of red pepper and roll it up. Sprinkle or roll in brown sugar.
- Place it on cast iron skillet over a hot grill set about 375 degrees. Don't go too hot or it will burn.
- Turn it over after about five minutes and remove it from the grill when both sides of the bacon are thoroughly cooked.
Sour Cream Chive Dip
- Combine all the ingredients into a bowl and stir.
- Place in the refrigerator for 4-8 hours before serving.
Notes
Jason’s been firing up the grill for over 30 years after graduating from the US Coast Guard Academy. His love of finely-grilled steak and chicken led him to buy his first Weber grill to put on his apartment patio in 1992. Each military move led to a new grill (a mixture of gas and charcoal) until he fell in love with the Big Green Egg in 2008. Since then, he has added another 4 grills to the collection. Yes, he has a problem. Jason loves smoking in the ceramic BGE with exotic woods including olive wood from Egypt and hard to find varieties such as sassafras and orange wood. Jason takes the term “foodie” to a whole new level, jumping at the chance to take food tours and cooking classes during foreign travels. These have provided inspiration to incorporate new ideas into recipes when he gets back home. He has been featured in Fox News, Parade, Yahoo News, Kansas City Living and more. After retiring from the military and moving to southwest Florida, he has focused grilling and smoking locally sourced meats and fish (read: he likes to catch his own fish!)
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