Loaded Southwest Veggie
Tater Tot Bowls
Game Day | Vegetarian
Sometimes dinner needs to be less cooking and more put delicious things in a bowl and call everyone to the table.
These Loaded Southwest Veggie Tater Tot Bowls start with crispy tater tots and get piled high with black beans, corn, roasted red peppers, Pepper Jack cheese, avocado, and plenty of cilantro. They’re cheesy, crispy, smoky, naturally vegetarian, and ridiculously easy. The oven is doing most of the work here, and I fully support that.
Crispy Tater Tots Are the Base
I mean, seriously…who doesn’t love tater tots?!?! Bake your tater tots until they’re REALLY crispy. That’s technically the only cooking you have to do, and let’s give the oven credit because it’s carrying dinner tonight.
Divide the crispy tots into oven-safe bowls or pile everything onto a sheet pan if you’re feeding a crowd. Either way, don’t rush the tots. You want them golden and crunchy enough to hold up under all those toppings.
Mix, Pile + Broil
While the tots cook, mix together corn, black beans, roasted red peppers, cilantro, smoked paprika, and cumin.
Spoon the mixture over the crispy tots and finish with plenty of shredded Pepper Jack cheese. Pop everything under the broiler for about a minute, just long enough for the cheese to get hot and melty.
Dinner. Done.
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Now Load Them Up
This is where everyone gets to make their own bowl.
Add avocado, fresh cilantro, and plenty of lime wedges, then serve with salsa, sour cream, and hot sauce. It’s crunchy, creamy, cheesy, smoky, and fresh all at once.
And yes, you can absolutely eat this straight from the bowl while standing at the kitchen counter. No judgment here.
Vegetarian Tonight, Add Protein Tomorrow
These bowls are plenty filling with black beans, cheese, and all those toppings, making them an easy vegetarian dinner or game-day meal.
Want more protein? Add seasoned ground beef, shredded rotisserie chicken, leftover grilled chicken, or even a fried egg. This is also a great clean-out-the-fridge dinner, so use what you’ve got.
Chef's Note
Get those tater tots extra crispy before adding your toppings. They’ll soften slightly once everything gets piled on, so starting with seriously crunchy tots makes a big difference.
And watch that broiler! One minute you’re melting cheese. The next you’re opening every window in the house.
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Loaded Southwest Veggie Tater Tot Bowls
- Total Time: 21 minutes
- Yield: 4+ 1x
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
Loaded Southwest Veggie Tater Tot Bowls are crispy, cheesy and packed with black beans, corn and avocado for an easy vegetarian dinner or game-day meal.
Ingredients
- 1 package tater tots
- 1 8 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 cup frozen corn, thawed and drained
- 1 whole roasted red pepper, cut into 1 inch slices
- 1 teaspoon cumin, smoked paprika and garlic powder
- 1 1/2 cups pepperjack cheese (sharp cheddar works great too)
- 1 tablespoon cilantro, roughly chopped
- 1 avocado, sliced thinly
- serve with hot sauce, salsa and sour cream
Get Recipe Ingredients
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Place the tater tots on a baking sheet tray. Once your oven is preheated, bake for 12-16 minutes or until crispy and brown.
- Meanwhile, combine the black beans, corn, red pepper, cumin, smoked paprika and garlic powder together in a bowl.
- When the tater tots are finished cooking add them to an oven safe serving dish or keep them on the baking sheet tray (bring them together in the center of the tray, like you would when making nachos). Top the tater tots with half of the cheese. Follow with the black bean and corn mixture. Top with the rest of the cheese. Place it back in your oven and turn to broil for 1 minute – make sure to watch them so they catch on fire or burn completely.
- Serve with avocado slices and garnish with cilantro. Hot sauce, salsa and sour cream are great additions.
Notes
Get your roasted red pepper from a jar at your grocery store.
If you have an air fryer, tater tots cook amazing in them. Use it if you’d like. Since all air fryers are different, I’m not sure how long to cook them in yours.
These bowls are best served right out of the oven.
- Prep Time: 5
- Cook Time: 16
- Category: Dinner, Side Dish, Snack
- Method: Roasting
- Cuisine: American
Hi, I'm Kat.
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Hi, I’m Kat, a Colorado-based personal chef, soccer mom, and the heart behind White Sparrow Food Company. I share easy, wholesome, gluten-free recipes inspired by the meals I cook for my clients and made simple for real life at home.
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