Transform Frozen Tater Tots With A One-Ingredient Upgrade

Frozen tater tots can be pretty ho-hum when you prepare them straight from the bag. Sometimes that's what you want, but those little potato kegs can also use a spiffy new outfit every now and again. That's why I recommend one pantry item to quickly dust them up — in fact, it'll make them taste brand new.

I'm actually cribbing this idea straight from a bar my wife and I played trivia at back in the day (R.I.P.



, High Dive), and whenever we went to visit, we always had to get the ranch tots. These weren't tater tots served with ranch dressing, as some of you may be guessing, but rather, freshly fried tater tots that were tossed in dry ranch seasoning. It seems like such a small detail, and at first, I was somewhat annoyed by the "ranchification" of yet another regular food item — , after all.

But jeez, these were infuriatingly delicious. They were so good I generally ate them plain, which is really unlike me. Next time you break out the frozen tater tots, try grabbing a packet of Hidden Valley Ranch powder, and toss your tater tots in a generous amount of it as soon as they come out of your oven or air fryer.

This will ensure that the seasoning really sticks, and your otherwise normal tater tots will suddenly be boosted with a ton of umami flavor. If you're tired of ranch, almost any dry seasoning combo will do If you're burned out on ranch dressing and all related seasonings, I totally get it — this is just a proven example of where you can start. As long as you pick a boldly seasoned powder like a barbecue rub, for example, you're good to go.

But that means you can get pretty creative. Think dry seasoning blends like garam masala, Chinese-style salt-and-pepper seasoning, instant ramen powder, herbs de Provence, or maybe even . There's so much you can use, and though the concept of coating your tater tots in dry seasoning isn't necessarily mind-blowing, there's so much room to play that the results absolutely can be.

And this isn't even including any potential dipping sauces that you decide to pair your tots with, but that's its own story altogether. We have lots of opinions on the most interesting , so combine that line of thinking with your newly spun tots. You've suddenly given frozen tater tots a new lease on life.

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