Tater tots facts for kids
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| Course | Entrée or side dish, sometimes as part of a main course (In Australia, The name of this snack food is "Potato Gems") |
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| Place of origin | United States |
| Region or state | Ontario, Oregon |
| Created by | F. Nephi Grigg, and Golden Grigg (in 1953) |
| Serving temperature | Hot |
| Main ingredients | Potato |
| Variations | Veggie tots |
| (serving size: 86 g) 160 kcal | |
Tater tots are a yummy snack made from potatoes. They are small, cylinder-shaped pieces of grated potato that are deep-fried until crispy. People often eat them as a side dish with their meals. The word "tater" is just a short way to say "potato."
The name "Tater Tot" is a special brand name owned by an American company called Ore-Ida. But many people use "tater tot" to talk about any similar potato snack, even if it's not made by Ore-Ida. Ore-Ida also makes a round, coin-shaped version called "Crispy Crowns."
Contents
How Tater Tots Were Invented
Tater tots were created in 1953 by the founders of the Ore-Ida company. Their names were F. Nephi Grigg and Golden Grigg. They also worked with Ross Erin Butler Sr.
They had a lot of leftover pieces of potato from making French fries. Instead of throwing them away, they wanted to find a way to use them. So, they chopped up these small potato bits. Then, they added some flour and seasoning to the potato mash.
Next, they pushed this potato mix through a special machine. This machine shaped the mixture into long tubes. They then sliced these tubes into small, bite-sized pieces. These little pieces were the first tater tots! The new snack was first sold in stores in 1956.
The Name "Tater Tot"
The name "Tater Tot" is a registered trademark of Ore-Ida. This means only Ore-Ida can officially use that name for their product. Ore-Ida has been part of a bigger company called Heinz since 1965.
Even though it's a brand name, "tater tot" is now used by many people to describe any similar potato snack. This is called a generic term. The name "Tater Tot" was thought up in the 1950s. Someone on the Ore-Ida research team used a thesaurus to find a name that sounded good and started with the same letter, like "Tater Tot."
When tater tots first came out, they were very cheap. But people didn't buy them much at first. When the company raised the price, more people started buying them! Today, Americans eat a lot of tater tots. They eat about 70 million pounds of them every year. That's about 3.7 billion tater tots!
Since 2016, some food companies have started making "veggie tots." These are like tater tots but use other healthy vegetables. They might use broccoli or cauliflower instead of just potatoes.
Where Tater Tots Are Eaten
Tater tots are popular in many parts of the world.
Asia
In Korea, tater tots are called mat-gamja (Korean: 맛감자). They are a common snack food. You can often find them served in a paper cup. They usually have a sweet gochujang-based sauce drizzled on top.
Europe
In the United Kingdom, a company called Ross Frozen Foods used to make "Oven Crunchies." These were similar to tater tots but are not sold anymore. However, you can still find similar potato snacks from other brands. Another company, McCain Foods, makes "Hash Brown Potato Bites." These are also very much like classic tater tots.
North America
In Canada, McCain Foods Limited sells their version of tater tots called "Tasti Taters."
In the United States, tater tots are a common sight. You can often find them in school cafeterias. They are also sold in the frozen food sections of grocery stores. Some fast-food restaurants also offer them on their menus.
The supermarket chain Safeway has its own brand of tater tots called "Tater Treats." Another brand, Cascadian Farm, calls their product "Spud Puppies."
Sonic drive-in restaurants also have tater tots on their regular menu. You can get them with toppings like cheese or chili. Sonic also sells "Cheesy Tots." These are coin-shaped tots that have melted cheese mixed right into the potatoes.
In the Pacific Northwest region of the U.S., some restaurants serve "totchos." These are like nachos but use tater tots instead of tortilla chips. They are covered in nacho cheese sauce and other toppings. Totchos were first invented by a restaurant owner named Jim Parker in Portland, Oregon.
Some Mexican-style fast-food restaurants offer seasoned tater tots. Taco Time and Señor Frog's call them "Mexi-Fries." Taco Bell used to sell them as "Mexi-Nuggets" and "Border Fries." Taco Mayo in the Southwest sells round, disc-shaped tater tots called "Potato Locos." Taco John's also has coin-shaped tots called "Potato Olés."
Food chains like Potato Corner and Papa John’s also offer tater tots in some of their locations. Papa John's calls them "Potato Tots."
Oceania
In Australia and New Zealand, these potato snacks have different names. They are known as "potato gems," "potato royals," or "potato pom-poms." The New Zealand Pizza Hut franchise offers "Hash Bites" as a side dish. You can get them plain or with an aioli dipping sauce.
See Also
- French fries
- Croquette
- Hash browns
- Potato pancake
- Potato cake
- Hotdish
- List of deep fried foods
- List of frozen food brands
- Dumpling
- Potato Salad
