These Are By Far The Best Store-Bought Tater Tots We've Tried

Tater Tots began as a Northwest invention to use potato scraps, but these iconic potato snacks have come a long way as a staple of fast food restaurants and home refrigerators alike. They're easy to pop in the oven for a snack even the pickiest of eaters enjoy, and you'll never hear a crowd complain of their presence at a party. Fried potato snacks don't disappoint when done right, so we took on the task of finding the best taters for your kitchen — and it wasn't Ore-Ida.

In our ranking of store-bought potato tots, the Lamb Weston brand placed first for its superior taste and texture. These tots were crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. They had minimal seasoning — subtle enough to customize however you'd like — and the seasoning that they did have was good (salt, garlic powder, and onion powder). Aside from taste, our favorite features were their ability to maintain their shape without sticking to the pan during cooking. The Lamb Weston tots were made for dipping in sauce or eating solo, so don't skip them on your next trip to the store.

Lamb Weston sources its potatoes from Idaho, America's potato capital itself, but you can get a taste of these tots at most grocery stores for around $5.20 per 28-ounce bag. Kroger, Walmart, and Dollar General have them available to order online or pick up in-store. While they're not the cheapest tots on the shelf, Lamb Weston makes up for it in quality and accessibility, which were other notable factors in our ranking. Other brands on the list were pricier and didn't have quite the same crunch.

Tater Tots have limitless recipe applications as a base for casseroles, hashes, and breakfast burritos. Cooking half of a bag takes about 20 minutes scattered on a baking sheet in the oven, but for even quicker results, they can crisp in the air fryer for only 10 minutes. Either way, you'll end up with a satisfying potato snack that won't fall apart unless you mash it. There are over 20 different ways to prepare frozen tots, and you can try all of them with the best store-bought brand we could find.