Deconstructed Beef Totchos are Tater Tot nachos, separated into saucy beef and beans, sweet potato tots, and toppings — all on one sheet pan with under 10 ingredients!
These Deconstructed Beef Totchos are part of my Back-To-School Lifesavers — a series of recipes that are intended to have little (or no) veggie chopping, minimal prep time, around 10 ingredients or less (not including pantry staples), and use kid-friendly ingredients. Click here to see all the recipes in the series!
Deconstructed Beef Totchos
This one sounds odd but quickly becomes a favorite! It’s unique, full of texture and flavor, and comes together fast thanks to store-bought shortcuts.
Instead of layering like traditional totchos, the components stay separate to keep things crisp. The deconstructed style tastes better and makes leftovers easier—if any are left!
Quick Tip
Once everything is piled onto a plate, you can mix the components as you eat. The beef is (intentionally) quite saucy, so separating or deconstructing the meal keeps the potatoes from getting soft and mushy.
Deconstructed Beef Totchos Ingredients
There are five primary ingredients in this recipe, thanks to some serious store-bought shortcuts. Below is a breakdown of the ingredients.
- Alexia® Crispy Bite-Size Sweet Potato Puffs. If you’ve never tried these, you are in for a real treat! They’re mega flavorful, light, and crispy on the outside, tender on the inside. They’re our favorite for this Deconstructed Totchos recipe! Here’s where to check if your local store carries them. If you aren’t able to access these puffs, grab regular tots instead or roast up some sweet potatoes. Here’s a recipe for our favorite roasted sweet potatoes.
- Del Real Foods® Del Real Slow Cooked Beef Barbacoa. This beef is readily available in most grocery stores in the refrigerated section near other prepared (cooked) meats. This Mexican-style beef pot roast is simmered in a chili-tomato sauce and is the perfect accompaniment to the sweet potato puffs!
Quick Tip
Totchos? What??!! Totchos are a mashup of Tots+nachos and are quite trendy if you follow food on the internet. Get it? Tots…nachos…Totchos? And just to clarify, Tater Tots is a registered trademark of a potato puff made by Ore Ida Foods. We use this term in a generic sense, meaning any potato puff will work.
Deconstructed Beef Totchos Ingredients, Continued
- Black beans: Add flavor and texture. They also make the beef go further, so the meal is more filling without spending more.
- Fire-roasted crushed tomatoes: These tomatoes are roasted before canning, which makes them sweeter and gives a smoky flavor—more flavor with no extra work.
- Colby-jack cheese blend: A tasty mix of Colby and Monterey Jack that goes great with the beef—no cheese to grate!
Deconstructed Beef Totchos Tools Needed
- An extra-large sheet pan. To have room for all the sweet potato puffs and the pan holding the beef mixture, I recommend using a (this) 15×21 inch sheet pan for Deconstructed Beef Totchos. If you don’t have an extra-large pan, you may need to divide ingredients into two separate pans.
- This is the 8×8-inch pan we use for the saucy beef mixture. Any similar-sized oven-safe dish will work great here!
Toppings In Deconstructed Beef Totchos
In keeping true to delivering back-to-school recipe lifesavers, we want to keep the toppings as simple as possible! Our two must-haves: a ripe avocado (or our favorite guacamole recipe) and sour cream (we use lite or fat-free to keep things on the lighter side). Look below for some other topping ideas:
- A drizzle of fresh lime to add in some freshness and a touch of acidity
- Some fresh cilantro to bring in freshness and a citrusy-vibrancy
- Diced cherry tomatoes or a quick pico de gallo
Quick Tip
If you’re having a hard time finding ripe avocados, try this product! The only listed ingredient is mashed Hass avocados (it’s not guacamole, just mashed ripe avocados).
More Sheet Pan Favorites
- Sheet Pan Quinoa Pilaf with roasted beets and sweet potatoes
- One Pan Italian Sausage and Veggies with a simple seasoning blend
- Mini Meatloaf with mashed potatoes and green beans
- One-Pan Potatoes and Sausage with asparagus
- One-Pan Jambalaya with sausage and shrimp
Deconstructed Beef Totchos
Video
Ingredients
- 2 pkgs (20 oz. EACH) Sweet potato puffs recommended: Alexia Crispy Bite-Size Sweet Potato Puffs
- 1 pkg (15 oz.) prepared barbacoa meat mixture recommended: Del Real Foods Del Real Slow Cooked Beef Barbacoa
- 1 can (15.25 oz.) black beans drained and rinsed
- 1/3 cup fire-roasted crushed tomatoes
- 1 cup Colby Jack cheese finely shredded
- Guacamole or diced ripe avocado, for serving
- Sour cream fat-free or lite works great! For serving
- lime optional
- Cilantro optional
Instructions
- PREP: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Spray an extra-large (15×21-inch) sheet pan (or 2 smaller ones) with nonstick spray. Add both bags of tots to the sprayed pan. Space evenly on pan and bake for 10 minutes.
- BEEF: Meanwhile, open the beef and add all the beef (and liquids) in an 8×8-inch pan. Add drained and rinsed black beans and 1/3 cup of the drained tomatoes on top. Mix, break apart beef (with a wooden spoon) and spread in an even layer. Once the potatoes have baked for 10 minutes, flip them with a spatula and then make room to nestle the beef-filled pan on the sheet pan. Bake for 10 more minutes. Remove, toss potato puffs around again and then sprinkle cheese evenly on the beef mixture. Return to the oven and bake for 5-7 more minutes or until cheese is melted, beef is fully warmed through, and tots are tender.
- SERVE: Serve by spooning potato puffs out on plates with cheesy beans and beef on the side and add toppings of choice (we love sour cream and guacamole or a diced ripe avocado). If desired, drizzle some lime on everything and enjoy immediately.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Will be making this soon can i use mushrooms and vegan cheese as am a vegan can i use other potato puffs as i dont have alexia puffs here in Singapore perfect for my after office meals will dm you if i make this and let you know how it goes Thanks Ramya
Hope you love it!