I’m so pumped to share this recipe for Sweet Potato Bacon Tots with you! First these tots combine some of my favorite things… sweet potato and bacon. Second this recipe comes from the lovely Jennifer Robins new cookbook, The Paleo Kids Cookbook. Some of you might be thinking, but you don’t have kids. And you would be right! I don’t have kids, but I have 5 nieces and a nephew who love eating Aunt Nessie’s paleo creations! Also one of my nieces has to eat gluten-free, which made me even more excited to receive this cookbook. Jennifer shares classic kids’ favorites like French Toast Sticks, Chicken Nuggets, S’mores and Mac ’N’ “Cheese” along with sure to be new favorites like the Crispy Sweet Potato Fish Sticks, Meat Pockets and Teriyaki Meatballs with Daikon Noodles. I love the “little hands” tips on how to get your kids into the kitchen.
So back to these Sweet Potato Bacon Tots. I won’t be winning any tater tot rolling awards. Seriously. Jennifer’s look so cute and mine look like weird little logs, but don’t fret if yours don’t look perfect. The main thing is that these tater tots are delicious! I couldn’t stop eating them! Another note: don’t turn your skillet up higher to cook the tots quicker. Opps. I am still getting used to my stovetop and have burned more things in the last few months than I care to admit as a food blogger. Anyways, listen to Jennifer, cook the tots at medium/medium high. Not high.
From Jennifer:
Most tater tots are made with pretty unsavory ingredients, and for those who are extra sensitive to cross contamination, eating them out becomes basically impossible. I made these with sweet potato and bacon for a flavor kick and no risk of the yucky stuff like rancid oils or traces of gluten!
Ingredients
- 1 large sweet potato
- 5 strips of crispy bacon, chopped
- Up to 1 tsp garlic sea salt (to taste)
- ½ tsp onion powder
- ½ tsp ground black pepper
- ½ cup (80 g) potato starch or cassava flour
- Avocado oil or light olive oil for frying
- Awesome Sauce (page 177), optional
Directions
- Boil the sweet potato submerged in water for about 10 minutes. Remove the sweet potato from the boiling water and once cool enough to handle, peel or slice the skin off. Grate the sweet potato, using a hand grater, mandolin or food processor.
- Once the sweet potato is grated, use a hand towel or a few paper towels to squeeze out the excess water from the potato. This step is important, as you do not want to have soggy tots!
- Add the other ingredients (minus the oil and sauce) to the grated sweet potato in a mixing bowl and combine by hand. Preheat oil for frying in a large skillet over medium/high heat; it does not need to be enough oil for deep frying, but it should be enough to generously cover the bottom of the skillet.
- While the cooking oil heats, begin shaping your tots. Roll about a tablespoon (15 g) of the dough into a ball, and then elongate it and flatten the ends to give it that distinctive tot shape.
- Fry the tots, rolling them around on all sides to make sure they crisp up. Once all sides are cooked, around 5 minutes or more, use a slotted spoon or skimmer to remove the tots and transfer them to a towel-lined plate to cool slightly. Serve alone or with my Awesome Sauce.
Notes
FOR LITTLE HANDS: Allow your child to help shape the tots. It’s okay if they are not shaped perfectly as they will fry deliciously regardless. Older kids can help fry the tots while supervised.
Be sure to grab a copy of The Paleo Kids Cookbook here!
Enjoy!
x Vanessa 
I know these are for kids, but I could gobble these up right about now! I’ve gotta make these this week.
I did the same thing!!
could you use coconut flour?
I wouldn’t because it has a complete different absorbency than cassava/or potato flour.