Tater Tot Soup
Here’s the fastest cheese-and-potato soup we can imagine! The Tater Tots break apart— even break down— under pressure, leaving you with little potato shreds, as if you’d grated a potato into the soup. Those potato bits also thicken the soup, particularly as it sits a few minutes after cooking to melt all that (absolutely necessary) cheese. The frozen hash brown cubes then give you more little bits of potato throughout the soup for a better overall texture. Dried herbs work better than fresh here. They have an earthier flavor that matches the Tater Tots and cheese. And one other thing: Heat the liquid up before you add the Tater Tots. Otherwise, they fall to the bottom of the pot in the (colder) liquid. You’ll end up with a burn notice, no question.
Servings Prep Time
6-8servings 5minutes
Cook Time
20minutes
Servings Prep Time
6-8servings 5minutes
Cook Time
20minutes
Ingredients
  • 6cups chicken or vegetable broth1 1/2 quarts
  • 2tbsp butter
  • 2tsp peeled and minced garlic
  • 2tsp dried basiloregano, or thyme
  • 1tsp onion powder
  • 1/2tsp ground black pepper
  • 1lb frozen unseasoned hash brown cubes(3 cups, NOT frozen shredded hash browns
  • 5cups frozen Tater Totsor potato puffs; 1 1/4 lbs
  • 2cups shredded mildor sharp Cheddar cheese; 8 ounces
Instructions
  1. Press the button SAUTÉ. Set it for HIGH, MORE, or CUSTOM 400°F and set the time for 10 minutes.
  2. Mix the broth, butter, garlic, dried herb, onion powder, and pepper in an Instant Pot. Heat, stirring occasionally, until wisps of steam rise from the liquid. Stir in the hash brown cubes and Tater Tots. Lock the lid onto the pot.
  3. Option 1 Max Pressure Cooker
    Press Pressure cook on Max pressure for 3 minutes with the Keep Warm setting off.
  4. Option 2 All Pressure Cookers
    Press SOUP/BROIL or Pressure Cook (Manual) on High pressure for 4 minutes with the Keep Warm setting off. The valve must be closed.
  5. Use the quick-­release method to bring the pot’s pressure back to normal. Unlatch the lid and open the cooker. Stir in the cheese. Set the lid askew over the pot for a couple of minutes until the cheese melts. Stir again, then serve hot.
Recipe Notes

Beyond
• For an 8-quart Instant Pot, you must increase the broth to 2 quarts (8 cups).
• For a richer soup, stir up to 1 cup heavy or light cream into the soup before you add the cheese in step 5.
• For a sweeter soup, use half regular tots and half sweet potato tots (sometimes called “puffs”).
• Garnish the servings with crumbled bacon, sour cream, and/or minced chives (or the green part of a scallion). Or crisp Tater Tots in a skillet,
toaster oven, or an air fryer and use them as a garnish on the soup