Fish and Chip Tater Tots
Biting into a crispy tater tot, and tasting not only perfectly cooked potatoes, but some tender fish, is like having a plate of fish and chips in every bite!
The inspiration for this recipe
Do you love fish and chips but hate the extra effort of having to eat the fish separately from the chips??? (cue black and white video of people having trouble eating fish and chips) Well you are in luck! I had the idea for these tots after eating a classic Italian Bacalao (salt cod) fritters. The salt cod was soaked to remove some of the saltiness and then mixed with potato and deep fried. I thought why not skip out on the whole salting then un-salting process and just try it with fresh cod? They came out really great. Dipped in tartar sauce these tots are pub food perfection.
Make the tartar sauce
Pickles, mayo, garlic, shallot, dill, parsley, and lemon! Just mix it all together and you have the tartar sauce.
Prep the potatoes for the tater tots
The way I make tots is roast the potatoes very hot to brown on the edges but stay undercooked in the center. Then after they fully cool, pulse in the food processor to form small flecks of potato
Mix the fish and chip tater tots ingredients
Add the potatoes to a bowl, then add the fish. There should be about 1 cup of diced fish, and 3 cups of potatoes. Then season it with some salt, garlic powder, onion powder, and paprika. Finally I add some dehydrated potato flakes as a binder, and some vodka to help the fish and chip tater tots stay crispy.
Form and fry the fish and chip tater tots
Use your hands to form the fish and chip tater tots. Don’t press too hard or they will be dense.
Once they are formed, pop them into the fryer! Cook for 3 or so minutes until crispy. Cool on a wire rack and season with a pinch of salt as they come out of the fryer.
Serve the fish and chip tater tots
Get them on a plate with the tartar sauce and dig in!
So crispy and flavorful! The tartar sauce is just perfect for dipping. The fresh pickles and dill in the sauce go so good with the savory tater tots!
Twists on this recipe
I made these with 75% potatoes and 25% fish by volume. You could tweak this to more of a 33/66 ratio, or even 50/50 if you wanted to be bold! I wanted to maintain the tater tot integrity with these fish and chip tots so that is why I landed on the ratio I used.
Check out my vindaloo tots, or these deviled tots for more tot goodness!
Fish and Chip Tater Tots
Equipment
Ingredients
Tartar Sauce
- 1 cup mayo
- 3/4 cup diced pickles
- 1 tablespoon minced shallots
- 1 tablespoon chopped dill
- 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
- 1 clove garlic grated
- juice of 1 lemon
- salt ane pepper
Tots
- 3 russet potatoes peeled and cut into 1.5 inch chunks
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons peanut or other high heat oil
- 6 ounces cod diced into very small pieces
- 2 tablespoons dehydrated potato flakes
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon vodka
- oil for frying
Instructions
- Mix the tartar sauce ingredients in a large bowl. Stir to combine. Set aside in the fridge until ready to use.
- Preheat the oven to 500. Toss the potatoes with the teaspoon of salt and tablespoons of oil.
- Bake for about 15 -20 minutes until browned on the edges and still undercooked in the center.
- Allow to cool fully for at least an hour. Add to a food processor and pulse about 25 times until the potatoes are in small bits.
- Pour the potatoes into a bowl and add in everything except the frying oil.
- Preheat the oil to 375
- Form your tots with your hands. Should make about 20 tots.
- Fry the tots until crispy! Remove from the oil with a slotted spoon and season with salt as they cool on a rack. Serve with the sauce.
so awesome
I love bacalao – and these fresh cod tots sound delicious too. Is it wrong that I want them for breakfast?
Weeeird, but cool too
I love tater tots, and I love fish & chips, and these look like a seriously good combination.
Mmmmm… These look so good. I can’t say that I’ve had trouble with fish and chips before, but I like the idea of these!
Living in England- I’m gonna try these for dinner one night instead of having a “chippy” tea!!! TY!!!
Wow, bravo
You complete me.
Good point – why must we eat the fish separately from the chips. So much extra effort!
Very nice. Now come visit me and make me some food.
I would make these… but I think the cat would steal them…
Wow this looks amazing, love the idea. Definitely going to try it soon!
Would love if you gave my blog a look – http://www.danaeatsblog.com
Cheers!
Russet potatoes are normally quite large. With only 6 oz of cod, what weight or volume of potatoes should be used? In the photo, the tray of potatoes after baking looks almost like one scant russet potato.
Oops, I see in the narrative, it should be 3 cups of potatoes. Sorry.