This Crock Pot Cheesy Chicken, Bacon, & Tater Tot Bake takes everyone’s favorite ingredients and combines them to make one tasty meal!
With a list of ingredients like this, it doesn’t take a food critic to know that Crock Pot Cheesy Chicken, Bacon, & Tater Tot Bake will be a smash hit at the dinner table. Layer all of these delicious ingredients into your crock pot, set it and forget it for three hours, and come back to the perfect family dinner indulgence.
LONG NAME, SIMPLE DISH
Chicken, cheese, bacon and tots- oh my! When a recipe title lists its ingredients out like this, you know that they are all equally important- and delicious! This tater tot bake recipe has the added bonus of being ridiculously easy to make too!
If you love creamy chicken and bacon, you won’t be able to resist Crock Pot Crack Chicken or Crack Chicken Sliders.
OTHER RECIPES TO SERVE WITH A CHEESY TATER TOT BAKE
- Broccoli Salad – This sweet and crunchy Broccoli Salad is my go-to side for carb-heavy dishes.
- Green Beans with Bacon – It’s easy to make a little extra bacon and add it to this delicious (and still healthy) side dish!
INGREDIENTS
Chicken: This chicken bake recipe calls for 3 large boneless skinless chicken breasts.
Bacon: You’ll need 6 slices of cooked thick-cut bacon. You can use ready-to-serve bacon if you want to save time.
Tots: Don’t forget the most important part! A 32-ounce bag of frozen tots.
Dairy: You’ll need a package of shredded cheese and some milk. I usually use cheddar or a Colby Jack cheese.
Seasoning: Season this cheesy chicken bake with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder.
HOW TO MAKE CROCK POT CHEESY CHICKEN, BACON, & TATER TOT BAKE
STEP ONE: For this cheesy chicken and bacon bake, start by coating the inside of your crock pot with non-stick cooking spray. Dump half of the bag of frozen tater tots into the crock pot and spread them evenly along the bottom. Top the bottom layer of tots with 1/3 of the cheese and 1/2 of the crumbled bacon bits.
STEP TWO: Place the uncooked chicken cubes on top of the tater tot layer. Sprinkle the chicken with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder. Top the chicken layer with 1/3 of the cheese.
STEP THREE: Spread the remaining frozen tater tots over the chicken layer and top them with the remaining bacon and cheese. Finally, pour the milk over the top of the crock pot contents.
STEP FOUR: Once assembled, cover the crock pot and bake this Cheesy Chicken, Bacon, & Tater Tot Bake on HIGH for 3 hours or until the chicken is fully cooked through. Serve warm and enjoy!
TIPS FOR SUCCESS
- If you don’t feel like frying bacon, try cooking it in the oven!
- Remember, chicken is safely cooked once it reached an internal temperature of 165 degrees F and is no longer pink in the middle.
HOW REHEAT A CHICKEN TATER TOT BAKE
If you end up with leftovers, transfer them from the crock pot into an airtight container and store them in a fridge for up to 5 days. When you’re ready to reheat, I suggest transferring leftovers to a casserole dish and reheating them in the oven. Reheating in the oven is the only way you will get back some of the crispiness from the tots! Cover the dish with foil and reheat it at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes.
CAN YOU USE COOKED CHICKEN IN A CROCK POT TATER TOT BAKE
I have used chopped-up rotisserie chicken in this recipe before. If you opt to use pre-cooked chicken, you can cut the cooking time in half, which is a great way to save time in a pinch!
OTHER CROCK POT MEAL IDEAS
- Lemon Italian Chicken with Capers
- Chicken Tortellini Soup
- French Dip Sandwich
- Crockpot Buffalo Chicken Dip
- Pizza Casserole
- Pork Chops
*This post was originally posted on 09/16/2013
Crock Pot Cheesy Chicken, Bacon, & Tater Tot Bake
Ingredients
- 32 ounces frozen tater tots (1 bag)
- 6 slices thick-cut bacon
- 3 large boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into 1-inch cubes
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 8 ounces cheddar or Colby jack cheese shredded
- ⅔ cup 2% milk or whole milk
Equipment
Method
- Cook bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until crispy. Remove to a paper towel-lined plate to drain. Once the bacon had cooled, crumble it into small pieces. Set aside.
- Coat the inside of your slow cooker pot with non-stick cooking spray.
- Dump half the frozen tater tots into the crock pot and spread into an even layer. Top the tots with 1/3 of the cheese and 1/2 the crumbled bacon.
- Place the uncooked chicken piece on top of the cheese and bacon. Sprinkle the chicken with garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper. Top the chicken with 1/3 of the cheese.
- Spread remaining tater tots over the chicken layer. Then add the remaining bacon and cheese over the tots. Pour the milk all over everything.
- Cover your crock pot and cook on HIGH on 3 hours (or LOW for 6 hours) until the chicken is cooked through. Serve warm.
Sherri says
Thanks Stacey this is delicious!
Making the second pot today and trying with a marinated chicken breast using Sweet Baby Rays and Franks buffalo wing sauce. :0)
Laurie says
Trying this today. I can’t wait to see how it turns out!
Amber Kramer says
What about throwing in some frozen broccoli?
Aubrey Cota says
I bet that would taste great!
Amanda says
How did the frozen broccoli turn out? I wanna add a vegetable to it, but worries frozen vegetable will make it too watery/soupy.
stacie hagen says
Am making this today. Can’t wait to try it. It sounds so yummy and easy. Only pre cooking I need to do is cook bacon. Should have gotten the precooked bacon for this.
Amanda Holtzclaw says
Trying this in the crock pot today. Doing the low setting though instead of the high. I also used cream of chicken soup mixed with a little bit of milk. Thought it might add a little more flavor! Will let y’all know how it turns out!
Sarah says
Was it good with the cream of chicken soup? Or did it cause the tator tots to not become crispy enough?
Lori Miller says
I think am going to add Black beans to this. I add Black beans to almost everything. I will let you know how it turns out
Lori Miller says
It’s a hit! They like the black beans too. I only had 3-kind Cheddar and some pepper jack. I used deboned thighs as the guys in my house find breasts to be too dry. Smells amazing! I will definitely make this again!
Aubrey says
I’m so glad it was a hit!
Debra Barnes says
I made this a couple days ago and the only complaint I have is that the tator tots on the bottom got mushy. Will probably not put as much milk in next time. My husband liked it also.
Aubrey says
Thanks Debra!
Sarah Stanfield-Mefford says
What about in the oven??
Leslie F says
Sarah I just tried it in the oven. Turned out pretty good I would say. It was a bit of an experiment but I baked at 425 for a little over an hour in a 9×13 pan. I did cover it part way thru once the top layer of tots got crispy on the top. Good luck.
Ann says
I was wondering if it was cooked in the oven, I thought I would cover it first, then uncovered for the last 30 minutes, also 425 seems high, any suggestions?
Erika says
Ok so I can’t get monterey jack pepper cheese in Australia, so I just used grated premix pizza cheese and added 3/4 teaspoon ground chilli flakes. Also only had chicken tenderloins (used 1kg). It was delicious! Even my fussy 20yr old son ate it.
Diane Walters says
Always looking for good tested crockpot meals as I love dinner made when I get off work.
Aubrey says
Isn’t that the best!
Margret says
This was super easy and the kids loved it!! Thanks for making my Saturday a lot easier!
Jen says
I came across this recipe on my facebook newsfeed, and I gonna make it tomorrow for dinner. I cant wait to try it. Sounds so yummy.
Cathy Springstead says
How many servings does this make. I have 5 adults and 2 toddlers to feed. I’m wondering if I need to double it or not. Can’t wait to try it, sounds great!
Billie Langston says
I would recommend doubling the recipe. The leftovers were pretty awesome too. I made one similar to this before, but used cream of mushroom instead of milk.
Becky says
I will be making this tomorrow! Could you use different kinds of cheese? Like cheddar or mozzarella.
Jean says
This dish
is also very good made with ham instead of chicken.
Connie says
This dish looks yummy but my husband does not like chicken. What a bummer, because I love chicken. What else could you make this with? Pork Chops?
Deborah Jones says
Leslee did you use frozen or thawed chicken?
Leslee says
Thawed. I was finally able to pull the chicken apart with a fork, about an hour ago. We’ll just have it for dinner, instead of lunch. :o)
Aimee C says
Maybe your chicken breasts were thick?
Deborah Jones says
I made this yesterday for dinner, cooked in three hours and everyone loved it so much I am making another pot today!! what a great recipe!!!
Leslee Cox says
I made this today and I guess I’m the only one that didn’t have it come out right. I followed the directions and after 4 hours, the chicken was not done. The internal temp was only at 130. I have made many chicken crock pot recipes and this is the first time it hasn’t been ready earlier than it said it would. I think next time, I will use less chicken and a little more milk maybe.
Anyone else have problems? I’m puzzled.
Marianne says
Leslee, I had the same problem!!! It took more like 5-6 hrs on high and my crock pot is usually fast.
It was YUMMY though
Sara says
My friend had the same problem. She had cut the chicken up into pieces. It took 5-6hrs for it to be done. She missed bringing it to the potluck.
Mid-Michigan Razorbacks says
I just turned on my crockpot 🙂 im nervous. I used the cubed frozen potatoes instead. Tator tots have corn flour listed as an ingredient and hubby cant have flour. I hope it still turns out ok! I will let you know lol
LINDA STEVENS says
Could you use hamburger or ground turkey instead of the chicken breasts for variety? It looks great – Thank you!!