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.
Amber says
This sounded so yummy but I didn’t have any tator tots and didn’t have time to run to the store (I have a 3 week old son!) so I cut some hashbrown patties up instead! Also used Mrs. Dash seasoning on the chicken. Just waiting to see if it turns out! 🙂
Aubrey says
Congrats on the little monkey! I hope you liked it.
Marcia Braymiller says
Absolutely Amazing! We exchanges the cheeses , with Colby jack and pepper jack! Wow! I’m following you ! Thank you so much! Three hours were Perfect!
Connie says
This dish looks toooooo yummy but my DH does not like chicken and that is a bummer because I love chicken. What other meat could you make this with?
Aubrey Cota says
How about pork chops?
Tanya M @Mom's Small Victories says
This looks amazing! Pinning to my Recipes to Try board before my oldest son eats the phone, this looks so good!
Aubrey says
Thanks Tanya!
katelynn says
Amazing dinner. Made it last night and leftovers tonight. Its really good to add sour cream and bacon bits on top
Aubrey says
I bet that was good! Thanks Katelynn. 🙂
Short mom says
This was really a good dish. Left overs heat up well. Have passed it on and it has been a hit for them as well.
Aubrey says
Thanks so much! I love hearing that. 🙂
Kelli Wolfe says
My family loved this recipe! Made it tonight. However I had to cool it on high for 6 hours to have cooked chicken!
Aubrey says
Thanks Kellli!
Yvonne Fuller says
Am making it now but my chicken was a little frozen yet so am hoping…does this need to be mixed up after cooking?
amanda says
I just assembled this in my crock pot. Does the lid need to be on the entire time? Does it need to be stirred?
Aubrey says
You do want to keep the lid on the entire time and stirring isn’t necessary. Crock pots need to have the heat build up inside. If you take off the lid you will add to your cooking time.
jane jones says
Ive got it in the crockpot now… have no choice but low for 8 hours so fingers crossed! Also instead of salt and pepper on the chicken I sprinkled some dry ranch packet over it! Cant wait to try!
Danielle Emery says
Im not a real big fan of bacon but everything else looks great. You think not adding bacon will ruin it?
Lori says
I made this last night for the Super Bowl. It sure looked like it was going to be good but ended up being a bit bland. I also found that cooking it in the slow cooker never allowed the tots to get really crisp. I pulled out the slow cooker pot and put it in the oven to finish. I will make it again, but I will add chopped green onions and perhaps some cream cheese for flavor. I will also cook it in a big pan in the oven, rather than a slow cooker, so it crisps up nicely.
Autumn Garchow says
Do you think it’d turn out halved?
Autumn says
This looks great! However we’re a household of 2 so that’s a lot of food for just us… do you think it would work out halved? Maybe reduce the cooking time?
Aubrey says
You could halve it but the cooking time should stay the same. You want to make sure that the chicken is cooked all the way.
Jenn Anderson says
I am definitely trying this over the weekend!!! I usually use the warm setting if I go to work, so things don’t over cook as I am going for 12 hours.
kelly says
trying this tomorrow night…can’t wait
Aubrey says
Awesome! Let us know how it turns out Kelly. 🙂
Amy says
I made this today! It was amazing! I am gonna try it with ham next time. Thank you!
admin says
Oooo, ham sounds great! Thanks Amy.
Chris Hertlein says
So good and easy to make. Thanks for sharing:-)
Amy says
Leslie, thanks for the oven directions. I have everything ready to put this together, but an active little one prevented me from getting in the crockpot. I was wondering about the oven so I’m going to go put it together and throw it in the oven right now!
cindy says
how does freezing the left overs work? I live alone and will need to make up left overs.