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
- Buffalo Chicken Dip
- Pizza Casserole
- Pork Chops
*This post was originally posted on 09/16/2013
Equipment
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
Instructions
- 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.
Kimberly A Herzog says
We are eating this right now! It’s so good. We used a little dash of sour cream when serving. After a tough day…what a treat and so easy. Thank you
Aubrey Cota says
Awesome!! So glad to hear you are loving it.
Kassie says
Has anyone ever froze the leftovers? Did it re-heat okay?
Delicious! Entire family loves this! Super easy!
Aubrey Cota says
It’s pretty much like reheating any other “bake” or casserole, it should reheat well but you will want to do it in the oven and usually it’s a safe bet to reheat at 350 for about 20 minutes or so.
Robert says
I was really skeptical on putting the raw chicken in the crock pot for 3 hours on high.
My crock pot has a highest setting of 4 hours and when the time was done, the chicken was still, very raw. Smells great, but I’m not sure how you get away with putting the raw chicken in there without, at least, browning it in a pan first.
It didn’t work for me.
Julie Kotzbach says
Hi Robert. Is the heat setting for 4 hours HIGH as opposed to LOW? That will make a difference in this recipe. LOW temp needs to have almost double to cooking time. But if temp variations aren’t an option for you, you could absolutely brown the chicken in a pan first or even use shredded rotisserie chicken. Hope this helps!
Leanna says
This was wonderful! Went over very well with the entire family; great for a cold winter night. I was initially worried about there being excess moisture, but I followed the recipe pretty well exactly (eyeballed the seasoning, though) and it came out amazing. There was barely any excess moisture so the textures were great. I’ll make this again for sure!
Aubrey Cota says
Great!! Thanks Leanna.
ANGIE says
Just made this last night! It was AWESOME!!!
Aubrey Cota says
YAY!
Emily says
This was delicious. Next time I’ll make it without the chicken; chicken didn’t really add anything. We had this as a yummy snack during vacation.
Greg says
Just made this today for dinner! AMAZING!!! The only thing I did different was use seasoned salt instead of regular salt. I’ll be making this in a regular basis.!
Dar says
Sounds delicious, but I’m wondering if the tater tots on top will actually brown in the crockpot. Has anyone tried this in the oven? If do please specify directions.
Julie @Real Housemoms says
Hi Dar. The tater tots won’t crisp up in the crock pot. There’s too much moisture being help inside. Inf you did this as a casserole in the oven, you could everything but the tots and half the cheese in a 9×13-inch dish, cover with tots and then cheese. Bake according to the package for the tots. As long as the chicken is cut into small pieces it should cook through with everything else. Whole chicken breasts will need longer than the tots. We haven’t make it this way, but just from making casseroles and stuff, it should work well. Check the chicken with a meat thermometer before removing from the oven. 🙂
Jennifer says
Can you use the chicken breast in can? It’s already cut up?
Julie @Real Housemoms says
I wouldn’t. It’ll get seriously overcooked.
Joyce says
I am cooking this as I type and so far it smells amazing! My boyfriend had picked up a package of thinly sliced chicken breasts and I was already in the process of cooking when I realized they were so thin, but instead of cutting these extremely thin breast slices up I lined three across as the chicken layer. I am sure the thinness of the chicken will speed up the cook time significantly, so am keeping a watchful eye on the whole thing. So far just the scent wafting off this as it cooks is irresistible! I can’t wait to serve it up and see if my resident critic (my boyfriend) gives it two thumbs up or down…but judging from how it is smelling I doubt he will gripe over diddly squat with this meal!
Thanks for posting!
Mindy Letourneau says
I don’t see in the directions when to use the onion and garlic powder. When do those go in?
Julie @Real Housemoms says
Sorry about that Mindy! Thank you for catching that and letting us know. We’ve updated the recipe card. The garlic & onion powder get sprinkled over the chicken along with the salt and pepper.
Kikki says
Making this tonight! But we’re using Ranch seasoning instead on the chicken!
Tamara says
This dish looks delicious! I am wanting to make this, but noticed there is a difference with the ingredients in the video and in the recipe link. Here is what I noticed that was different.
1. Video shows that you use both cheeses. Recipe says to use Cheddar or Colby Jack.
2. The video shows you adding garlic and onion powder but they are not listed in the written recipe. The measurements for these ingredients would be nice as well.
Could you please clarify these differences for me?
Thank you.
Julie @Real Housemoms says
Hi Tamara. This recipe has been amped up over the years. Thank you for reminding us to update the recipe card! You’ll need 1 teaspoon each of the onion and garlic powders. For the cheese, you can use all of one type of cheese or a combination of both the cheeses listed, as long as it’s 2 cups total. Hope this helps!
Amy says
I substituted cream of chicken soup instead of milk. It turned out pretty well.
Stacey says
Made this a couple of times and people love it. Only change I made was I brush the bacon grease in the crock pot instead of using spray. Great recipe, thank you!
tammy barker says
Thanks for the yummy recipe!! I made it tonight minus the chicken, and we ate it with leftover Thanksgiving turkey. It was a HIT !!!
Chrissy says
I am making this right now and can’t wait to try it. We added a ranch dressing package over the chicken and cooked an entire pound of bacon. I also added a bit more cheese to each layer. Excited to serve this to the kids tonight and see what they think!
Jodi says
I added onions and season salt let’s hope it turns out
Sonia says
Absolutely delicious! Pretty much followed all of the instructions but instead of spraying with non stick spray I used the leftover bacon fat. I loved how easy it was to make this! I topped the finished product with sour cream because who doesn’t love potatoes with cheese and sour cream. My husband added some hot sauce to his and it became his favorite dish! will definitely be making this more often.
Jen says
I made this recipe over the weekend! This was so yummy even my grandparents LOVED IT!! I had enough for 2 meals! Very good!!!! I used pre-cooked bacon to save time.