Tater tots are grated

potato The potato () is a starchy tuberous vegetable native to the Americas that is consumed as a staple food in many parts of the world. Potatoes are underground stem tubers of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'', a perennial in the nightshade famil ...

formed into small cylinders and deep-fried, often served as a

side dish A side dish, sometimes referred to as a side order, side item, or simply a side, is a food item that accompanies the entrée or main course at a meal. "Tater" is a dialect form of the word ''potato''. The name "tater tot" is a

registered trademark A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a form of intellectual property that consists of a word, phrase, symbol, design, or a combination that identifies a product or service from a particular source and distinguishes it from ot ...

of the American frozen food company Ore-Ida, but is often used as a

generic term Trademark distinctiveness is an important concept in the law governing trademarks and service marks. A trademark may be eligible for registration, or registrable, if it performs the essential trademark function, and has distinctive character. Re ...

. Ore-Ida also markets a coin-shaped version called "Crispy Crowns".

History

Tater tots were developed in 1953 when American frozen food company Ore-Ida founders F. Nephi Grigg, Golden Grigg, and Ross Erin Butler Sr. were trying to devise a recipe to use leftover slivers of cut potatoes that would otherwise be thrown away. They chopped up the slivers, added

flour Flour is a powder made by Mill (grinding), grinding raw grains, List of root vegetables, roots, beans, Nut (fruit), nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredie ...

and seasoning, then pushed the mash through holes and sliced off pieces of the

extruded Extrusion is a process used to create objects of a fixed cross-sectional profile by pushing material through a die of the desired cross-section. Its two main advantages over other manufacturing processes are its ability to create very complex ...

mixture. The product was first offered commercially in stores in 1956. Originally, sales were slow, the family speculated the product was priced too low so it had no perceived value. When the price was raised, people began buying it. By 1960 Ore-Ida captured 25% of the frozen potato market. The name "Tater Tot" is a

of Ore-Ida—which has been a subsidiary of

Heinz The Kraft Heinz Foods Company, formerly the H. J. Heinz Company and commonly known as Heinz (), is an American food processing company headquartered at One PPG Place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The company was founded by Henry J. Heinz in 1869. ...

(now part of

Kraft Heinz The Kraft Heinz Company (KHC), commonly known as Kraft Heinz (), is an American multinational food company formed by the merger of Kraft Foods Group, Inc. and the H.J. Heinz Company co-headquartered in Chicago and Pittsburgh. Kraft Heinz is t ...

) since 1965—but has become so widely associated with the dish that it is often used as a

. "Tater" is short for ''potato''. The name "Tater Tot" was created in the 1950s, and soon trademarked by a member of the Ore-Ida company's research committee who used a thesaurus to come up with an

alliterative Alliteration is the repetition of syllable-initial consonant sounds between nearby words, or of syllable-initial vowels if the syllables in question do not start with a consonant. It is often used as a List of narrative techniques#Style, litera ...

name. Today, Americans consume approximately of Tater Tots, or 3,710,000,000 Tots per year. Since at least 2016, vegetable companies (like the Green Giant brand) have introduced "veggie tots" which seek to substitute more nutritionally dense vegetables (e.g.

broccoli Broccoli (''Brassica oleracea'' var. ''italica'') is an edible green plant in the Brassicaceae, cabbage family (family Brassicaceae, genus ''Brassica'') whose large Pseudanthium, flowering head, plant stem, stalk and small associated leafy gre ...

and

cauliflower Cauliflower is one of several vegetables cultivated from the species '' Brassica oleracea'' in the genus '' Brassica'', which is in the Brassicaceae (or mustard) family. Cauliflower usually grows with one main stem that carries a large, rou ...

) for the potato.

Usage

Asia

Tater tots, locally known as ''mat-gamja'' (), are a common '' bunsik'' item in Korea. It is often served in a

paper cup A paper cup is a disposable cup made out of paper and often lined or coated paper, coated with plastic-coated paper, plastic or wax paper, wax to prevent liquid from leaking out or soaking through the paper. Disposable cups in shared environment ...

, with drizzled sweet

gochujang ''Gochujang'' or red chili paste * is a savory, sweet, and spicy fermented condiment popular in Korean cooking. It is made from '' gochugaru'' (red chili powder), glutinous rice, '' meju'' (fermented soybean) powder, ''yeotgireum'' (barley m ...

-based sauce.

Europe

In the United Kingdom, Ross Frozen Foods once produced "Oven Crunchies", although generic versions remain widely available.

McCain Foods McCain Foods Limited is a Canadian multinational frozen food company established in 1957 in Florenceville, New Brunswick, Canada. It is the world's largest manufacturer of frozen potato products, with 1 in 4 french fries in the world being a ...

currently produce "Hash Brown Potato Bites" that are similar to classic tater tots. Birds Eye also have "Hash Brown Potato Bites" in their "Chicken Shop" range.

North America

In Canada,

McCain Foods Limited McCain Foods Limited is a Canadian multinational corporation, multinational frozen food company established in 1957 in Florenceville, New Brunswick, Florenceville, New Brunswick, Canada. It is the world's largest manufacturer of frozen potato ...

calls its line "Tasti Taters". Hotdish

In the United States, tater tots are common at school-lunch counters and cafeterias.Fast Food and Junk Food: An Encyclopedia of What We Love to Eat: An ... - Andrew F. Smith
. p. 695. They are also sold in the

frozen food Freezing food Food preservation, preserves it from the time it is prepared to the time it is eaten. Since early times, farmers, fishermen, and trappers have preserved grains and produce in unheated buildings during the winter season. Freezing foo ...

sections of

grocery store A grocery store ( AE), grocery shop or grocer's shop ( BE) or simply grocery is a retail store that primarily retails a general range of food products, which may be fresh or packaged. In everyday US usage, however, "grocery store" is a synon ...

s. Some

fast-food restaurant A fast-food restaurant, also known as a quick-service restaurant (QSR) within the industry, is a specific type of restaurant that serves fast food, fast-food cuisine and has minimal Foodservice#Table service, table service. The food served ...

s also offer them. Supermarket chain

Safeway Safeway, Inc. is an American supermarket chain. The chain provides grocery items, food and general merchandise and a variety of specialty departments, such as bakery, delicatessen, floral and pharmacy, as well as Starbucks coffee shops, and veh ...

sells a generic brand of tater tots known as "Tater Treats". Cascadian Farm calls its line " Spud Puppies".

Sonic drive-in Sonic Corporation, founded as Sonic Drive-In and more commonly known as Sonic (stylized in all caps), is an American drive-in fast-food Chain store, chain owned by Inspire Brands, the parent company of Arby's, Jimmy John's, Buffalo Wild Wings, ...

also features tater tots on their regular menu: available toppings include cheese and chili. Sonic also sells "Cheesy Tots", coin-shaped tots that contain melted cheese and potatoes. Several restaurants in the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (PNW; ) is a geographic region in Western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though no official boundary exists, the most common ...

offer a nacho version of tots known as "totchos", covered in nacho cheese sauce and toppings. Totchos were invented by

publican The (Latin ; Greek τελώνης ''telōnēs'') were public contractors in the Roman Republic and Empire. In their official capacity, they often supplied the Roman legions and military, managed the collection of port duties, and oversaw pub ...

Jim Parker in

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

. Some Mexican-style fast-food restaurants offer seasoned tater tots: Taco Time and Señor Frog's call them "Mexi-Fries", while

Taco Bell Taco Bell Corp. is an American multinational chain of fast food restaurants founded in 1962 by Glen Bell (1923–2010) in Downey, California. Taco Bell is a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc. The restaurants serve a variety of Mexican-inspired ...

used to sell them as "Mexi-Nuggets" and "Border Fries".

Taco Mayo Taco Mayo Restaurant is an American fast food chain which specializes in Mexican-style food. The company was founded in Norman, Oklahoma, and is currently headquartered in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Taco Mayo has franchise locations throughout O ...

in the

Southwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A '' compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west— ...

offers round disc-shaped tater tots called "Potato Locos". Taco John's also has coin shaped tots called "Potato Olés". Food franchises Potato Corner and Papa John's also offer tater tots in select locations, though in the latter case these are branded as "Potato Tots".

Oceania

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, they are known as "potato gems", "potato royals" or "potato pom-poms". The New Zealand

Pizza Hut Pizza Hut, LLC is an American multinational pizza restaurant chain and international franchise founded in 1958 in Wichita, Kansas, by brothers Dan and Frank Carney. The chain, headquartered in Plano, Texas, operates 19,866 restaurants worldw ...

franchise offers "Hash Bites" as a side dish, available alone or with an

aioli Aioli, allioli, or aïoli () is a cold sauce consisting of an emulsion of garlic and olive oil; it is found in the cuisines of the northwest Mediterranean cuisine, Mediterranean. The names mean "garlic and oil" in Catalan language, Catalan and ...

dipping sauce.

References

External links

* {{Deep frying foods Fast food Frozen food brands Heinz brands Fried potato Products introduced in 1953 American inventions