After my "Breakfast for Dinner" party where I made these Bloody Mary's served with a side of "tots" and bacon, I have found myself with a leftover bag or two of the tots in the freezer. Oh what a problem to have. I admit, I love tater tots, but I rarely indulge.
However, it's New Year's Eve and we need to enjoy ourselves. And why shouldn't we do it with tots and bacon and a cheesy sauce?
These are truly little rolls of goodness and if we think hard enough, I'm sure we could come up with a reason why these would bring us good luck in the New Year.
Who would turn these down at a party anyway?
You must wrap and secure your bacon tightly or your rolls will kind of pop apart during the frying process. Not that it matters. They are still fantastic even if they are not rolled perfectly. Is your mouth watering yet?
Honestly these are really hard to resist, don't even bother trying. Let's face it, it's too hard to say "no" to fried food. So just indulge and enjoy!
Bacon-Jalapeno Wrapped Tater Tots with Jack Cheese Dipping Sauce
Ingredients
Cheese Sauce
- 2 Tablespoons butter
- 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1 cup grated Monterey Jack Cheese
Wraps:
- vegetable oil
- 1 pound sliced bacon, cut into 3-1/2" long pieces (you might have leftovers)
- 24 frozen tater tots, thawed
- 24 slices jalapeno, about three
Directions
- For the sauce, in a medium saucepan over medium heat melt the butter. Add the salt, pepper and flour, whisking over heat for one minute. Add the milk slowly while whisking constantly to remove any lumps. Continue to cook until bubbly, add cheese until melted. Serve warm.
- For the wraps, heat oil over medium-high heat to 375 degrees F. Roll one piece of bacon around each tater tot and slice of jalapeno. Secure tightly with a toothpick.
- Fry each tater tot, about four at a time, until bacon is crisp, about 2 minutes. Serve with warm cheese sauce for dipping.
Jack cheese sauce is the perfect accompaniment. The creamy cheese cools any residual heat from the jalapeno slice. What could be better than this?!!
Four Years Ago: Lobster Bisque
These look sinfully delicious! Happy New Year!
These look absolutely awesome!!! One question…. I see that we are to secure the bacon and pepper on the tot with toothpicks…. When we fry the tots will the toothpick burn??? Or should we soak the toothpicks like skewers prior to frying??? I guess that is 2 questions… Thank you… I love your blog
No they don’t burn, no soaking necessary.
Oh. My. Word. When I saw the picture I was thinking, ooh, yum. Then I read on and realized that they were FRIED. No baked. And I fell even more in love.
Deep fried bacon. Wrapped around a jalapeno and tater tot. It’s like heave.
Hi Cathy,
I love reading your blog, but rarely leave a comment. I’ve nominated your the the Lovely Blog award. Check out my blog for instructions if you want to participate and pass along. Happy New Year!
These sound amazing!! What a perfect little bite!
I’m allergic to jalepeno but I must figure out how to make these using something else. Because tater tots and bacon…hello!
peabody, could you tolerate peperoncini? I don’t always have jalapenos in the fridge, so I was thinking of using them, in a pinch, if I ever had “drop-by” company. These sound scrumptious!
These are amazing looking. Awesome creative comfort food! Have so enjoyed your blog so much this past year, look forward to more in 2013. As a newish blogger I am inspired! Thanks!
Can these be baked or are they better fried?
I haven’t baked them so I don’t know but you will lose that crispy texture which is what makes these kind of awesome.