Loaded Venison Totchos

There is a food truck that frequents a brewery near here. Both are favorites. When I’m hungry, my go-to order at the truck is always totchos. What’s a totcho, you ask? Simply nachos, except replace the chips with crispy tater tots.

What are totchos? Simply nachos with tater tots in place of the chips. Images by author

The truck offers two versions, bbq pulled pork or ground beef. Both are excellent. When I make them at home, you know I have to use ground venison. And I add a few touches the truck doesn’t have the time for when serving up a hungry brewery crowd. I call them loaded, and they are. Here’s how to make them for your crew.

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Start with a bag of frozen tater tots. Of course, deep frying gives the best crunch, but unless you keep a restaurant style deep fryer on your counter, that’s a lot of time, work and expense just for a batch of tots. I’ve found that a convection oven and a quick spritz with non-stick cooking spray gives nearly identical results with a lot less work.

Fry, air fry or bake a pan full of tater tots until crispy and golden brown.

While your tots are in the oven, make the venison topping. Brown one pound ground venison with one medium onion, diced.

Brown the ground venison with the onion.

Once the venison is cooked through and the onion soft, add a pack of your favorite taco seasoning along with the recommended amount of water. Add one pound frozen Mexican style street corn. Stir well and simmer until the mixture is moist, but not runny.

Add the taco seasoning and the Mexican street corn.

Once your tots are done, pile them up a bit on a sheet pan. Top with a few spoonfuls of refried beans. Just dot them around the tots. Next, spoon over the venison and street corn mixture.

Top the tots with refried beans and the ground venison and corn mixture.

Now it’s time for cheese. I like to use two for these. Start by pouring over a jar of your favorite queso sauce, then top that with a few handfuls of shredded cheese. Back into the oven for the cheese to melt and the flavors to meld, about 5 minutes should do it.

Top with shredded and queso cheese, then pop the tots back into the oven to melt the cheese and heat everything through.

Finish the totchos off with your favorite style of pepper; I used sliced jalapeños, some sliced avocado and a few dollops of sour cream.

Peel and slice an avocado, if desired.

Drizzle over your favorite taco sauce. Don’t like some of the ingredients on my list? Switch them out for stuff you enjoy. There’s no wrong way to make totchos. You are going to want to serve these with a fork because they can get fabulously messy.

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