Super Bowl of Crab Tater Tots

For me, the superbowl means pizza, wings, and any other fatty delicious food one may procure for the big game.  Besides all of the aforementioned goodness, I knew I wanted to make something to round out the typical menu.  I browsed around for recipes and lo and behold, I came across Crab Tater Tots.  Whoa.  Obviously, I had no choice but to make these so I could taste them for myself.  The original recipe I stumbled upon was from Iron Chef Michael Symon - with his method, the tots are deep fried in oil.  I like to avoid deep frying, so I found a recipe for baked tater tots - the trick the author used was breading the tots in potato chips to get that same crunchiness you would get from deep frying.  She used pop chips that are much healthier, but I on the other hand, used sea salt kettle cooked chips that aren't so healthy (probably defeated the purpose of not frying them).  

I have a confession.  I used a shortcut.  First off, the recipe calls for mashed potatoes.  I had full intentions to peel and mash every one of those potatoes, I kid you not.  However, after I thought about lugging a big bag of potatoes back from the store along with everything else I was getting, I decided to make this process much easier on myself.  I bought instant mashed potatoes.  This was my very first time making instant mashed potatoes, and it intrigued me how that powder somehow transformed into fluffy mashed potatoes.  I knew the texture of the instant mashed potatoes was going to be too smooth, so I picked up two potatoes to mix in so there would be some chunkiness to the potato mixture.   

I went to two different grocery stores and neither one had crab meat.  Unfortunately, I had to settle for imitation crab meat.  Despite my recipe revisions, these turned out to be pretty tasty, not to mention ridiculously easy to make.  Definitely a touchdown in my books.  Check out my hybrid crab tater tot recipe below. 

Chopped crab meat
 

Crab mashed potatoes

The finished tots, soon to be in my belly

Crab Tater Tots

Recipe born from Michael Symon and Pennies Original + my laziness (I mean, efficiency)

Prep Time: 15 min

Cook Time: 12 - 15 min

Yield: 40 - 50 tater tots

Ingredients

1 pouch instant mashed potatoes

2 potatoes

½ pound imitation crab meat (or the real deal, if you can find any)

1 cup flour

2 eggs, beaten

2 cups crushed potato chips

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2.  Prepare the instant mashed potatoes as directed.

3.  Microwave the two potatoes for 4 – 5 minutes (until soft).  Scoop out the flesh and mash it into the prepared instant potatoes leaving them on the chunkier side.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

4.  Chop the crab meat into small pieces and mix into the mashed potatoes.

5.  Using two spoons, shape into quenelles or simply roll them into your preferred tater tot shape.  

6.  Roll in flour, dip in egg, and then roll in crushed potato chips.

7.  Place on baking sheet and bake for 12-15 minutes until golden brown.