The Popular Grocery Chain Where You Can Find The Best Frozen Tater Tots

Potatoes are beautiful in all their innumerable forms. You can cut them into shoestring or thick steak fries, mash them into oblivion before folding in butter, garlic, and heaps of cheese, or go the extra mile and bake them twice for double the delectability. It doesn't matter because regardless of the cooking method, all you'll be left with at the end of the meal is an empty plate with a few dribbles of oil and flakes of salt as evidence that the starchy root vegetable ever existed.

Despite the general approving-of-all consensus, though, some people have a very specific uncontrollable hankering for spuds in tot form — and we can't say we blame them. Tater tots are crispy, bite-sized, and poppable, not to mention a nostalgic comfort food — truly a potato in its prime. And, we'll let you in on a little secret: We know where to get the absolute best frozen tots on the market.

If you want in on the top tater action, you're going to need a reusable bag and a quarter, because they're holed up at none other than Aldi. Yes, you heard that right. The discount tots (referred to as "Potato Puffs") from the discount grocery store's private label brand, Season's Choice, beat out all other options in a taste test of seven brands. This included heavy hitters like Ore-Ida and Sonic plus other store brands like Great Value and Target's Market Pantry.

The German market was able to scoop up a victory in this department because its product gets back to the meat and potatoes of what makes a good tot. Each cylindrical gem delivers a satisfying crunch on the outside before giving way to a nucleus of tender, obviously real shredded potatoes. They're not too oily and simultaneously not too salty, making them the perfect neutral base for a glob of ketchup or ranch, or even a more elaborate tater tot bake. These features are what made Aldi's puffs stand out amongst the other selections like Great Value's soggy spuds or the mealy misses Stop & Shop serves up.

These snacks are clearly crave-able enough to enjoy all by their lonesome. When you're looking to elevate them even further, though, you have a myriad of flavor-boosting options. Opting to cook the frozen nuggets in the air fryer rather than the oven is a surefire way to up the ante. But, have you tried crisping up a few, along with other toppings of your choice, on a greased-up waffle iron? Game changer.

Seasonings are also your friend when it comes to tater tots, or any kind of potato spinoff for that matter. Keep things classic with something like parmesan and garlic or cool ranch spices. Awaken your taste buds with a sprinkling of Tony Chachere's or another Cajun-style seasoning. Or, get your fork ready to enjoy your potato bites animal-style, blanketed in Thousand Island dressing, grilled onions, and cheese.