In this video, learn how to make Chef John's Chicken Tots with a flavorful twist! This simple dish is made with crispy chicken, diced peppers, and melted cheese for a savory and satisfying snack. Perfectly seasoned and cooked to golden-brown perfection, they’re a fun and easy dish for parties, appetizers, or a quick family meal.
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00:00Hello, this is Chef John from FoodWishes.com with Chicken Tots.
00:08That's right, I was going to call this Chicken Tot Poutine, since that's what inspired this.
00:13But I didn't want to trigger my French-Canadian friends.
00:16So we're just going with Chicken Tots, and at the time of this filming, it is my new
00:20favorite thing to eat.
00:22And to get started, I'm going to show you the proper way to bake a tater tot, which
00:26I think should be on a foil-lined baking sheet that we spray with a little bit of oil.
00:31And after rubbing that all over to coat, we will carefully place down the frozen tater
00:35tot of our choice by hand, which is the first official tip here.
00:39Okay, we never want to dump a bag of tater tots on a pan, because in the bottom of the
00:44bag, there's usually all kinds of crumbs and ice crystals, which are definitely going to
00:49hinder the crisping process.
00:50So instead, we will carefully place those down as shown.
00:54And then the second tip, once those are panned, I like to spray the tops with some oil, which
00:59I think helps make them a little bit crispier.
01:02And that's it, once we have those spread out nice and evenly, they are ready to transfer
01:05into the center of a 425 degree oven for 30 minutes, which is 5 minutes longer than the
01:11directions, or until they're beautifully browned and look like this.
01:16Okay, so adding some extra baking time is the last tater tot tip, since for this preparation,
01:22we really do want them extra well done, and nice and crispy and crunchy.
01:26Which reminds me, always make twice as many tater tots as the recipe calls for, because
01:31based on recent made-up studies, only half the amount you bake are going to actually
01:35make it to the final recipe.
01:37But anyway, our tots are set, and we can move on to making the saucy chicken we're going
01:41to spoon on top, which we will start by seasoning a pound of chicken thighs with a mixture of
01:46salt, freshly ground black pepper and cayenne, and we'll do that on both sides before we
01:51head to the stove.
01:52And by the way, this is a pretty quick recipe, so we can actually do the chicken component
01:57while our tater tots are baking.
01:59And once we have our meat seasoned, we will transfer that into a skillet where we've melted
02:03butter over medium-high heat, and what we'll do is sear those for about 3 or 4 minutes
02:07per side, or until our meat is just barely cooked through.
02:11Alright, as you'll see, we're actually going to add this cut-up back into our sauce, which
02:16means we don't need to go too far at this point.
02:19And one thing to be aware of when you're cooking chicken thighs, sometimes you get
02:22one part that folds under another, which might not cook as evenly as it should.
02:27So if you see that kind of situation, flatten things out, and you should be fine.
02:32And yes, if you have one nugget of chicken that separates itself, you probably want to
02:36pull that out of the pan a little bit early, since that's going to cook a lot faster.
02:40But anyway, like I said, we'll cook those for about 3 or 4 minutes per side, or until
02:45they firm up and spring back to the touch.
02:48And if everything goes according to plan, we should have some beautiful browning on
02:51there, which always, every time, means more flavor.
02:56And once done, we'll remove that tool plate to rest, and then into that super flavorful
03:01fat remaining in the pan, we will add a mixture of diced red onion, along with an assortment
03:06of fresh pepper, and we'll go ahead and toss in a big pinch of salt.
03:11And we will cook that stirring for a few minutes, until we get some nice browning on the edge
03:15edges, and the pieces of onion start to turn translucent.
03:19And of course, stirring is always okay, but if you learn to toss food in a pan, like you're
03:24just about to see me do, it's so much easier, and faster, and better.
03:29And of course, we have a video to show you how to do that, using, believe it or not,
03:34cheese balls.
03:35But anyway, whether you stir, or toss, or both, once our veggies are looking a little
03:39something like this, we'll remove a couple tablespoons and reserve it for later.
03:44Since I like to use that to garnish the top.
03:47And once we have, we'll go ahead and toss in some minced garlic, and we will stir and
03:51toss that around for about a half a minute, at which point we can toss in some freshly
03:55sliced green onion, as well as grate in a little bit of optional lemon zest.
04:00Right, you don't have to, but we are going to add a little bit of lemon juice.
04:04So we need lemons, and the zest comes attached to lemons for free.
04:09And then what we'll do is give that a quick toss, before we deglaze the pan with the juice
04:13from half a lemon, followed by a nice big splash of chicken broth.
04:18Oh, and speaking of delicious chicken flavored liquids, before we cut up our chicken into
04:23bite-sized pieces, let's make sure we add any accumulated juices from the plate into
04:27our pan, since to not do so, is basically a crime against nature.
04:33And then what we'll do once all that's been added, is let this cook, stirring occasionally,
04:38for maybe three or four minutes, until some of that moisture evaporates, and the mixture
04:43is reduced slightly.
04:44Right, generally the rule of thumb is by about half, but anything close is totally going
04:49to work.
04:50And once that's happened, we can pour in our heavy cream, and we'll give everything a nice
04:55stir, and we'll wait for everything to start to bubble again.
04:59And once it does, we can transfer our cut up chicken in.
05:02And I know, I didn't show you how to do that, because you know that I know, that you know
05:06how to do that already.
05:08And we will go ahead and stir that in, and reduce our heat to medium-low.
05:13And then to finish this, all we'll do is cook that stirring until our chicken's heated through,
05:17and our sauce is reduced to the texture we want, which could be very loose and saucy,
05:23or if you want, you can reduce it down until it's nice and thick.
05:26Alright, as usual, that kind of thing is going to be up to you.
05:29I mean, you are after all the Napoleon Dynamite, of what's wrong and what's right.
05:34Personally, I let mine simmer for about 5 minutes, at which point it looked like this.
05:40And as you can see, the sauce got a little bit darker, and a little bit thicker.
05:44And of course, we need to taste it for seasoning, and add another pinch of salt if need be.
05:50And then once we're happy with it, we'll turn off the heat, and if we want, we'll stir in
05:54about a half a cup of shredded cheese, in my case, a Monterey Jack.
05:59And as soon as that's been stirred in, we are pretty much ready to serve up.
06:03And of course, the cheese is definitely optional, but since poutine, which inspired this, is
06:07topped with cheese curd, I thought we should pay tribute, and toss a little bit in.
06:12And that's it, as far as service goes.
06:14We will add some hot crispy tater tots to a bowl, and then top it with this amazing
06:18creamy chicken mixture, making sure to get plenty of that rich, but not too heavy sauce.
06:25And then to dress this up, I did a little more grated cheese on top, plus that little
06:30bit of reserved diced onion and pepper mixture.
06:33And then last but not least, I finished up with a pinch of freshly sliced green onion,
06:37and what we're calling chicken tots, was ready to enjoy.
06:41So I grabbed a fork and dug in, and that my friends, as I said in the intro, really is
06:47my new favorite thing to eat.
06:48Okay, I just loved everything about it, which was not shocking at all, since anytime saucy
06:54meat is being served over potatoes, no matter what kind they are, I am pretty much in heaven.
07:01And while of course there are some significant differences, this really does have a poutine
07:05vibe, especially if you add that little touch of cheese.
07:09And as much as I love real poutine, this creamy chicken version is much faster and much easier,
07:15yet satisfied me in pretty much all the same ways.
07:18And sure, this would definitely work on french fries as well, but if I've learned one thing
07:22as a chef over all these years, is that people really do love tots.
07:27And if you serve them tots, they will love you.
07:30Which is why I really do hope you give this a try soon.
07:34So please follow the links below for the ingredient amounts, a printable written recipe, and much
07:39more info as usual.
07:42And as always, enjoy.