National Tater Tot Day
About National Tater Tot Day
When is National Tater Tot Day? This holiday is always celebrated on February 2
What potato are you having with dinner tonight!? We’ll help you to decide. Today is National Tater Tot Day, a February 2 holiday. Now, it should be crystal clear what potato you must have with your dinner. Eating crispy, golden, bite-sized tater tots is the perfect way to celebrate this delicious food holiday along with ketchup or your favorite dipping sauce. May we suggest adding cheese on them, too!? You can use a fork or as a finger food. Either way, you’re in for a treat.
Crispy tater tots are baked or fried to a crispy golden outside. Yet, they are soft on the inside. Both taste and texture make them one of the top ways to prepare potatoes. While you may love this starchy treat, it is not necessarily good for your health. A 3-ounce serving, approximately 7 tater tots, has 6 grams of fat, of which 1.5 grams is saturated fat. It is also high in calories, carbs, and sodium.
A Tater Tot by Other Names: In Australia, they are called potato gems. To people in the United Kingdom, they are known as potato croquettes or oven crunchies. And the folks in Canada appropriately call them “Tasti-Taters”. In New Zealand, they are called “Hash Bites”. Other names include potato puffs, potato rounds, potato cylinders, potato nuggets, spud puppies, and baby taters.
Did You Know? Tater Tots are a trademark of Ore-Ida. That’s why there are so many other names for this type of potato.
The Creation and Evolution of Tater Tots
People have included potatoes in their diets for thousands of years. They are native to North, Central, and South America. Potatoes were first cultivated in ancient Peru around 5,000 – 7,000 years ago. It took several more millenniums before tater tots were invented. As a matter of fact, they were first made in 1953 by Ore-Ida. Company founders F. Nephi Grigg, Golden Grigg, and Ross Erin Butler Sr. were trying to figure out what to do with leftover pieces of cut-up potatoes. Most of these pieces were leftover from the process of making French Fries. So, the creation of tater tots eliminated a whole lot of food waste and increased company profits.
Taters tots became an immediate hit. Usually fried or baked, ketchup is the favorite condiment for them. However, there is a wide range of sauces and dips that people serve alongside crispy tater tots. And, now they are an ingredient in countless recipes. In recent years, different ways of making and serving them have made their way to the appetizer section of restaurant menus.
Tater Tot Trivia
Here are some interesting factoids about tater tots. You can use them to impress your friends with your knowledge of them and potatoes in general:
- Originating in Peru, potatoes did not arrive in America until 1621.
- Americans consume over 70 million pounds of tater tots per year.
- They are one of over 200 ways to prepare potatoes. But, they are a great-tasting one.
- Based on consumption, the potato is the #1 vegetable at American’s dinner table. Please pass the tater tots.
- Potatoes are the world’s #4 crop.
- Tater tots were invented in Ontario, Oregon by Ore-Ida in 1953. However, they did not hit the market until 1956.
- Ore-Ida held a contest to name them. Clora Lay Orton, a young housewife, suggested the name.
- Ore-Ida sells them in six varieties: Original, Onion, Mini, Extra Crispy, Extra Crispy Easy, and Crispy Crowns.
- In 2016, Pizza Hut introduced a pie with a hash bite crust.
- in 2020, Ontario, Oregon held a Tater Tot Festival.
For even more interesting potato factoids, see Spuds Trivia.
How to Celebrate National Tater Tot Day
Food holidays are always delicious holidays. Here are ways you can enjoy National Tater Tot Day:
- Eat tater tots, lots of them.
- Have them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
- Leave the ketchup in the refrigerator. Try using a sauce or dip you’ve never put on tater tots before.
- Is someone out there who has never had tater tots? If so, try them today.
- Watch the 2004 movie “Napolean Dynamite” where there is a scene with the teenager eating them in class.
- If you go to a restaurant today, see if they are on the appetizer menu and order them.
- Find and make a recipe that uses them as one of the ingredients. They are common in casserole recipes.
Today's Deep Thought
How did doctors come to the conclusion that exercise prolongs life, when the rabbit is always jumping but only lives for around two years, and the turtle that doesn’t exercise at all, lives over 200 years?
History and Origin of National Tater Tot Day
John-Bryan Hopkins, a food writer from Birmingham Alabama created National Tater Tot Day in 2009. Strangely, Hopkins did not publicize the fact that he created this holiday. Then, in 2012, a reporter for the Dallas Observer contacted Ore-Ida, one of the largest potato manufacturers. Ore-Ida informed the reporter that Hopkins created the holiday. And, the secret was out. We do not know why Hopkins originally failed to take credit as the creator of this important food holiday. Also, we do not know why he created this day. It seems logical that he did so because he loves tater tots.
This holiday is called a National” day. However, we found no documentation in congressional records to confirm that this is truly a national day. Nor, did we find a presidential proclamation.
Definition of “National” Days – and why it is important to distinguish true National days.
Related Holidays and Articles
People who like this holiday will also like:
Spuds Trivia – See potato trivia and become the subject matter expert.
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What happened on this Day? This Day in History
Flower of the Day: Cupid’s Dart
Recipe of the Day: Pigs ‘n Taters
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