John Wayne Casserole
204 Comments May 19, 2019
Updated May 13, 2025
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This John Wayne Casserole is made with a twist—tater tots! This hearty slow cooker casserole starts with a layer of potatoes, followed by a creamy, cheesy sour cream mixture, seasoned ground beef, and is finished with a generous topping of melted cheese.
I love making casseroles in the slow cooker if you want to try a few other great ones try my Slow Cooker Chicken Cordon Bleu or Chicken Enchilada Casserole recipes.
I don’t think John Wayne had anything to do with this casserole—the name likely comes from its western-style ingredients. The original version uses biscuit mix, but a reviewer once mentioned having it with tater tots at a restaurant. That’s the perfect slow cooker twist—tater tots make it easy and delicious!
I have a beloved standard crockpot tater tot casserole recipe that I adore on my site, so I knew exactly how to assemble this new creation. I also make a chicken and bacon tater tot casserole that you must try too!
Ingredients for John Wayne Casserole
This slow cooker casserole is easy to put together with simple ingredients. Find the full recipe in the recipe card below the images.
This easy meal starts with frozen tater tots, topped with taco-seasoned ground beef, onions, and peppers. A creamy sour cream and cheddar layer goes on next, finished with more cheese and optional fresh toppings like tomatoes or peppers.
Recipe Video
Watch me make this casserole in my crockpot:
How to Make John Wayne Casserole
Here is my method for making this easy slow cooker casserole. Once you get your ground beef browned, it comes together quickly.
Step One: I add the bag of tater tots to my slow cooker.
Step Two: Then I brown a pound of hamburger with bell pepper, onion, taco seasoning, and water, I pour that meat mixture over the tots.
Step Four: Then I make a sour cream and cheese mixture with a bit of seasoning and spread that on top of the meat.
Step Five: Cook on LOW for 4.5 hours, and then top with more cheese. I put the lid back on the slow cooker, and the cheese melts in minutes.
My Serving Suggestions
Being that we make this so often, we know exactly how to serve it:
- I like to top this delicious casserole with tomatoes and green bell peppers. The cool tomatoes, along with the crunchy contrast of the bell peppers, really make the dish.
- You can also top the casserole with sour cream and green onions.
- Other serving ideas are a side of cornbread or green salad.
Featured Comment
“It made this dish yesterday for the family and it was a HUGE hit! Seconds all around! YUMMY! Thank you for the great recipe! I’ll be trying more for sure!”
– Patti
John Wayne Casserole Recipe
How to Video
Ingredients
- 32 oz. bag tater tots, (frozen, not thawed)
- 1 lb. ground beef,
- 1 small yellow onion, diced
- 1 green bell pepper, diced
- 1 oz. taco seasoning mix, (I use Lawry's)
- water, add the amount of water to the meat that the taco mix says to add, 2/3 cup is what my packet said
- 16 oz. sour cream
- 8 oz. sharp cheddar cheese (divided, half in sour cream mixture and half on top at the end)
- 1/8 tsp. salt
- 1/4 tsp. pepper
- 1/2 tsp. onion powder
optional toppings
- diced tomatoes
- bell peppers
Instructions
- Spray a 6-quart oval slow cooker with non-stick spray. Add the tater tots down in an even layer, so there isn't a high spot.
- In a large skillet, set over medium high heat, brown the hamburger, onions and bell pepper. When the meat is browned, drain the fat. Add the amount of water the taco packet says to add to the meat (my packet said to add 2/3 cup). Add the taco packet, and continue cooking and stirring until the meat and the seasoning has thickened.
- Pour the meat mixture over the tater tots in the slow cooker.
- In a medium sized bowl add the sour cream, salt, pepper, onion powder, and half of the cheese (this is about a heaping cup of shredded cheese, save the other half to top the casserole at the end.)
- Spread this sour cream cheese mixture over the meat mixture in the slow cooker.
- Cover and cook on LOW for 4.5 hours, without opening the lid during the cooking time.
- After the cooking time is up add the remaining cheese evenly over the casserole.
- Cover and let the cheese melt, this will only take about 5-10 minutes.
- To serve, top with diced tomatoes.
- Enjoy!
Sarah’s Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition info is auto-generated. This information is an estimate; if you are on a special diet, please use your own calculations.
More Ground Slow Cooker Beef Recipes to try:
Lumberjack Casserole is a hearty slow cooker dinner with beef, potatoes, beans, and cheese—perfect for a filling family meal.
Creamy and comforting, Cowboy Casserole layers ground beef, potatoes, and cheese for a satisfying all-in-one crockpot dish.
With bold flavor and simple ingredients, this Wendy’s Chili recipe lets you enjoy the drive-thru favorite right at home.
Crockpot Sloppy Joes are sweet, savory, and made with ease—just pile onto buns and dinner’s done.
Has anyone tried it with ground turkey or chicken?
I’ve made this many times. It’s a recipe that you can tweak according to your taste.
I up the ground beef to 1 1/2 lbs.
After adding the taco seasoning I add a drained can of rotel or chopped green chilies, a can of chili beans in sauce and sometimes a small can of mexicorn to the skillet. It really makes it a more complete meal.
I also add 1 or 2 tbl of taco seasoning to the sour cream and cheese mix.
Play with it, it’s hard to mess up. But it definitely is MUCH better the next day!!
I love you version! I will have to try.
We really love this, but I think it’s better with a tweak you might want to try that took it up a notch! I add a can of Rotel tomatoes to the meat-veggie mixture. Drain it, but reserve the liquid and add water to it to make the 2/3 cup. My hubby is a true carnivore so I upped the meat to 1.5 lbs. We really like this though, and the leftovers are even better!
So delicious!
Can you use instant pot instead of slow cooker?
There isn’t enough liquid in this recipe for it to be cooked in an instant pot.
Love your recipes !!!!!!!!!
The accompanying videos are terrific.
So’s your cookbook.
Thank you Alan!
Absolutely use a crockpot bag liner so that you aren’t scrubbing the pan forever to clean it after dinner.
Made this for dinner last night. I made exactly as written except I added a chopped serrano pepper to the meat mixture for a little added spice (I didn’t have any jalapenos). The first night, I felt it was missing ‘something’ in the flavor and needed to add taco sauce to give it some more oomph. So I was unimpressed and didn’t plan to make it again.
HOWEVER, the next day I microwaved some for lunch and the flavor was so much better. It really needed to sit overnight to meld together and I loved it without adding anything to it. I will probably make this again, but will make it a day ahead and microwave portions the next day to serve.
I’m giving this a 4-star because I wasn’t thrilled with it when serving right away, but really like it the second day.
Thank you for your feedback!
Tried it today. It was yummy! Like others said, add a few more of the spices. We liked it better the second day. Mine wasn’t warm enough after 4.5 hours. Maybe bump to high last 1/2 hour. Will make again. Hubby really liked. Thanks!
Next time going to try baking the tots ahead then add to crock.