Tater Tots Started Off Life as Cattle Food

Nothing better. Those are the two words I’d use if you gave me only two words to describe Tater Tots. These extruded pieces of glued-together potato shavings are the perfect snack. Or meal. Even if they were originally used as cattle feed.

The Ore-Ida company began selling French fries in 1951. The potatoes were sliced into bricks to create uniformly-shaped fries, and the exteriors were mixed into livestock feed.

But within a couple years, Ore-Ida’s founder (who lived his life claiming that potatoes were the world’s most nutritious food) decided he’d like to make a profit off these scraps. So he shredded ‘em, spiced 'em, and sent 'em through the extruder, every processed food company’s favorite tool.

He then brought them to a food show in Miami, where Tater Tots brought the house down.

Today, Americans consume over 70 million pounds of Tots per year - and in Tastemade’s informal, unofficial study we discovered that 100% of people polled claimed that each bite of those 70 million pounds was “incredibly delicious.”