Are Tater Tots Gluten-Free? (It Depends!)

SHORT ANSWER

Short Answer: Yes, tater tots are potato-based and usually gluten-free! However, read labels and inquire at restaurants to make sure.

While manufacturers rarely add wheat to their tater tots recipe, cross-contamination can occur during manufacturing. Meanwhile, tater tots served in restaurants can become cross-contaminated when they share a fryer with gluten-containing foods.

Are Tater Tots Gluten Free?

Tater tots are typically gluten-free, yes, but there are potential sources of cross-contamination to watch out for. At grocery stores, you’re likely to find tater tots that do not name wheat flour in their ingredient list. However, most tater tots are not specifically labeled gluten-free, and this may have to do with a risk of cross-contamination during manufacturing. The exception is Ore-Ida tater tots, which confidently flaunt a gluten-free label.

When you order tater tots in a restaurant, it’s important to find out if they are prepared in a shared fryer with menu items that do contain gluten. If so, they will pick up traces of gluten while frying. But if tater tots are fried in oil that only handles gluten-free items like tots, french fries and potato chips, you can rest assured that your order will remain free from gluten.

For more articles on gluten-free living, check out is ketchup gluten-free, are french fries gluten-free, are potatoes gluten-free, are potato chips gluten-free and are mashed potatoes gluten-free.

What Are Tater Tots Made of?

Tater tots are not much more than grated potatoes, oil, and salt. For example, these are the ingredients in Ore-Ida’s Golden Tater Tots:

Potatoes
Vegetable oil blend (soybean and cottonseed)
Salt
Yellow corn flower
Dextrose
Sodium acid pyrophosphate (to retain natural color)
Dehydrated onion
Sodium acid sulfate
Natural flavors

Try these recipes for gluten-free mashed potatoes, gluten-free scalloped potatoes and dairy-free potato soup.

What Brands of Tater Tots Are Gluten-Free?

Most frozen tater tots are free from gluten-containing ingredients, but some are subject to cross-contamination during manufacturing. For example, Walmart’s Great Value Taters carry the following disclaimer with their nutritional information: “May contain traces of milk, eggs and wheat.” If you have celiac disease or a wheat allergy, “may contain” is too risky!

There is one widely available brand selling tater tots that are clearly labeled gluten-free, meaning that they have met the FDA standard of less than 20 parts per million (ppm) of gluten. To play it safe, Ore-Ida Golden Tater Tots and Mini Tater Tots are the way to go!

Other tater tot brands are not labeled or certified gluten-free are not labeled or certified gluten-free, but they also do not list any gluten ingredients, and they do not carry a warning about cross-contamination. The following brands (among others) fall into this category:

Market Pantry Crispy Potato Puffs (Target website states “Does not contain any of the 8 major allergens”)
365 by Whole Foods Market Tater Puffs, Organic Tater Puffs, and Sweet Potato Puffs
Alexia Foods Organic Yukon Select Puffs, Crispy Sweet Potato Puffs, and Crispy Seasoned Potato Puffs
Trader Joe’s Trader Potato Tots and Sweet Potato Tots
Cascadian Farm Organic Spud Puppies
Publix Tater Bites
Lamb Weston Tater Puffs

Are Sonic tater tots gluten free?

According to the Sonic allergen guide, Sonic’s tots do not contain gluten. However, they are deep fried, so it’s important to find out if they share a fryer with gluten-containing foods. If gluten-free foods go into the same fryer as gluten foods, they will pick up trace amounts of gluten through cross-contact.

Some Sonic locations cook their fries and tots in a separate fryer from the breaded, gluten-containing fried foods. Ask at your local Sonic to find out if they keep their gluten-free foods separate or if they use a shared fryer.

Are Chick-fil-A tater tots gluten free?

Chick-fil-A lists their hash browns (aka tater tots) as a good menu choice for customers eating gluten-free. On the other hand, they also warn, “We cannot ensure that our restaurant environment or any menu item prepared in the restaurant will be completely free of gluten.”

When ordering at your local Chick-fil-A, ask if the hash browns share a fryer with gluten-containing items such as chicken nuggets. If so, there will be some cross-contamination and the hash browns will not be completely gluten-free.

The Bottom Line

Tater tots are made from potatoes, oil, salt, and not much else. However, most store-bought brands of tater tots are not certified gluten-free, which means that they could be subject to cross-contamination during manufacturing. Ore-Ida potatoes are the exception: rest assured that they are definitely gluten-free!

When you order tater tots from fast food or a sit-down restaurant, be picky about the process. Are the tots fried in the same fryer that handles food with gluten ingredients? If so, they may have been contaminated with gluten ingredients.

You also might like this sausage hashbrown breakfast casserole and this collection of gluten-free breakfast recipes!