Easy Holiday Appetizers With McCain® Veggie Taters™ #VeggiesWithMcCain

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #VeggiesWithMcCain #CollectiveBias

I can't believe the holiday season is almost here already! My favorite part of the season is - you guessed it - the food. I love all the baking and snacking and holiday parties...I'm super excited! I've been working on appetizer recipes to bring to Thanksgiving dinner and I can't wait to tell you about my latest creations. Using McCain® Veggie Taters™, I came up with two appetizers. One to appeal to adults and one to appeal to those at the kids table! 

I got my McCain® Veggie Taters™ at Shop Rite - one of my favorite places to shop. They always have great deals, and the day that I was shopping for them they just happened to be running a sale too! Score!

One of the reasons I love McCain® Veggie Taters™ is because it's got hidden veggies. I may be an official adult, but I'm still not a fan of most veggies. Unless you hide them in cheese. Veggie Taters™ are made with real potatoes and cheese and no artificial flavors. For my recipes, I grabbed Potato, Spinach and Asiago and Potato, Broccoli, and Cheese flavors. 

They're delicious right out of the package if we're being honest. But I like to be "extra". 

I started by putting the Veggie Taters™ in a nonstick mini muffin tin. One in each little well. 

I baked them at 425 degrees for 8 minutes.

Next, I took them out and squished them down a little to make the tops flat so that I could make them like "muffins." I used an ice cream scoop to do it, but a small spoon would do the trick just fine. Then I added a little bit of cheddar cheese to the top and baked them another 8 minutes.

When they were done, topped them with cooked bacon, sour cream, and chives. It was super easy and they were DELICIOUS!

Even though I'd baked them in a muffin tin, they were still so crispy and perfect. My daughter came home from school and ate almost the whole tray of them!

My other recipe also features McCain® Veggie Taters™ in a more "adult" recipe. This one I made for myself! 

I started the recipe out the same way as the loaded Tater 'muffins', but this time I topped them with homemade spinach and artichoke dip instead! I didn't think they would be tastier than the loaded Tater recipe, but I liked this recipe even better!

After 8 minutes at 425 degrees I flattened them a bit and topped them with the dip and some mozzarella cheese. Back in the oven for another 8 minutes until they came out bubbly and golden.

Finally, I put them all together on a nice little tray and waited for my taste tester to come home from school. She thought they were absolutely amazing! I'll definitely be bringing both recipes to the holiday table!

Want to sneak some extra veggies into your own holiday dinners? Click here to save $1 on McCain® Veggie Taters™ at your local Wakefern, Shaw’s, and DeMoulas locations!