Sonic Tater Tots with Cheese
Prep time: 5 minutes Cook time: 25 minutes Servings: 4 servings
Sonic’s cheese tots are a drive-in classic for good reason. Crispy, golden tater tots drenched in a warm, velvety cheese sauce — it’s the ultimate comfort food side order. The homemade cheese sauce takes about 5 minutes and tastes infinitely better than the processed stuff.
The key is getting the tots extra crispy before adding the cheese sauce. You need them to hold up structurally against all that melted cheddar, so don’t pull them from the oven until they’re deeply golden and crunchy.
Cheese Sauce Tips
- Real cheese, not Velveeta. This recipe uses a proper roux-based cheese sauce with sharp cheddar. It has more flavor and a better texture than processed cheese, and it’s barely any harder to make.
- Low heat for melting. Take the pan off the heat before adding the cheese. Residual heat melts it smoothly. Direct heat can make cheese sauce grainy.
- Work fast. The cheese sauce starts to set as it cools. Have your tots ready to go before you start the sauce.
Sonic vs. Homemade
A large order of Sonic cheese tots costs about $4.50. This recipe makes a generous serving for four people at roughly $4 total — about $1 per person. And you get real cheddar cheese sauce instead of the processed version.
More Sonic Drive-In Copycat Recipes
- Sonic Cherry Limeade — fresh lime juice, maraschino cherry syrup, and lemon-lime soda over crushed ice. Sonic’s most-ordered drink and the natural pairing for salty, cheesy tots.
- Sonic Ocean Water Slush — the electric-blue coconut-lime frozen slush. Another drive-in classic that pairs perfectly with a side of cheese tots.
See all Sonic Drive-In copycat recipes →
