I’m Canadian so it’s hardly surprising that I love poutine. However, seeing as I’m not from Quebec, I don’t get hung up on it being pure and authentic. Give me some good beef gravy and shredded mozzarella cheese smothered over some kind of potato and I’m in poutine heaven.

So this poutine recipe is not authentic poutine, but it sure is good!

And it’s convenient too. I can easily have the ingredients to make this anytime.

All you need are some tater tots (or other frozen French fry, or make your own homemade fries – I’m partial to these homemade potato wedges), some gravy (buy it in a jar from the grocery store or use leftover gravy), and some shredded cheese.

Do you need to use cheese curds?

Cheese curds are traditional in real poutine but those are hard to find in most places. I’ve found that shredded mozzarella works just fine. If you want the effect of the cheese curds where the outsides are melted but the insides have a bit of squeak, you can use small cubes of mozzarella instead of shredded.

How do you prep the tater tots?

What you do is to cook the tater tots according to the package directions. At the end of their cooking time, heat the gravy in the microwave until it’s super-hot. Put the tater tots onto a plate. Then top them with mozzarella cheese. Finally, top the cheese with the hot gravy. The heat from the tater tots and the gravy will melt the cheese. Dig in!

Note: If you are using extra cheese and want it to be extra melty, do this. Put the cooked tater tots onto a plate and top it with the cheese. Then put the plate into the microwave and heat until the cheese is melted. Top with hot gravy and eat.