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Crispy Baked Potato Skins are easy, cheesy and the perfect family favorite appetizer for game day or any day! Made in just 30 minutes, these Crispy Baked Potato Skins are crispy on the outside and piled high with melted cheddar cheese, crunchy bacon and sharp green onion on the inside. Perfect!!!
If you are somebody who loves food, that appreciation probably didn’t come about out of nowhere. I can attest to that. Was I cooking up amazing dishes at the age of 15, a culinary prodigy in the works,? Oh hell no! My biggest accomplishment was making Kraft macaroni and cheese the perfect way without overcooking those little seven and a half minute elbow noodles. What I am referring to is when you went out and you ordered food in a restaurant and whether it was something simple or something complex, the comfort of that dish has stayed with you through the years.
For example, to this day, if I go out to eat and loaded potato skins are on the menu as an appetizer, I don’t care what else gets ordered, you had better believe those potato skins are coming to my table in eight minutes. I love loaded potato skins. They are my favorite, they will always be my first choice and if I could somehow eat them everyday and not be eight hundred pounds by the end of the week, I probably would. So how happy am I that I can now have Crispy Baked Potato Skins any time I want… and even in under 30 minutes!!
Now, loving something from afar like actually putting in the time and energy making them in your own kitchen are two different things. Life is busy, we are all busy, no one has time to make Crispy Baked Potato Skins on a Saturday afternoon, right? Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Get your Game Day face on and let’s do this!!!!!
IS IT GOOD TO EAT THE SKIN OF A POTATO?
Baked potato skins are a healthy source of vitamins and minerals, including fiber and iron. Eating the skins of the potatoes is completely safe to eat and an easy way to add extra nutrients into your diet.
WHAT ELSE CAN I TOP MY POTATO SKINS WITH?
The possibilities are endless when it comes to Crispy Baked Potato Skins toppings. You can add cheese, broccoli, pulled pork, garlic, corn and black beans, different kinds of salsas, steak and cheese, green peppers.. I mean really, you can top your Crispy Baked Potato Skins with any combination of flavors you can think of.
HOW DO I MAKE CRISPY BAKED POTATO SKINS?
Easy! I am going to give you the traditional way to make Crispy Baked Potato Skins and also the shortcut version so that you can enjoy your Crispy Baked Potato Skins in under 30 minutes if you are limited on time. Start by preheating the oven to 400 degrees. Scrub potatoes clean and dry with a paper towel and rub the skin of the potatoes with olive oil. Place potatoes on a baking sheet and bake until potatoes are tender, about 45-50 minutes. Remove the pan and allow potatoes to cool until you can handle them comfortably. Cut potatoes in half lengthwise and using a spoon, scoop out the insides, leaving a little bit of potato in the skins. Melt the butter then brush the outside of the potatoes and place potato halves face-down and return to the oven for 5 to 8 minutes.
Using a fork or tongs, turn the potatoes over and brush insides with remaining butter. Return to oven and continue to bake for another 5 – 8 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle the insides of the potato skins with salt and pepper, cheese, bacon and green onions. Return to the oven long enough for the cheese to melt, about 3 to 4 minutes. Remove and serve immediately.
Now, if you are short on time or just really want your Crispy Baked Potato Skins RIGHT NOW!!!! .. Start cooking your potatoes in the microwave opposed to 50 minutes in the oven. Simply wash and dry your potatoes, rub with olive oil and move them to a microwave safe plate. Cook your potatoes on High for 7-10 minutes, turning your potatoes over once half way through cooking. Then follow the rest of the instructions listed in the oven version. That’s it!! Super fast, super easy, SUPER DELICIOUS!!
Granted, Crispy Baked Potato Skins are a worthwhile investment in time but that is why I am also offering a short cut version of my favorite Crispy Baked Potato Skins recipe. Whether you invest the time in the long Crispy Baked Potato Skins recipe or speed through the short version, these Crispy Baked Potato Skins are so worth it. Go ahead, make these homemade loaded potato skins and then try to serve your husband imitation ones from the grocery store freezer case and just listen to the drama that will come forth. Statements of blatant neglect, lack of marital love, physical torture.
Who knew?
All joking aside, these are the most amazing Crispy Baked Potato Skins and so easy to make and although they may take a little bit of time (if following the long instructions), they are totally worth it. Trust me, these Crispy Baked Potato Skins rival any restaurants menu items and since you don’t even have to leave the house, you don’t even have to change out of your yoga pants. #winning
Looking for my ‘loaded’ up options? Don’t forget to check out my Loaded Mashed Potato Casserole and my Loaded Potato Salad.
ENJOY!!
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Crispy Baked Potato Skins
Ingredients
- 6 large russet potatoes , rinsed
- 2 tbl olive oil
- 3 tbl butter , melted
- 6 slices bacon , cooked crispy and diced
- 8 oz shredded cheddar cheese
- 4 green onions , diced
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- *sour cream for serving - optional but recommended
Instructions
Traditional Oven Cooking Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Scrub potatoes clean and dry with a paper towel and rub the skin of the potatoes with olive oil
- Place potatoes on a baking sheet and bake until potatoes are tender, about 45-50 minutes. Remove the pan and allow potatoes to cool until you can handle them comfortably
- Cut potatoes in half lengthwise and using a spoon, scoop out the insides, leaving a little bit of potato in the skins.
- Melt the butter then brush the outside of the potatoes and place potato halves face-down and return to the oven for 5 to 8 minutes.
- Using a fork or tongs, turn the potatoes over and brush insides with remaining butter.
- Return to oven and continue to bake for another 5 - 8 minutes
- Remove from oven and sprinkle the insides of the potato skins with salt and pepper, cheese, bacon and green onions.
- Return to the oven long enough for the cheese to melt, about 3 to 4 minutes.
- Remove and serve immediately.
30 Minute Cooking Instructions
- Simply wash and dry your potatoes, rub with olive oil and move them to a microwave safe plate. Cook your potatoes on High for 7-10 minutes, turning your potatoes over once half way through cooking. Then follow the rest of the instructions listed in the oven version.
Hi. If I make the potatoes ahead of time and take them without the cheese etc stuffing in them, to a get-together a couple-three hours away, would they have to be on ice?
Thank you.
J
I think as long as you aren’t leaving them roasting in a hot car, they should be fine and then top them off with your toppings before serving 🙂
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They look so delicious and you had a great childhood if you grew up eating these. I can eat this every day and love that they are so quick and simple to make.
Thanks Sandhya… this has to be one of my favorite recipes!!
These look fabulous and would be such a HIT for gameday parties or any other too. Potato is one vegetable that’s a house favorite and then you add bacon, cheese and sour cream – You are in snack heaven 😉
Loaded potato skins and mozzarella sticks – those were my favorite menu items that we didn’t have at home. I used to look for them first when we went out to eat to see if I could order them. Then, on to looking for regular food (main course).
Who doesn’t love loaded potato skins? Don’t trust them.
Heather!!! It’s before 9am and you’ve got me craving potato skins! Bad! I always imagine that potato skins are so 1990, but then whenever I make them, I feel so comforted and happy with everything in the world. LOL. And, of course, you can’t really have potato skins without bacon and cheese, now can you?
Potato skins are the best! These are definitely going onto my list of game day recipes for next fall!
That looks interesting, never heard of this before, but looks delicious. Potatoes are family favorites, as long as i serve them varieties in their plate, they are happy. Would love to try your version sometime!
These look so good!! I imagine these for a large sporting get together!! Cheesy goodness!!
I could eat about a million of these right now! Ok not really, but they seriously look amazing. Your photography is beautiful!
Potato skins are just awesome. I mean who doesn’t love a good tater skin. These look so yummy so I may need to make some soon.
Comfort foods from childhood definitely stick with us! I also have memories of eating potato skins (not loaded, though) at restaurants simply because I was not a so called foodie at all until much later into adulthood. I liked to stick with things I knew!
I am a potato gal and love classic like this potato skins. Yoru photography is so good just want to eat my screen now =)
These are the best. I have so many childhood memories of food. I think that is what makes me love food so much 🙂 Thanks for the recipe!!
My mouth is watering looking at these. A big dollop of sour cream, my couch, a good movie and I’d be in heaven!
You could fill those beauties with just about anything. They look amazing and comforting. around our house they wouldn’t last five minutes.
Those look so good. The kids had asked me to make potatoes for a side dish today. I wanted to try something different. I cant wait to try your recipe this evening!
I love potato skins and these look ssooooo good. I love that you baked them twice – must make them more crispy. So cool.