Quick and Easy Stuffed Potato Skins
Reminiscent of my favorite TGI Fridays potato skins, these easy oven baked potato skins are the ultimate game day appetizer. These homemade Quick and Easy Stuffed Potato Skins are baked crispy, loaded with cheese, bacon and green onions and the best part? .. they are ready to eat in under an hour!
Ingredients
- 6 Large Russet potatoes
- 3 tablespoons Butter melted
- 6 slices Crispy bacon, diced .. or pre-cooked bacon pieces
- 8 ounces Shredded cheddar cheese
- 4 Green onions diced
- Salt and Pepper
- Sour cream for serving - optional but recommended
Instructions
- Start by preheating the oven to 425 degrees and lining a large baking pan with parchment paper. Scrub potatoes clean and dry with a paper towel. Move them to a microwave safe plate.
- Cook your potatoes in the microwave on High for 10-12 minutes, turning your potatoes over once half way through cooking.
- Remove the plate and allow potatoes to cool until you can handle them comfortably. Cut potatoes in half lengthwise and run a knife along the inside of the potato, leaving about 1/4 inch of potato on the skin.
- Using a spoon, scoop out the insides while disposing of the removed potato in a medium sized bowl. You are basically making a little boat.
- Melt the butter then brush the outside of the potatoes and place potato halves face-down and return to the oven for 10 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 10 minutes until the tops get crispy.
- 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 5 minutes. Remove and serve immediately.
Video
Notes
PRO TIPS FOR LOADED POTATOES
- After removing from the microwave, slice all of your potatoes lengthwise before moving on to scooping them out. It helps them cool faster than slicing as you go.
- Russet potatoes are most often uses for homemade potato skins because they stand up to the task best.
- Be sure to leave about 1/4 inch of potato attached to the potato skins. You need that 'layer' of potato to keep your potato skins upright and intact.
- Save your leftover potato to use in Loaded Mashed Potato Casserole, Homemade Potato and Cheese Pierogi or in Turkey Shepherd’s Pie.
- Don't skip the sprinkling of salt, if you don't have to. Potatoes always need a bit of salt added to them.
- Make life easy and grab pre-cooked bacon pieces from your grocery store. You can usually find them in the salad dressing / topping aisle.
