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The perfect appetizer recipe for parties and game days, these Loaded Potato Skins are cheesy, crispy, and loaded with all your favorite toppings.
I’m an appetizer gal; we love football and having small gatherings at our house. Loaded Potato Skins are one of those recipes that always does well.
HERE IS WHAT OUR READERS ARE SAYING
“I’ve made this 3x as the recipe directed. They are amazing! My husband requests them often and he is picky. I have made them 2x baking potatoes, refrigerating them and then finished the rest of the steps the next day and they came out just as good. I did need to increase baking time for remaining steps due to being cold. Thank you for the fantastic recipe!” – Jenny
They are pretty simple to throw together, and we never have any leftovers. The best part of these is that they are super customizable by adding any of your favorite toppings.
I would always get potato skins when we went out to a restaurant, but I find that making them at home is so much easier, and they taste so much better.
We always have potatoes and cheese on hand, so this is the perfect recipe to make whether we are looking for something to eat alongside dinner or just want a tasty appetizer to munch on.
If you are looking for something super easy and tasty for your next gathering or game day, look no further than these Loaded Potato Skins.
Some of our other favorite appetizer recipes that we have on our site include: Crispy Baked Potatoes for Quick and Easy Cooking, Onion Petals, Hot Spinach Artichoke Dip and Fried Mac and Cheese.
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WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
- Easily customizable toppings.
- You can double this recipe to have more on hand.
- Switch out the cheeses for another fun flavor.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED (FULL RECIPE BELOW):
- Russet potatoes
- Olive oil
- Kosher salt
- Salted butter
- Black pepper
- Garlic powder
- Onion powder
- Smoked paprika
- Sharp cheddar cheese
- Bacon
- Sour cream, to serve
- Thinly sliced scallions, to serve
HOW TO MAKE LOADED POTATO SKINS:
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Wash the potatoes very well and pat dry with a paper towel and place them on a baking sheet.
- Next, with a fork fork, pierce the potatoes all over, this helps the steam escape from inside. With a pastry brush, brush the outsides of the potatoes with olive oil, then sprinkle salt all over to coat.
- Bake for 30-60 minutes (this will depend on the size of the potatoes) or until a knife is inserted into the potatoes and it goes in easily. Let cool completely, or until cool enough to handle.
- In a small bowl, add the melted butter, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and smoked paprika and stir until combined.
- Cut the potatoes in half and scoop out the insides, you will want to leave about ¼ inch of the potato in the skin. Place the potatoes with the cut side down onto the baking sheet and then brush the outside with half of the butter mixture.
- Bake for 8 minutes, flip the potatoes over, and brush the inside of the potatoes with the rest of the butter mixture. Bake for an additional 8 minutes, just until the edges are golden brown and crispy.
- Lastly, add the cheese and bacon evenly to the inside of the potato skins. Bake for 5 more minutes until the cheese is melted.
- Serve immediately with sour cream and scallions if desired.
WHAT ARE THE BEST POTATOES TO USE?
We like to use Russet Potatoes for this recipe, and we use the smaller ones. We find that they work better and give the best size for an appetizer portion for these.
This also keeps the baking time down, when you are starving, then that is a good thing. So make sure you check your baking times for these Potato Skins at the 30-minute mark for doneness.
CAN I USE OTHER MEATS BESIDES BACON?
If you are not a fan of regular bacon, turkey bacon will work great for this. Also, we have tried these with Jimmy Dean breakfast sausage, too and it tastes amazing.
If you want to go all out, you can try adding some pulled pork on these bad boys with a drizzle of bbq sauce.
CAN I USE OTHER CHEESES?
Yes, absolutely. We like the sharp cheddar because it really brings out that cheese flavor.
Some of our other favorite cheeses that work great include: pepper jack, gruyere, and white cheddar.
HOW TO STORE:
These can be stored in the fridge in an airtight container for 5 days. Reheat in the oven for best results until heated through, we do not suggest freezing.
TIPS AND TRICKS:
- Use any cut bacon that you like, we used regular cut for this, but thick-cut will work.
- Other meats can be added to this, see above for ideas. Or you can leave this meatless.
- We do not recommend freezing this recipe.
- You can use other seasonings or blends if you desire, just taste test and see what you like best.
- Switch up your cheeses to pepper jack, gruyere, or white cheddar.
Love a good appetizer recipe and want to add another one to your lineup? These Loaded Potato Skins are one of the ultimate appetizers out there.
If you like this recipe you might also like:
If you’ve tried these LOADED POTATO SKINS let me know in the comments how it turned out! You can follow me over on PINTEREST, INSTAGRAM OR FACEBOOK to find some more of our mouthwatering recipes!
Loaded Potato Skins
Ingredients
For the potatoes:
- 8 small russet potatoes
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- For the potato skins:
- 3 tablespoons salted butter melted
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon smoked paprika
For the filling:
- 8 ounces shredded sharp cheddar cheese
- 8 slices bacon cooked crispy and crumbled
- Sour cream to serve
- Thinly sliced scallions to serve
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Wash the potatoes very well and pat dry with a paper towel and place them on a baking sheet.
- Next, with a fork fork, pierce the potatoes all over, this helps the steam escape from inside. With a pastry brush, brush the outsides of the potatoes with olive oil, then sprinkle salt all over to coat.
- Bake for 30-60 minutes (this will depend on the size of the potatoes) or until a knife is inserted into the potatoes and it goes in easily. Let cool completely, or until cool enough to handle.
- In a small bowl, add the melted butter, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and smoked paprika and stir until combined.
- Cut the potatoes in half and scoop out the insides, you will want to leave about ¼ inch of the potato in the skin. Place the potatoes with the cut side down onto the baking sheet and then brush the outside with half of the butter mixture.
- Bake for 8 minutes, flip the potatoes over, and brush the inside of the potatoes with the rest of the butter mixture. Bake for an additional 8 minutes, just until the edges are golden brown and crispy.
- Lastly, add the cheese and bacon evenly to the inside of the potato skins. Bake for 5 more minutes until the cheese is melted.
- Serve immediately with sour cream and scallions if desired.
Video
Notes
- Use any cut bacon that you like, we used regular cut for this but thick cut will work.
- Other meats can be added to this, see above for ideas. Or you can leave this meatless.
- We do not recommend freezing this recipe.
- You can use other seasonings or blends if you desire, just taste test and see what you like best.
- Switch up your cheeses to pepper jack, gruyere or white cheddar.
- Nutrition calculated without added sour cream for topping.
Nutrition
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Can you prep these up until the last step filling them with cheese and bacon and do that part later?
I want to take the skins prepped to a friends house and just add the cheese and bacon and do the final heating at their house. Is that ok?
Yes, if you are making them the same day. I think if they are refrigerated they might not be as crispy anymore.
I’ve made this 3x as the recipe directed. They are amazing! My husband requests them often and he is picky. I have made them 2x baking potatoes, refrigerating them and then finished the rest of the steps the next day and they came out just as good. I did need to increase baking time for remaining steps due to being cold. Thank you for the fantastic recipe!
My new go to for potato skins! Very yum!
Can you microwave the potatoes , and then top them and finish them off in the regular oven to get them crispy?
These potato skins are SO good and easy to make. Have made these several times and everyone loves them!
Easy to make and delicious. The whole family loved them.
Have made these several times already. They are better than what you order at a restaurant. The whole family loves them. Any left overs we reheat in microwave or air fryer and they still are great . Thank you for the tasty recipe!!!