Twice Baked Potatoes Recipe (Creamy & Delicious!) (2024)

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

1. It’s delicious. Let’s start there. It’s where a loaded baked potato recipe meets mashed potato meets potato skins and it’s the best!
2. The crispy skin. Slightly salted, nicely crisped skin serves a function on top of adding amazing texture to every bite.
3. It is versatile. Let’s face it, it’s a busy potato. It can be a side dish, an appetizer, or a main meal!
4. A budget-friendly way to serve a hungry crowd. It’s also a great make-ahead dish that can be frozen for later on, so not only is it a money saver, it’s a time saver too.

Ingredients Used

• Russet potatoes – I like to use russets because of the starch content. They bake up nice and fluffy and the skin is coarse and sturdy enough to carry the weight of all that yummy filling. If you can’t find russets, scroll down for other potato options you can use depending on your location and what’s available to you.
• Olive oil or vegetable oil – To coat the potato before it bakes. Helps to create a crispy outer shell.
• Salt – A simple sprinkling of salt is needed to get that deliciously salty crispy taste. Otherwise, the skin of a russet potato isn’t the most flavorful.

For the Filling:

• Shredded cheese – Sharp cheddar is always a classic choice, however, Monterey jack, sharp Gruyere, or Mexican cheese blend are all great choices.
• Sour cream – Sour cream has a cooling, creamy effect on baked potatoes, however this time it’s being mixed into the filling. It will give it a creamy, richness with a delicious tang.
• Milk – The liquid is added to the mixture to help blend all the ingredients making it nice and creamy.
• Butter – Potatoes and butter go hand in hand. The buttery flavor of any mashed potato is the stuff dreams are made of.
• Green onions – Adds a slightly pungent, sharp, fresh note to the otherwise heavy ingredients.
• Bacon – Salty, crispy bits of bacon add texture and round out the flavors of the filling so beautifully.
• Salt and pepper – A simple seasoning is all that is needed.
• Chives – An optional garnish that you typically see with sour cream, potatoes, butter, and cheese. So, it’s a natural fit!

Complete list of ingredients and amounts can be found in the recipe card below.

How to Make Twice Baked Potatoes

Before you begin, take the amount of milk, sour cream, and butter you need out of the fridge and let it sit at room temperature. Using ingredients that are at an even temperature, to begin with, will help ensure even baking throughout.

1. Prep: Preheat the oven to 400°F/205°C, wash and scrub potatoes and pierce the skin with a fork. This is so that the steam can escape while the potato is baking so that it doesn’t explode. Rub the entire potato with oil and season with salt.
2. First bake: Place potatoes in the oven on an oven-safe rack over a baking sheet. Bake for 50-60 minutes or until the internal temperature reads 210°F/100°C. When pierced with a paring knife, the potatoes should be tender.
3. Allow cooling: Remove them from the oven and allow the potatoes to cool enough to handle them safely.

1. Cut each potato in half and scoop out the inside: Once you have cut all the potatoes in half lengthwise, take each half and carefully scoop out the flesh. You want to leave about fourth inch of potato flesh so that the skin doesn’t rip and it’s sturdy enough to hold the filling.

1. Mash the potatoes: Place the potato flesh in a large mixing bowl, and mash it with a potato masher or hand mixer for extra creamy potatoes. Add the cheese, sour cream, milk, butter, green onions, and half of the bacon, along with salt and pepper. Stir to combine.

1. Fill potato skins: Grab each halved, hollowed-out potato skin and fill each one with the potato mixture. You want to fill it enough so that it looks loaded but leave enough for each one to get its fair share. Top with remaining cheese.

1. Second bake: Bake for 15-20 minutes until the cheese is melted and golden.Garnish with the rest of the bacon and fresh chives and serve.

Best Potatoes for Baking

You want to use potatoes with a higher starch content so they bake up nice and fluffy. Russet potatoes or Yukon Golds are great and readily available in most American and Canadian grocery stores. Sebago potatoes in Australia or Maris Piper or King Edwards potatoes in the UK are perfect choices.

Waxy potatoes that have a lower starch content will still work because they are sturdy and will not fall apart on you, however, they will result in a different texture. They won’t be as fluffy or creamy and will be denser.

Tips and Tricks

• Remember to use potatoes with a higher starch content or at least ones that are somewhere in the middle.
• Make sure to pat the potatoes dry so that the skin crisps up nicely and the water on the outside of the potato doesn’t create any extra steam.
• Pierce potatoes with a fork before baking to avoid exploding potatoes!
• We’re keeping the skin on (obviously) so make sure to scrub them beforehand.
• Using a hand mixer is super convenient but don’t forget to watch for over mixing.

Variations and add-ins

If you can dream it up, you can add it in. A twice-baked potato is a perfect vessel for additional flavors and textures. Whatever you enjoy on your loaded baked potato, you’ll enjoy even more in this twice-baked version. Below is a list to get your creative juices flowing.

• Swap out the sour cream with cream cheese. It won’t be as light, and will be a little denser, but will still provide a nice cheesy tangy flavor.
• Caramelized onions would be crazy good!
• Salsa or a Salsa ranch combo is a great way to jazz it up Tex-Mex style.
• Ranch dressing mix or blue cheese dressing is a welcome addition to any potato recipe.
• Red pepper flakes, diced jalapeno, or sriracha for heat.
• Have any leftover buffalo chicken? You see where I’m going with this!

Recipe FAQs

Serving Suggestions

On the side of: Instant Pot ribs, Air fryer steak, Popeye’s chicken sandwich, smoked beef brisket, or grilled BBQ chicken are all hearty main dishes that would welcome an equally hearty side dish.

With a side salad: Keep it as a main dish and enjoy it with a side salad such as this three bean salad, Asian chicken salad, a simple tossed green salad, Kale Salad, or a kid-friendly pasta salad.

Other starters: Needing to find some suitable sides to pair with your twice baked potato? When serving a large crowd add baked beans, Air Fryer corn on the cob, coleslaw, creamed corn or glazed carrots to your meal.

Make ahead

If you are planning and figuring out how to meal prep days in advance, these are great for that. Assemble the baked potatoes up until the point of filling them and topping them with the remaining cheese.

Keep them wrapped tightly in foil or plastic and keep them in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

To freeze them, place them on a baking sheet and flash freeze them until they’re solid, and then store them in a freezer-friendly container or Ziploc for up to 2 months.

When you’re ready to bake them, thaw them overnight in the fridge and bake as directed or bake from frozen adding on about 15 minutes of extra bake time.

Storing & Reheating

To Store: Store any leftover potatoes in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.

To reheat: You can reheat it quickly in the microwave, especially if you’re just reheating one serving. If you have a few that need reheating it might be worth turning on the oven to 400°F/205°C and reheating potatoes for about 20 minutes. You can also use the air fryer. Preheat it to 400°F/205°C for 5 minutes before adding the potatoes to heat through.

More Potato Sides To Try

Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest!