Bake, halve, and scoop out the potatoes, then stir together the cheesy, creamy filling, load up the potato shells, top with additional cheese, and bake a second time! The combination of cheese, green onions, sour cream, and bacon is sure to please any crowd. Personalize this recipe with additional mix-ins or a drizzle of your favorite hot sauce. You’ll love how versatile this recipe is! For more perfect side dish recipes ready to be paired with any protein, try my roasted Brussels sprouts, potatoes au gratin recipe, easy glazed carrots, or homemade pasta salad.

What You Need to Make This Recipe

Potatoes — large Russet potatoes are the best potatoes for this recipe because they are creamy, fluffy when baked, and have a mellow flavor. The potato flesh is easy to scoop out after baking, and the texture is perfect for mixing with the other ingredients. Bacon — regular-cut bacon cooks fairly quickly and crumbles well for a bit of bacon in every delicious bite. If you use thick-cut bacon, make sure to cook until crisp for easy crumbling. Butter — softened butter will combine easiest with the potato filling. Use unsalted butter so you have the most control over the sodium in this recipe, and you can add more salt and pepper to taste before filling the potato shells. Shredded Cheese — I often use a thick-cut triple cheddar blend, but you can shred your own cheese, too. You can also personalize this recipe with your favorite cheese or a combination of cheeses. I recommend any cheese that melts smoothly, such as cheddar, white cheddar, Gruyere, Fontina, pepper jack, or parmesan. Sour Cream — this makes the filling extra creamy with a slightly tart taste. For a richer filling, you could also use softened cream cheese or a combination of sour cream and cream cheese. Green Onions — chopped green onions are mixed into the filling and for garnishing the potatoes. I like using a combination of the white and green portions of the onions to mix in and reserving some of the greens for topping just before serving.

How to Make Twice-Baked Potatoes

  1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Scrub the potatoes clean under running water. Wipe dry. Poke each potato in several places with a fork. Rub the olive oil all over the potatoes and place on a baking tray. Bake until tender, about 60 to 75 minutes. Remove them from the oven and let them cool just enough to be able to handle them.
  2. While the potatoes cool, cook the bacon slices in a large skillet over medium heat until crisp. Drain on paper towels. Let cool and crumble.
  3. Slice the potatoes in half lengthwise with a sharp knife and scoop out most of the flesh into a large mixing bowl, leaving about 1/4-inch-thickness of potato around the skin in order to keep the skin as a shell.
  4. Add the butter to the scooped potato and mash until the butter is melted. Add the crumbled bacon, some of the cheese, sour cream, green onions, salt, and pepper.
  5. Pour the milk into the mixing bowl.
  6. Stir until well-mixed using a silicone spatula.
  7. Scoop the mixture evenly back into the potato shells, and place the filled potatoes back on the baking sheet.
  8. Sprinkle tops with the remaining ½ cup of cheese. Return to the oven for the second bake at 400°F until the cheese melts, about 15 minutes. Garnish with more chopped green onions before serving.

Pro-Tips For Making This Recipe

Mash by hand. A potato masher is the ideal tool to mash the potatoes with the butter. Stick to doing this step by hand instead of using a hand mixer or stand mixer, both of which can overmix the potatoes and make them gummy or glue-like. Look for potatoes that are similarly sized. For the best twice baked potatoes, look for potatoes that are similarly sized so that they will bake at the same rate. This will simplify your process and everyone will get the same portion size, so no fighting over the largest one! Customize the flavors. You can spice up this potato recipe with your favorite toppings or seasonings. Try stirring in ½ teaspoon of garlic powder, half a packet of ranch dressing mix, or your favorite combination of cheeses. These would also be delicious when served with crumbled blue cheese, black olives, or hot sauce on top!

If you’ve tried this Twice-Baked Potatoes recipe, then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you!

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