Loaded potato skins are one of the best celebration appetizer! Make them crispy baked and bathe with toppings (this recipe has a time saving trick).

Who doesn’t love potato skins? These crispy, savory vessels for creamy, tacky deliciousness may soften even essentially the most stone chilly coronary heart. So once you’re seeking to impress, why not attempt them at residence? They’re not with no little effort: you’ll have to throw these spuds within the oven fairly a number of instances. However! Our technique affords some improvements so you’ll be able to full it in much less time than most potato pores and skin recipes. Able to get began?
Overview of this potato skins recipe
Why does a potato skins recipe take so lengthy? Nicely, you’ve acquired to bake the potatoes, then scoop out the flesh and bake them once more, then add cheese and bake them once more! However right here’s the place our time saving obsession is available in. Use our “fast bake” technique for the primary bake and you may lower down valuable prep time. Right here’s an outline of this potato skins recipe:
- Bake the potatoes (half-hour): Utilizing our fast baked potato technique, you’ll be able to lower the time for this step from as much as 1 hour to simply half-hour!
- Take away the flesh and season (10 minutes): Take away the flesh from contained in the potatoes, then brush them with butter and season.
- Bake once more (10 minutes): Place on a baking rack over a baking sheet (to assist get them crispy with most air circulation!). Bake one other 10 minutes.
- Add cheese and bake once more (3 to 4 minutes): Add cheese and bake till it melts.
- Add toppings and serve! Load ’em up and serve heat.

Small to medium potatoes are key
The dimensions of the potatoes on this potato skins recipe is essential. You’ll need small to medium russet potatoes. Smaller potatoes make a pleasant handheld potato pores and skin, they usually additionally bake sooner! You don’t need a big, floppy potato pores and skin. Small to medium potatoes are key right here.
Fast bake technique saves time
The fast bake technique for potatoes is one thing we use on a regular basis to hurry up baked potatoes. Why bake potatoes entire when you’ll be able to bake them…in half? Slice the potatoes in half and it takes about half the time to bake them: they usually style simply nearly as good (or higher!).
When it got here to a potato skins recipe, we knew our fast bake technique can be excellent. Seems, it’s the proper innovation right here: and cuts the prep time to about 1 hour begin to end.

Toppings for potato skins
It is a basic potato skins recipe, so we used all of the basic toppings! After all, you’ll be able to add improvements of your individual. Listed below are some notes on what we expect are important:
- Bitter cream: A fast tip: loosen the bitter cream with a little bit of water earlier than you dollop it! It makes it a lot simpler. Need dairy free? Use vegan bitter cream (and naturally, your favourite dairy-free cheese).
- Inexperienced onions: They’re important for that savory crunch.
- Bacon: It’s basic! We typically eat plant primarily based so we used a bought vegan bacon. The model isn’t one we’d advocate, so tell us if in case you have vegan bacon manufacturers you advocate within the feedback under! Do-it-yourself coconut bacon can be excellent right here.
- Smoked salt: As a result of we used vegan bacon, we added a touch of smoked salt right here. We’d extremely advocate it, it doesn’t matter what kind of bacon you utilize. It provides an irresistibly smoky undertone.
- Scorching sauce: Only a trace of sizzling sauce provides one other dimension, but it surely’s not required.

Making this recipe for a crowd
This potato skins recipe makes 16 potato skins, or about sufficient to feed 8 servings. After all, they’re so scrumptious that we may polish off your complete tray between the 2 of us! The one draw back of this recipe is that it does really feel like fairly a little bit of effort for one thing that’s gone in a flash. However that’s the enjoyable of it!
In case you’re serving an enormous celebration, it’s possible you’ll need to think about making a double recipe right here. Use the 2x recipe button under and two giant trays in your oven. The one word is that the bake instances could also be barely longer, since you will have extra floor space to bake within the oven. The recipe will doubtless additionally take you barely longer to assemble, with extra potatoes to scoop and high.
Simpler celebration appetizers
And that’s it! These potato skins are considered one of our favourite celebration appetizers round. However they’re a little bit of effort to place collectively! Listed below are a number of extra enjoyable concepts which are much less effort:
Need extra? Attempt these 30 Tremendous Bowl Meals Concepts & Snacks.
Description
Loaded potato skins are one of the best celebration appetizer! Make them crispy baked and bathe with toppings (this recipe has a time saving trick).
- 8 small to medium russet potatoes (2 to 2 1/2 kilos)*
- Olive oil
- Salt and pepper
- 2 tablespoons salted butter (or extra olive oil for vegan)
- ½ teaspoon every garlic powder, onion powder, and kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon chili powder
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese or Mexican mix cheese
- 2 inexperienced onions
- Bitter cream
- Cooked bacon or vegan bacon (bought or coconut bacon), for garnish (optionally available)
- Smoked salt, for sprinkling (beneficial)
- Preheat the oven to 450 levels Fahrenheit.
- Bake the potatoes: Wash the potatoes and slice them in half lengthwise. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place the potatoes on high and rub them with olive oil, simply sufficient to coat. Flip the potatoes lower facet down and prick the tops a number of instances with fork. Bake till the potatoes are tender and calmly browned on the sides, about 25 to half-hour relying on the scale of the potatoes. Prick them with a fork to evaluate doneness. (Whereas baking, you’ll be able to prepare dinner the bacon if utilizing, and prep the opposite toppings.)
- Take away the flesh: Enable the potatoes cool barely. Use a pointy paring knife to chop a 1/4-inch border across the flat fringe of the potato, then use a spoon to fastidiously scoop out the insides (slicing with a knife first helps to puncture the crisp roasted floor). Reserve the scooped potatoes for one more use.
- Season and bake once more: Place a metallic baking rack on high of a giant baking sheet. Brush melted butter everywhere in the potato skins on either side. Combine the garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and chili powder in a small bowl and add a pinches to the highest of every potato, utilizing your complete combine. Sprinkle with a number of grinds of black pepper. Return to the oven and bake for 10 minutes.
- Add cheese and bake once more: Take away the potatoes from the oven. Add the shredded cheese evenly to the tops. Return to the oven and bake once more till the cheese melts, about 3 to 4 minutes.
- High and serve: Take away the potatoes from the oven. Add a sprinkle of salt or smoked salt to the highest of every. Dollop with bitter cream**, then add the sliced inexperienced onions and bacon crumbles. if utilizing. Serve instantly. The potato skins style nice at room temperature as nicely (in order that they work to go away out at a celebration).
Notes
*Makes 16 potato skins. Double for a big crowd and use two baking sheets: it’s possible you’ll want to extend the baking time barely with extra floor space within the oven.
**Stir in a number of teaspoons of water to the bitter cream to assist make dollops.
- Prep Time: quarter-hour
- Cook dinner Time: 45 minutes
- Class: Appetizer
- Methodology: Baked
- Delicacies: American
Key phrases: Potato skins, potato skins recipe