Make Ahead Twice Baked Potatoes
Although most of the work to make these twice baked potatoes is hands-off, it ends up being pretty time-consuming for a weeknight.
To split the labor, you can roast, mash, and stuff your potatoes up to three days in advance and refrigerate them in an airtight container for up to three days. Then simply warm the stuffed potatoes in the oven when ready to serve.
Consider making this on a Sunday afternoon and then reheating your baked potatoes twice for a quick meal during the week.
What to serve with twice baked potatoes
Twice Baked Potatoes are a classic side dish for a juicy steak or meatloaf dinner. With some wilted vegetables or a salad on the plate, you have a complete meal.
- double cooked potatoes
- PREPARATION TIME20 minutes
- TIME TO COOK 90 minutes
- TOTAL TIME110 minutes
- SERVINGS4 to 6 servings
Choose the Bacon Cheddar Filling or the Chive Blue Cheese Filling; amounts are for a full batch of baked potatoes.
Ingredients
4 large red potatoes, about 1 pound each
extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup of milk
2 tablespoons softened butter
1 tablespoon cream
Filling Option 1: Cheddar Cheese and Bacon:
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
4 strips of bacon
1/4 cup chopped green onion
Filling Option 2: Blue Cheese and Chives:
1 cup of blue cheese crumbled
1/4 cup chopped fresh chives
1/2 teaspoon salt
Method
Bake the potatoes:
Preheat oven to 400°F. Rub potatoes under running water. Prick each potato in several places with the tines of a fork so that when the potatoes are cooking they don't explode.
Rub the potatoes all over with a touch olive oil. Place directly on the center or top rack of the oven.
cook dinner for 1 hour and 15 minutes, or till the potatoes are cooked via. They have to give a bit when pressed.
If you are short on time, you can microwave the potatoes, 10 minutes on high for 2 potatoes, 15 minutes for 4 potatoes. The skins of microwave baked potatoes are not as crispy, so you may want to rub them with a little olive oil and finish them in a conventional oven at 400°F for 10 minutes.
Cook bacon if using:
If you are going to include bacon as one of your toppings, while the potatoes are cooking, cook the bacon strips in a skillet over medium-low heat for 10 to 15 minutes, or until crisp. Drain on paper towels. Let cool. Crumble.
Make potato "boats":
Let the potatoes cool to the touch. Cut the top third along the potato.
Use a spoon to scoop out the insides, forming a potato "canoe," leaving about 1/4 inch of potato in the skin.
Alternatively, you can cut the potatoes in half, lengthwise. In this case, you may want to bake an extra potato so you have more potato filling to pile into the potato boats.
Mash potato insides with bitter cream, milk, butter:
Place potato insides, sour cream, milk, cream, and butter in a large bowl.
Mash with a potato masher. If you want a creamy texture, beat with an electric mixer until you get the desired consistency. Don't beat the potatoes too much! They can get sticky if you do.
Fill potato skins with stuffing:
Add the extras with the potato filling. Reserve some of the extras to sprinkle on top of the potatoes. Pour the fillings into the potato skins. Sprinkle with additional ingredients.
To bake:
Reduce oven temperature to 350°F. Place potatoes on a baking sheet or baking sheet and bake 15 to 20 minutes until heated through.
