Also known as Twice Baked Potatoes, these Loaded Baked Potatoes are made with russet potatoes that are baked to soft perfection. The potato filling is scooped out and mixed with sour cream, butter, bacon, garlic, cheese, and green onions (you know, all the good stuff). Then that mixture is spooned back into the potato shell and baked again. They make a super deluxe side dish.
We love Loaded Baked Potatoes so much that we have a shortcut recipe too, for Twice Baked Potato Casserole. So if you don’t want to fiddle with the potato shells, head over to that recipe!
If you are looking for other great potato side dishes, we have plenty here at Mom’s Dinner. Check out these other recipes:
- Simple Baked Potatoes
- Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes
- Yukon Gold Mashed Potatoes
- Crispy Cast Iron Oven Potatoes
How To Make Baked Potatoes
You may be wondering if you can make these Baked Potatoes in the Instant Pot. That will work, however you won’t get the nice crispy skin like when you bake them in the oven.
To make a baked potato in the oven is SUPER SIMPLE! Preheat the oven to 400° F. Make sure you wash the potatoes well, because they will be covered in dirt dust.
Prick the outside of the potatoes on all sides with a sharp knife or fork. Rub with olive oil and sprinkle with kosher salt. Place directly on the oven rack.
Since potatoes vary widely in size, you will want to check your potatoes after about 1 hour. You may have to bake them up to 1 hour 45 minutes, depending on size.
PRO TIP: When your potatoes reach 210° Fahrenheit internal temp, they are cooked through!
How Many To Make?
I usually plan that 1 potato will feed 2 people when making Loaded Baked Potatoes. But these suckers are GOOD, I have had KIDS eat 2 potato halves for dinner (and that was with steak!).
So maybe make a couple extra potatoes. Plus they make amazing leftovers!
PRO TIP: I also bake at least 1 extra potato when I am making this Loaded Baked Potato Recipe. Have you ever cut a potato open that looked totally fine on the outside but is full of brown/black spots? This accounts for that!
Making Twice Baked Potato Filling
Now that you have pillowy soft baked potatoes, let’s make the Loaded Baked Potatoes!
- Cut the potatoes and scoop the center.
- Mix the loaded baked potato filling.
- Fill the potato shells.
- Bake again.
Cut the potatoes lengthwise so you have a nice long potato boat after you scoop out the filling.
Using a spoon, scoop the soft potato out of the center of each potato half. Taking care not to create a hole in the potato- but also, if you do it is totally ok. Leave a little potato around the edges to give the potato structure to hold all the delicious filling.
See photos for reference:
Put all the empty potato shells on a rimmed baking sheet and set it aside for now.
In a large bowl with a potato masher mash together the potato, butter, sour cream, bacon, garlic, kosher salt, pepper and onion powder.
Give the filling a taste and see if you need more salt or pepper.
Fold in ¾ cup cheese and the green onions.
Once the potato filling taste just how you like it, divide the filling evenly among the shells. Scooping it into each shell with a large spoon.
After all the potato skins are filled, top each potato with cheese, using the rest of the cheese you have grated (about ¾ cup… but of course use more if you like).
Pop back in the oven for about 15-20 minutes to melt the cheese and warm through.
Time to eat!
Make Ahead!
Yes, you can absolutely make these Loaded Baked Potatoes ahead of time. Up to 3 days!
Simply prep completely, and place the filled potato shells on a large rimmed baking sheet. Cover with plastic wrap or foil and refrigerate for up to 3 days.
When baking straight from the fridge you may need to add 5-10 minutes to the baking time to make sure they are warm all the way through.
Recipe Tips To Remember
- Use russet potatoes! They are starchy enough to hold up to all the yummy mix-in’s and the skin of the potato is sturdy enough to hold the filling.
- Wash the potatoes really well so the people that eat the skins don’t get a side of dirt with their Loaded Baked Potato.
- Bake one extra potato in case you find black/brown spots in a potato when you cut them in half.
- Make sure your potatoes are cooked through and soft all the way to the middle. Great hack for this is making sure they reach 205 degrees Fahrenheit internal temperature.
- When you scoop the potatoes out, leave a little around the edges to give the potatoes structure.
- Taste the filling before adding it back to the potato shells. If you have really large potatoes, you may need more salt.
- If you make the potatoes ahead and refrigerate, add a little time to the second baking to make sure they are warm all the way through.
More Potato Side Dishes
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Loaded Baked Potato Recipe
Equipment
- Potato Masher
Ingredients
- 8 large russet potatoes - * see notes
- olive oil
- kosher salt
- 2 stick salted butter - cubed
- 1 cup sour cream
- 10-12 bacon strips - cooked crispy (we love the already cooked microwavable bacon for this recipe!)
- ¼ cup whole or 2% milk
- 2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 3 cups cheddar cheese - shredded, divided
- ½ cup green onion - chopped
Garnish
- optional – extra chopped green onions and crumbled bacon
Instructions
Baked Potatoes
- Preheat the oven to 400℉.8 large russet potatoes
- Wash the potatoes well, then place on a rimmed baking sheet (optional, can also put directly in the oven) and prick on all sides with a sharp paring knife or fork.Rub the outside with a little olive oil and sprinkle on kosher salt.olive oil, kosher salt
- Bake for about *1 hour 15 minutes. *Potatoes can vary greatly in size and therefore baking time. You will know your potatoes are cooked through when they reach an internal temp of 210℉.
Scooping The Potato
- Let the potatoes cool for about 15 minutes before handling.
- Cut them in half lengthwise (giving you 8 potatoes).
- With a spoon scoop out the fluffy hot potatoes from the middle of each potato half into a large bowl. Leave some of the potato around the edge of the potato skin to give it enough structure to still sit up. See photo.
- Place the empty potato skins back on the rimmed baking sheet.
Make The Filling
- Add butter, sour cream, garlic, bacon, salt, onion powder, and pepper to the potatoes. Use a potato masher to mix the filling and smash the potatoes.*for a very smooth loaded potato run the potato through a potato ricer.2 stick salted butter, 1 cup sour cream, 10-12 bacon strips, 2 teaspoon kosher salt, 1 teaspoon onion powder, 1 teaspoon black pepper
- Now add 1 ½ cups shredded cheddar cheese, the milk and green onions, fold into the mixture.¼ cup whole or 2% milk, ½ cup green onion
- Taste the filling to see if you need more salt or pepper.
- Spoon the filling into the potato skins on the rimmed baking sheet.
- Top with the remaining 1 ½ cups shredded cheddar cheese.
- At this point you can pop in the oven and eat right away OR keep covered in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Twice Bake
- Pop back in the oven at 350° and bake for about 20 minutes, until heated through and cheese is melted on top. *If baking from the fridge, you may need to increase the second bake time to 25-30 minutes to heat through.
Serving
- Serve one potato half per person.
- Optionally garnish with extra green onions and crumbled bacon.
Marylou says
Great recipe. Thank you for sharing!
Susie Weinrich says
So glad you loved it!
CampGrilling says
Another huge favorite on gameday gatherings. I love them too!