Twice-baked potatoes are a side dish made with baked potatoes that are stuffed with bacon, sour cream, cheese, and green onion and then baked a second time.
10-12medium potatoesslightly larger than your fist
1cupsour cream
1/4 to 1/2cupmilk
2tablespoonsbutter or bacon drippings(I'm on team bacon fat)
1poundbacon(cooked up crisp)
3cupsshredded cheddar or colby cheese
6green onionssliced thin
2teaspoonssalt
1/2teaspoonblack pepper
additional salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Start by washing all your potatoes and baking them. Bake them at 450 F. for about an hour (full post on how to bake a potato here if you need more directions).
If you are in a time crunch, you can also wash and then stab the potatoes with a fork a few times and microwave on high for 12-15 minutes until the potatoes feel soft when pressed. I prefer the oven because the skin crisps up nicely. The initial baking method doesn't really matter much here.
When the potatoes are cooked through and cool enough to handle, cut off the top quarter of each potato.
Use a spoon to hollow out the baked potato leaving about a 1/4 inch of potato near the skin.
Put everything you scoop out of the potatoes into a large bowl.
Once all of the potatoes are hollowed out transfer them to a large baking dish with sides.
Add the sour cream, milk, and fat (bacon drippings or butter) to the bowl with the baked potato insides and mash them to make thick mashed potatoes. If they are too dry, add a bit more milk and mash some more.
Add three-fourths of the bacon, 1 cup of shredded cheese, three-fourths of the green onions, salt and pepper. Stir well to combine. Taste the potato mixture and add additional salt and pepper as needed.
Using a spoon, transfer the delicious potato mixture back into the potato shells. Be sure to press the filling in well with the spoon so that it fills the potato completely. You'll have more than what you started with so just keep adding to the filled potatoes until all of the mixture is gone.
Top filled potatoes with the remaining 2 cups of cheese and reserved bacon.
Bake the filled potatoes for 25-30 minutes in a 350 degree F. oven until the cheese is melted and bubbly.
Remove from the oven and garnish with the rest of the chopped green onion. Serve hot.
Notes
This is a great thing to make ahead and pull out when you are ready to bake! I've made these a whole 24 hours ahead of time and they were still perfect. Once the filled potatoes are topped with cheese and bacon, cover and refrigerate until you are ready to bake. When baking the potatoes cold, cover the dish with tented foil (so the cheese doesn't stick to it) for 30 minutes at 350 and then remove the foil and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes until the cheese is melted and bubbly.
This is a very family-friendly or party-sized twice-baked potato. If you are looking for huge, just switch out the medium potatoes for 5 or 6 of those larger-than-life baking potatoes, and proceed as directed. The big ones are practically a meal on their own!