Indulgent Twice Baked Potatoes

When making a holiday dinner you often look for side dishes that are a little indulgent. 

One side dish I like to serve is these cheesy twice-baked potatoes.

Cheesy Twice-Baked Potatoes 

How to Make Twice-Baked Potatoes for a Crowd

These twice-baked potatoes are required on my holiday table.  The good news is you can just as easily make them to serve four or thirty dinner guests.
This twice-baked potato recipe is simple.  You'll need russet potatoes, butter, sour cream, and shredded sharp cheddar cheese. The amounts of each in the recipe are approximate guides.  The amount you will need depends on the size of your potatoes. 

Keep in mind, these are not diet-friendly potatoes.  These over-the-top potatoes are reserved for celebratory meals where a little over-indulgence is expected and encouraged.  That makes them perfect for your holiday table.

A helper is a good idea when making these twice-stuffed potatoes for a crowd. Hubby and I set aside an afternoon about two weeks before Christmas to prepare our twice-baked potatoes when we are hosting many family members for our holiday dinner.  We set up an assembly line to speed up the process.  The potato filling is prepared while the potatoes are hot, so working quickly is essential.

To make the potatoes up to a couple of weeks in advance, place each stuffed potato on a sheet pan to freeze. Be sure you have enough room in your freezer for your potatoes before you get started.  Once the potatoes are frozen you can wrap each one individually in plastic wrap for longer storage in your freezer.  That way you can have twice-baked potatoes whenever you crave a little yummy indulgence.

There will be extra potato stuffing. You'll find you have a lot more stuffing than you have potato skins to fill.  That's a good thing.  The extra filling makes a delicious twice-baked potato casserole.  You can freeze the filling for a later date or serve it in addition to the twice-baked potatoes in the skin.  

This is a flexible recipe. You are encouraged to customize the stuffing mixture to your preference.  The amounts will change based on the number of potatoes you make so I encourage you to use my recipe as a guide and adjust as you go.  Tasting is essential to the process.  When the filling tastes good to you it is ready to stuff back into the potato skins.

Making the Indulgent Twice-Baked Potatoes

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F.  Wash and prick the russet potatoes with a fork.  Place the potatoes in your oven and bake until soft and cooked through, about one hour.

Slice the tops off of the baked potatoes, one potato at a time. Scoop the potato from the skin into a large bowl, leaving a thin layer of potato to give the skin some structure. Work quickly because you want to make your filling while the potato is hot.  

Potato Skin Shells for Filling

Once you have scooped the potato from the skins, add half of the butter, sour cream, cheddar cheese, salt, and pepper to the bowl.  Reserve one-third of the shredded cheese to top the potatoes.  Mash the contents of the pot together until well mixed. Taste and add more of the ingredients as needed. Adjust the salt and pepper to taste.

Once your filling is well-mixed, smooth, and tasty scoop the filling back into the potato skins. Place the filled potatoes onto a sheet pan for freezing or chilling.  If freezing long-term, wrap each potato individually in plastic wrap after they have frozen through.  Place in a freezer bag until ready to rebake.

Twice-Baked Potatoes Ready to Freeze or Bake

To Bake Immediately: Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.  Top the stuffed potatoes with the reserved shredded sharp cheddar cheese. Bake on the center rack of your oven until the cheese is melted and the potatoes are heated through for 30 to 40 minutes.

To Bake Frozen Potatoes: Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.  Top the thawed, stuffed potatoes with the reserved shredded sharp cheddar cheese. Bake on the center rack of your oven until the cheese is melted and the potatoes are heated for 30 to 40 minutes.

Your twice-baked potatoes will be delicious with Pesto-Encrusted Beef Tenderloin.

Twice Bake Potatoes Recipe

potatoes, baked potatoes

side dish

American

Yield: 10

Author: Donna Urso

Cheesy Twice Baked Potaroes

Prep time: 40 MinCook time: 1 H & 40 MTotal time: 2 H & 20 M

An indulgent twice-baked potato recipe perfect for special occasions.

Ingredients

• 10 medium-sized russet potatoes, scrubbed
• 2 sticks of unsalted butter, approximately
• 1 16-ounce carton of sour cream, approximately
• 16 ounces of shredded sharp cheddar cheese, approximately
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, or to taste
• 1 teaspoon black pepper, or to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F. Wash and prick the russet potatoes with a fork. Place the potatoes in your oven and bake until soft and cooked through, about one hour.
2. Slice the tops off of the baked potatoes, one potato at a time. Scoop the potato from the skin into a large bowl, leaving a thin layer of potato to give the skin some structure. Work quickly because you want to make your filling while the potato is hot.
3. Once you have scooped the potato from the skins, add half of the butter, sour cream, cheddar cheese, salt, and pepper to the bowl. Reserve one-third of the shredded cheese to top the potatoes. Mash the contents of the pot together until well-mixed. Taste and add more of the ingredients as needed. Adjust the salt and pepper to taste.
4. When the filling is well-mixed and smooth, scoop the filling back into the potato skins. Place the filled potatoes onto a sheet pan for freezing or chilling. If freezing long-term, wrap each potato individually in plastic wrap after they have frozen through. Place in a freezer bag until ready to rebake.
5. To Bake: Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Top the thawed, stuffed potatoes with the reserved shredded sharp cheddar cheese. Bake on the center rack of your oven until the cheese is melted and the potatoes are heated through for 30 to 40 minutes.

Notes

The amounts of butter, sour cream, and cheese are approximate because the amount you need will depend on the size of your potatoes.

Nutrition Facts

Calories

670.1

Fat (grams)

50.31

Sat. Fat (grams)

30.81

Carbs (grams)

41.03

Fiber (grams)

2.82

Net carbs

38.21

Sugar (grams)

2.8

Protein (grams)

16.63

Sodium (milligrams)

670.9

Cholesterol (grams)

145.21

Nutrional information is approximate.

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