Kitchen notes · a little help before you start
Twice Baked Potatoes Recipe
A potato shell piled with creamy, cheesy filling is hard to pass up, especially with little pieces of bacon tucked inside. These twice baked potatoes have that generous, help-yourself appeal. The melted cheddar on top is a good reason to choose a particularly full one.
- Prep
- 15 min
- Cook
- 80 min
- Total
- 95 min
- Original yield
- Serves 16
- Ingredients
- 10 listed
Make it part of your week
Recipe categories & planning details
- Meal type
- Dinner
- Primary protein
- Pork
- Cuisine
- American
- Cooking method
- Baking · Baked & roasted
- Preparation & total time
- Prep: 15 minutes or less · Total: over 60 minutes
A few quick notes
1. Leave a sturdy border
When you scoop the baked potatoes, keep about 1/2 inch of potato inside the skin. That little wall helps the halves hold their shape once the creamy filling goes back in.
2. Save some topping
Put most of the cheddar and green onions into the filling, reserving the rest for the melted cheese topping and fresh onion finish.
3. Bake the potatoes first
Start with whole russets rubbed with canola oil and baked until tender. The second trip to the oven is just for heating the filled halves and melting the cheese on top.
Get to know the ingredients
Russets are the right shape for this
Russet potatoes give you roomy halves and skins sturdy enough to scoop, fill, and bake again. Washing, scrubbing, and drying them first matters because the skins stay part of the dish.
Butter goes in while you mix
The scooped potato is mixed with butter, sour cream, milk, cheese, bacon, and seasonings all at once. It should become a rich filling before you spoon it back into the skins.
Cheddar does two jobs
Use part of the cheddar in the potato mixture and keep the rest for the tops. That gives the filling cheesy flavor and the finished halves a melted layer after the second bake.
Let’s make it
Choose your servings, then check things off as you go.
Original recipe: Serves 16. Original quantities shown.
Check ingredients as you prepare them. These checks stay on this page.
How to make it
0 of 3 steps completeMake room for Twice Baked Potatoes Recipe
Review ingredients in your pantry before anything is added. Meal plans use your household size; grocery-only additions use the servings selected above.
The last little job
The last little job
After the filled potatoes come out of the oven, scatter over the remaining sliced green onions. Add them at the end so they stay fresh against the hot cheese and creamy potato.
A little more help as you go
Scoop into a large bowl
The filling has a lot going into it, so use the large bowl called for in the directions. It gives you room to mix the potato with the dairy, bacon, cheese, and seasonings evenly.
Fill the halves generously
Spoon the mixed filling back into the potato halves, then add the remaining cheddar.
A few questions you might have
Do I cut the potatoes before the first bake?
No. Bake the russet potatoes whole after rubbing them with canola oil. Cut them in half after that first bake, then scoop out the centers for the filling.
How much potato should I leave in the skin?
Leave about 1/2 inch around the inside of each potato half. Scooping out more can make the skins flimsy once you refill them.
Does all the cheese go into the filling?
No. Mix 1 cup of the cheddar into the potato filling, then use the remaining cheddar on top before the second bake.
When do the green onions go in?
Most of the sliced green onions are mixed into the filling. Keep the rest for garnishing after the filled potatoes have baked.
Is the bacon cooked before mixing?
Yes. The bacon is cooked and crumbled before it goes into the potato filling with the butter, sour cream, cheddar, milk, salt, pepper, and green onions.
Any more cooking tips?
Note: click on times in the instructions to start a kitchen timer while cooking.
Storage & reheating safety
For cooked, perishable leftovers, refrigerate within 2 hours (1 hour above 90°F), using shallow containers for prompt cooling. Keep the refrigerator at 40°F or below, use refrigerated leftovers within 3–4 days, and reheat hot leftovers to 165°F, checked with a food thermometer. Follow any shorter package limit.
These are general safety limits, not a tested storage or freezing recommendation for this particular dish. USDA leftovers guidance · Safe cooking temperatures
Recipe source: dinnerthendessert.com. Ingredient names and quantities may be adapted for the pantry.
Preparation notes follow the recipe shown here.
