Summertime means cooking on the grill, plenty of side dishes, and ice-cold drinks, all enjoyed in the shade somewhere. One of my favorite side dishes for barbeques is twice-baked potatoes. I make these all year round, but they are in heavy rotation around here during the summer months. They are easy to make, delicious, and compliment any entree from the grill.
Creamy, silky, and hearty, these potatoes are a perfect treat. I love to add sour cream, chives, cheddar cheese, and bacon to mine, but as with all recipes, what you choose to include is totally up to you. Turkey bacon is lovely here too!
This is a great recipe to assemble ahead of time, store in the fridge, and bake in the oven just before the beginning of the meal. The filling is so good, you’ll want to eat it straight from the bowl, I promise!
Twice Baked Potato/ Dvaput Pečen Krompir
Course: Main, SideCuisine: American4
servings30
minutes20
minutesA perfect side to compliment any meal.
Ingredients
4 large baking potatoes
1 cup (240 g) sour cream
2 tablespoons (30 g) butter, melted
1 cup (100 g) shredded cheese (cheddar or colby jack work best)
2 tablespoons (6-10 g) chives, chopped (or green onions/scallions)
2-3 slices smoked bacon, fried and diced
Salt, to taste
Black pepper, to taste
Directions
- Wash the potatoes really well, scrubbing the skin. Dry them and place them on a foil-lined baking sheet. Using a knife, poke each potato a few times all over.
- Bake the potatoes in a 400 degree (200 C) oven for around 40 minutes or until a knife goes in easily and they are baked all the way.
- When baked, remove the potatoes from the oven and set aside to cool until comfortable to handle but not completely cold, about 30 minutes. Don’t throw the foil away, you will use foil + baking sheet again later.
- When the potatoes are cooled but still warm, cut the potatoes in half lengthwise and using a spoon, carefully scoop out the potato into a mixing bowl. Leave a little of the flesh in the skin so the skin holds it’s shape. Scoop out the flesh carefully as to not rip the skin of the potato. Repeat with the remaining potatoes.
- Line up the potato skins on the foil-lined baking sheet.
- Make the filling: Mash the potato in your mixing bowl using a potato masher or fork. You can also use a hand/stand mixer if you’d like. When mashed, add in the remaining ingredients, reserving some of the shredded cheese for the topping.
- Mix the filling well to combine all ingredients. If the filling is too dry for your liking, thin it out with a couple of tablespoons of milk. Add in salt and pepper to taste. The amount of salt you’ll need will depend on what you are adding to the filling. Bacon is already salty, so I use less additional salt.
- Spoon the filling into each potato skin. Sprinkle some of the remaining cheese on top.
- Bake the potatoes for around 15 minutes at 350 F (175 C). If you’d like a toasty looking top, turn on the broiler for a minute or 2 at the very end. Be careful not to burn them with the broiler.
- When baked, remove from the oven and serve immediately.
Notes
- This can be made ahead! Follow the steps above to prepare the potatoes but don’t bake them. Instead, cover them with plastic wrap or store in a Tupperware container and refrigerate. Then, when ready to eat, place them on a foil-lined sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes.
I hope you decide to give this side dish a try. And if you do decide to make it, I’d love to see how they turn out. Send me a DM on Instagram, and while you’re there don’t forget to follow my page so you don’t miss a recipe!
