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Easy Twice Baked Potatoes

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These Easy Twice Baked Potatoes are the BEST potatoes in the world. Bake them once. Bake them twice. That will make them twice as nice!

These potatoes are creamy, cheesy, and stuffed with sour cream, bacon, cheese, and green onions. Get ready to explode your taste buds- in a good way!

 

Main image for recipe of twice baked potatoes on a cookie sheet.

 

Twice baked potatoes get a thumbs up from even my potato hesitant kid. They are sooooo fluffy on the inside, dripping with all the deliciousness you can think of, while also being crispy and golden on the outside. They make a perfect main dish or side dish. You literally cannot go wrong serving these lovely twice baked potatoes.

It’s in the name so it should be obvious but these best twice baked potatoes are so EASY! Bake, mix, Bake. I love how filling these potatoes are also. I know when I serve these for dinner my kids aren’t going to be hungry 30 minutes later. Win!

 

4 potatoes on a cookie sheet with fork prints, fresh out of the oven.

 

What are Twice Baked Potatoes?

Twice baked potatoes are potatoes that are literally baked twice. The first time is to soften the insides. Then you scoop out the starchy centers while retaining the crispy skins. 

The inside gets mixed with different ingredients but normally it includes some milk, butter, cream, or bacon. Once this potato mixture is done it gets put back into the skins and baked for a second, shorter period of time.

They require way less messy dishes than a potato bar while still giving you the same great taste.

 

4 baked potatoes are split in half on a cookie sheet

 

Ingredients for Easy Twice Baked Potatoes

  • Potatoes: If there is one ingredient you can’t omit- It’s this one! Don’t even try it. I prefer russet potatoes as they have such a dark brown skin that crisps up nicely and a white inner that really mixes well with the milk, cheese, and bacon.
  • Bacon: The bacon will be cooked and crumbled. If you’re want you can also use bacon crumbles but I definitely feel like the cooked and then crumbled bacon tastes much better.
  • Sour Cream: A friend of mine swears after visiting Russia that our sour cream is sub par in the states, but sub par or not, I love my sour cream and it loves potatoes!
  • Milk: Any percentage of milk would work in this. I haven’t tried it with any off brands such as soy, almond coconut milk, etc. I’m not sure how those would turn out but if you try it let me know.
  • Butter: Real butter tastes so much better than margarine or any substitutes. You can use salted or unsalted in this recipe.
  • Salt and Pepper: The two most basic spices and yet nothing would be the same without them. If the world ran out of salt and pepper it would be very drab indeed.
  • Cheese: Sharp cheddar cheese is my very favorite cheese for this twice baked potatoes recipe, but it would be fun to experiment with other flavors so go right ahead.
  • Onions: Green onions taste fabulous on top of these potatoes. If you have a picky eater though go ahead and leave them out.

 

Centers of potatoes scooped out, leaving empty shells.

 

How to Make Twice Baked Potatoes

  • Bake. Make sure your potatoes are thoroughly washed and poked before putting them in the oven. Potatoes take a while to cook so while they are in the oven cook and crumble your bacon.
  • Mix. Scoop out the insides of the potatoes and mix them with sour cream, milk, butter, salt, pepper, cheese, bacon and onions. Put the mixture back into the potato skins and sprinkle the tops with more cheese, onions, and bacon.
  • Bake. The second baking time is much shorter than the first so now would be the time to set the table and gather all the hooligans running around your house.
  • Eat.  Don’t burn your tongue or anything but dig right into those mouth watering twice baked potatoes!

Pro Tips: Sometimes the potatoes can become gummy if not cooked properly. Here is how to avoid it:

  • Make sure all the ingredients are room temperature when adding them to the potatoes.
  • Don’t over mix the potato mixture. Mix in the ingredients and then leave it.
  • Don’t bake the potatoes in tinfoil. Tinfoil traps the moisture in the potato and makes the skins soggy and the potato filling too wet.

 

potato filling, cheese, bacon, butter and chives in a bowl

 

How Long to Cook Easy Twice Baked Potatoes

With the oven preheated to 350 degrees it should take your potatoes about 1 hour to cook the first time and 15 minutes for the second. I recommend poking the potatoes to test for doneness. A fork will easily poke through the skin of a cooked potato.

For best results pick potatoes that are all around the same size as they should take about the same amount of time to cook.

 

potato mixture mashed with a potato masher

 

How to Reheat Twice Baked Potatoes

You can either reheat the potatoes in the oven or the microwave. I prefer the microwave as it tends to keep the skins a little crispier than the microwave.

To reheat in the oven, bake at 350 degrees for 15 – 20 minutes.

To reheat in the microwave, cook for 2 – 3 minutes.

 

empty potato shells filled with potato mixture.

 

Can You Freeze Easy Twice Baked Potatoes

You can freeze them so hallelujah for less to do when you want to serve these irresistible potatoes at Easter, Christmas, or Thanksgiving. Simply cook them according to directions. You can omit the second bake or bake them the second time if you think you’ll be eating some today and saving some for later.

Allow them to fully cool before placing them into a freezer safe container. When you are ready to cook them allow them to thaw overnight in the refrigerator and then cook for about 20 minutes in the oven at 350 degrees. It’ll taste like you just cooked them that day!

Freezer potatoes will stay good in the fridge for up to three months so use them before that.

 

Filled potatoes topped with cheese, bacon and green onions, ready to be baked

 

More Potato Recipes You’ll Love…

Easy Twice Baked Potatoes are so scrumptious. They are creamy, fluffy, cheesy, and bacon-y (is that a word because it should be!) They have been a hit every time I have served them and I know they will be at your house too!

 

Yield: 8 Servings

Twice Baked Potatoes

8 half potatoes on a cookie sheet, fully twice baked and ready to be eatn.

These easy twice baked potatoes are creamy, cheesy, and stuffed with sour cream, bacon, cheese, and green onions. Get ready to explode your taste buds- in a good way!

Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 30 minutes

Ingredients

  • 4 large russet potatoes
  • 8 slices bacon, crumbled
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 4 tablespoons butter
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper
  • 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese, divided
  • 8 green onions, sliced, divide

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350*F
  2. Wash and pierce potatoes multiple times.
  3. Bake potatoes in preheated oven for 1 hour.
  4. While potatoes are baking, cook bacon and crumble. You could use bacon crumbles.
  5. When potatoes are done allow them to cool for 10 minutes.
  6. Slice potatoes in half lengthwise and scoop the flesh into a large bowl; save skins.
  7. To the potato flesh add sour cream, milk, butter, salt, pepper, 1/2 cup cheese and 1/2 the green onions, 1/2 bacon crumbs.
  8. Spoon the mixture into the potato skins.
  9. Top each with remaining cheese, green onions and bacon.
  10. Bake for another 15 minutes.
  11. Serve immediately.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

8

Serving Size:

1

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 436Total Fat: 25gSaturated Fat: 14gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 9gCholesterol: 73mgSodium: 594mgCarbohydrates: 36gFiber: 4gSugar: 3gProtein: 16g
Originally Posted: July 28, 2014

Photos & Text Updated: May 27, 2021

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