Twice Baked Potatoes are a favorite side dish and great to make ahead.
A baked potato shell is stuffed with creamy mashed potatoes, cheese, green onion, and bacon. Stir in your own favorite additions and bake until hot.
Stuffed potatoes are the perfect side dish, they freeze well, and they can even be baked from frozen.
Twice Delicious, Twice Baked Potatoes
While oven-roasted potatoes are a go-to for us, I can’t help but love these dreamy double-baked potatoes with crisp skins and a cheesy potato filling.
- Twice Baked Potatoes are as easy to make as they are yummy!
- These can be prepared days ahead of time.
- They can also be frozen and baked right from frozen.
- They’re an inexpensive way to feed a crowd, and you can add anything you’d like to the mix!
The Best Potatoes for Twice Baked
The best potatoes for twice-baked potatoes are russet potatoes or baking potatoes (the same potatoes we use for mashing). The thick skin holds up well to stuffing, and the potatoes are starchy and fluffy.
Of course, this recipe will work with almost any variety, but the texture might be slightly different.
How to Make Twice-Baked Potatoes
This twice-baked potato recipe is easy to make.
- Bake the potatoes: Use the oven, microwave, or air fryer to bake potatoes until tender.
- Cut each potato in half lengthwise and scoop out the insides with a spoon.
- Mash the potatoes and stir in the add-ins, spoon it back into the skins and sprinkle with cheese.
- Bake until heated through.
Make it a Meal: Change up the mashed potato filling with some optional additions or leftovers. Stir in some ground beef (or leftover taco meat), cooked chicken, steamed vegetables or broccoli.
Making Twice-Baked Potatoes Ahead of Time
Prepare as directed below until the skins are filled with the mashed potato mixture.
- Fridge: Place the prepared potatoes in an airtight container and refrigerate up to 2 days before baking. If cold from the fridge, potatoes may need an extra 5-7 minutes baking time.
- Freezer: Cool completely and freeze on a baking pan. Once frozen, the potatoes can be stored in a container or freezer bag.
- Bake From Frozen: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Place the potatoes on a baking sheet and bake for 35-40 minutes or until heated through.
Tips for Perfect Potatoes
- Use starchy potatoes like russet or baking potatoes are best in this recipe.
- Adding 1/4 cup spreadable cream cheese (any flavor, herb, and garlic is a favorite) is optional but delicious.
- Mash potatoes until smooth, if using a hand mixer, be sure not to overmix.
- Be sure to leave at least 1/8 to 1/4″ of a shell so the skins don’t break or crack.
- To make filling easy, place the prepared filling in a freezer bag and snip it off the corner. Squeeze it into the shells.
- Once your potato skins are stuffed, they can be frozen or refrigerated. To bake frozen potatoes, add an extra 15-20 minutes to the baking time.
More Potato Recipes You’ll Love
Did your family love these Twice Baked Potatoes? Leave us a rating and a comment below!
Twice Baked Potatoes
Ingredients
- 6 small russet or baking potatoes
- ⅓ cup sour cream
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ cup butter
- ½ cup milk (or buttermilk) if needed
- 1 tablespoon chives sliced (or green onions)
- 6 slices bacon cooked crisp and chopped or 3 tablespoons bacon bits
- 1 ½ cups cheddar cheese shredded, divided
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Scrub the skin of the potatoes and poke with a fork. Bake potatoes in the oven for 50-60 minutes or until tender. Allow them to cool until they're cool enough to handle.
- Slice each potato in ½ lengthwise. Scoop out the potato flesh leaving a ⅛" shell.
- Add the potatoes, sour cream, butter, garlic powder, salt, and pepper to a large bowl. Mash with a potato masher (or use an electric mixer) until smooth. Add milk as needed to create a creamy texture, you may not need any or all of the milk.
- Fold in chives, bacon, and ¾ cup cheddar cheese.
- Fill each skin with the mashed potato mixture and top with the remaining cheese.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes* or until heated through and cheese is melted.
Notes
- Potatoes can also be baked in the air fryer or microwave.
- Mash the potatoes while warm for the best consistency. Sour cream and butter may add just enough moisture; check the potatoes before adding extra liquid.
- A hand mixer can make fluffy whipped potatoes, but overmixing will can make them gummy, so mix just until fluffy.
- Be sure to leave at least 1/8 to 1/4″ of a shell, so the skins don’t break or crack.
- I often bake one extra potato in case one of the skins breaks. If you have extra potatoes, the shells can be stuffed with extra filling.
- To make filling easy, place the prepared filling in a freezer bag and snip off the corner. Squeeze it into the shells.
- Once your potato skins are stuffed, they can be frozen or refrigerated. To bake frozen potatoes, add an extra 15-20 minutes to the baking time.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Side Dish
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Hello
Please advise can the twice baked potato recipes be served cold?
Hi Sarita, they can be served cold but I find them best enjoyed warm.
These look like fun! I would like to add a bit of cream cheese to the mix….how much would you suggest? and do I need to replace anything for it?
Cream cheese is delicious in baked potatoes to add some richness! I’ve added 1/4 cup of spreadable cream cheese so I would start there. If you try it I would love to hear how it turns out Cynthia!
Absolutely out of this world! I only had small potatoes and there was only two of us so I wasn’t sure. I halved the recipe and then didn’t get hardly any potatoes. It didn’t matter….I put what potatoes I could scrape out into the mixture and “smashed” them (I use the old hand held masher). I ended up with much more filling than I had potato skins to fill so I got a casserole dish out – put the skins in the bottom and basically poured the mix over everything. We thought we’d died and gone to heaven. Thanks so much for the recipe and the reviews. Otherwise, I would’ve never tried it. The only problem for me was trying to figure out the correct measurements for two.
These were awesome! I prepared them in the Air Fryer. Absolutely perfect. The skin didn’t tear while I dug out the potato and the potato was fluffy and soft.
OMG, the garlic and herb cream cheese was AWESOME in this recipe! It was sooooo good! Thanks for sharing :)
You are so very welcome Christina! So happy to hear that you loved these twice baked potatoes so much! They are a favorite of mine for sure.
I want to make these twice baked potatoes and freeze them for 30 men for our church’s men’s retreat. Do they need to be completely cooled before freezing? If so, do I cool them on my counter or do they need to be refrigerated to cool prior to freezing?
Thanks
Hi Lisa, yes they should be completely cooled before freezing. I would let them cool to room temperature on the counter then you can pop them into the fridge or freezer.
When I baked the potatoes, it took more than one hour. Maybe my potatoes were too big Other than that, everything was so easy and the ingredients are simple!
Hi Mary, we use small russet potatoes for this recipe. If using larger potatoes, it will definitely take longer to fully cook them.
I made the twice baked potato, it was excellent Thank you
When I use my mix master to fluff the insides of Twice Baked Potatoes, the mixture rides up the beaters toward the top. How can I change that outcome?
Sticky mixtures tend to do that. You can try beating at a lower speed or try using a hand mixer (as recommended) to have better control of that and the ability to lift the beaters up when it starts to rise and encourage it to go back down.
Hi Holly, love your recipes! Twice baked potatoes you say I can make ahead what would the temp be, and for how long and should I take them out of refrig. Get to room temp. Before baking
patsy
If frozen, we recommend defrosting before cooking but if just removed from the fridge I would let them sit out while the oven preheats to allow them to warm up slightly before popping in the oven.
Cooking times were off by over 30 min.
Did you use small potatoes? Perhaps your potatoes were larger so needed additional cooking time. We do find that most baked potatoes are ready within an hour or so. Hope you enjoyed them as much as we do Jimmy!
I have not tried this recipe, but I can tell I am really going to like them. How long will they last in the freezer.
Hi Gail, They should last in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Morning Holly! These potatoes look dee-licious. I’m not very good with “salt to taste”. Could you suggest how much salt to use? Thanks, Ally in NJ
I would start with a 1/4 teaspoon then taste the mixture before adding more. It’s easy to add more but hard to take it away!
Details on cooking them in air fryer please?
Hi Roxanne, I would follow this air fryer recipe to bake the potatoes in the air fryer.