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    Home » Recipes » Appetizers & Snacks

    Loaded Potato Skins - 3 ways

    Published: Jan 11, 2019 · Updated: Jul 19, 2020 by Katie | Wheat by the Wayside · This post may contain affiliate links, through which I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.

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    a tray of loaded potato skins with cheese, sour cream, and ranch drizzle

    Quick and Easy Loaded Potato Skins made three ways!  Perfect for game day or a Super bowl party.  The secret to this easy appetizer is in the potato!

    a tray of loaded potato skins with cheese, sour cream, and ranch drizzle

    I've said it before... potatoes are my love language. I can give up gluten... not potatoes. These loaded potato skins would be great for your next game day party, especially alongside these awesome wings! I made them three ways; traditional cheddar & bacon, buffalo chicken style, and jalapeño popper. All of which were seriously good! Not to mention, this trio of loaded potato skins is brought to you by a sneaky little hack that makes these one of the quickest and easiest appetizers you'll ever make!

    The Secret Ingredient

    Potato skins are traditionally kind of a hassle to make! You've got to bake the potato, let it cool, scoop out the insides, bake it again, fill it with stuff, and then bake them again. I mean who has time for that?! Not me, that's for sure! That's why I've been using this semi-homemade trick! Enter:

    kroger naked potato skins with box, frozen

    Naked potato skins! You can find them in the freezer section at Kroger! I found these guys a while ago and it's been a potato skin frenzy in our house ever since. They are real potatoes, prepped, frozen, and ready to be loaded. All you have to do is pre-bake them, fill them, and bake again. It saves so much time and effort!

    Filling Ingredients for Loaded Potato Skins

    ingredients for the trio of potato skins, cheeses, bacon, green onion, peppers, and buffalo chicken

    So we have the potato part covered and I'm super pumped about that sneaky hack. When it comes to the filling, you can use whatever want! Stuff them with cheeses, bacon, pizza toppings... anything that sounds good! I made three versions:

    • Traditional: crumbled bacon, cheddar cheese, green onion & sour cream.
    • Buffalo: shredded buffalo chicken, Monterey Jack cheese, green onion and ranch dressing.
    • Jalapeño Popper: cream cheese, roasted & diced jalapeños, and cheddar cheese.

    For the buffalo chicken, I used the Instant Pot and followed what I did in this Buffalo Chicken Salad recipe. Here's the gist though:

    1. Put chicken breasts and buffalo wing sauce in the instant pot.
    2. Press Poultry/Manual button for 12-15 min.
    3. NPR & Shred the chicken.

    For the jalapeños you can roast and dice them yourself or buy them canned. To roast and dice the jalapeños yourself:

    1. Place 3 jalapeños on a baking sheet.
    2. Roast in a 425° oven for 10-15 min, rotating to char all sides.
    3. Place peppers in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let steam for 5 minutes.
    4. Scrape the skins off of the jalapeños, remove the seeds, and dice.

    Assembling the Loaded Potato Skins

    assembling the potato skins with cheeses and toppings
    1. Pre-bake the naked skins until crispy.
    2. Load with cheeses, chicken, jalapeños, and bacon as desired.
    3. Bake until cheeses are melted, bubbly, and warmed through.
    4. Top with remaining toppings: green onions and ranch dressing as desired.
    5. Serve immediately.

    All in all this appetizer comes together in under 30 minutes! I like keeping a box of these naked potato skins stashed in the freezer. When the need strikes, you've got all you need for a quick lunch or easy appetizer!

    jalapeno popper potato skins with cream cheese, cheddar cheese, and jalapeños.
    traditional loaded potato skins with bacon and cheddar

    Quick and Easy Loaded Potato Skins - 3 ways!

    Katie | Wheat by the Wayside.com
    Quick and Easy Loaded Potato Skins - Three ways are perfect for game day or a Super bowl party. The secret to this easy appetizer is in the potato! 
    5 from 1 vote
    Print Recipe Save Saved!
    Prep Time 10 mins
    Cook Time 20 mins
    Total Time 30 mins
    Course Appetizer
    Diet Gluten Free
    Servings 12 potato skins
    Calories 145 kcal
    Prevent your screen from going dark.

    Ingredients
      

    • 1 lb box naked potato skins, in freezer aisle

    Toppings:

    • 3 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
    • ⅓ cup cream cheese, Softened
    • 1 cup cheddar cheese
    • 1 cup Monterey Jack cheese
    • 4 oz roasted & diced jalapeños , canned
    • ½ cup shredded buffalo chicken
    • 1 small bunch green onions, sliced
    • ¼ cup ranch dressing
    • ¼ cup sour cream

    Instructions
     

    • Preheat oven to 425°F.  Arrange potato skins on a sheet pan, cut side up.  Bake for 10 min. 
    • Remove the potato skins from the oven.  Top ⅓ of the potatoes with cheddar cheese and bacon. Top the next ⅓ with about 1 Tablespoon of cream cheese, a sprinkle of cheddar cheese and diced jalapeños.  Top the last ⅓ with shredded buffalo chicken and Monterey Jack cheese.
    • Put the potato skins back in the oven and bake for 5-10 more minutes or until filling is hot, cheese is bubbly, the tops are light golden brown, and the potatoes look crispy.
    • Remove from the oven and put a dollop of sour cream on the cheddar bacon potatoes.  Drizzle the buffalo chicken skins with ranch.  Sprinkle green onion on the bacon and buffalo potato skins.
    • Serve immediately.

    Notes

    *There are about 12 naked skins in each 1 lb box.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 145kcal
    Tried this recipe?Leave a comment and star rating below!
    traditional loaded potato skins with bacon and cheddar

    More Gluten-free Appetizer and Snack Recipes

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    • Gluten-Free Cheese Curds - Culver's Copycat - Air Fried or Deep Fried
    • Best Homemade Gluten-free Cheez-It Crackers Copycat

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    1. Kathy

      January 12, 2019 at 8:37 am

      5 stars
      I didn’t know you could buy empty potato skins! What a great discovery and recipe! Thanks for posting this.

      Reply

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    Katie Olesen headshot.

    Hi, I'm Katie! I'm the blogger behind Wheat by the Wayside. I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease in 2018 and have been following a strict gluten-free diet ever since. The goal of WBTW is to share tried and tested, easy, and delicious gluten-free recipes to give you confidence in the kitchen! 

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