The Cozy Cookbook is here! These crispy baked Potato Skins are easy to make with cheddar cheese, bacon, green onions, and sour cream. The skins themselves are brushed with bacon drippings and sprinkled with kosher salt for the ultimate restaurant quality appetizer or snack idea!
Be sure to try my homemade onion rings next!
Potato Skins
If I’ve learned anything from making my Baked Potato Slices recipe, it’s that brushing the surface of potatoes with bacon drippings is the key to restaurant-quality flavor. So we’ll definitely be doing that in this recipe.
After brushing the skins with bacon drippings, we’ll sprinkle kosher salt over the surface of the skins and bake them (twice!) to make them extra flavorful and crispy before we fill them with bacon and cheese!
Finally, we’ll sprinkle them with green onions and serve them with sour cream. There truly is nothing better.
BONUS: You can prepare these ahead of time and leftovers keep well in the fridge or freezer. Check out the post for more info on that. Let’s get to it!
Ingredients
See bottom of post for the recipe card with ingredient quantities and full instructions.
- Russet Potatoes- mine were exactly .36 lbs, small is good.
- Thick Cut Bacon
- Kosher Salt
- Cheddar Cheese- see pro tips below for my brand of choice
- Green Onions
- Sour Cream, for serving
- Butter, optional
How to Make Them
Scrub the potatoes clean and pat completely dry.
Preheat oven to 400°. Pierce each potato twice with a fork and place on a lightly greased baking sheet. Bake for 1 hour.
Meanwhile, fry the bacon slowly over low heat until crispy on each side. Set the bacon aside and reserve the grease.
Slice each cooked potato in half and use a paring knife to cut a rim around the edge. Use a spoon to scoop out the middle, leaving about 1/3 inch of potato on top of the skins. (Reserve the excess filling for making Baked Potato Soup!)
Use the back of a spoon to smooth the potato layer over the skin. If desired, melt a small amount of butter over the top to make it creamier.
Place the potatoes back on the baking sheet, skin-side-up. Brush the skins with bacon drippings and sprinkle with kosher salt. Bake for 10 minutes.
Flip the potatoes over. Bake skin-side-down for 10 more minutes.
Crumble the bacon into fine pieces. Top the potatoes with the shredded cheddar and bacon.
Bake for 5 more minutes, until the cheese is melted.
Sprinkle with diced green onions and serve with sour cream.
Rubbing Oil on Potatoes Before Baking
- The skins of these potatoes will end up crispier if you omit the oil during the 1 hour baking time.
- After this point, we’ll brush bacon drippings and sprinkle kosher salt over the outside of the potato which will then add a lot of delicious flavor to them.
Make-Ahead Method
- To make these ahead of time, bake the potatoes for 1 hour at 400°. Slice them in half and scoop out the middle.
- Let them cool and store them in an airtight container for up to 2 days.
- You can also cook the bacon and shred the cheese. Reserve the drippings and microwave them when ready to use.
- When ready to serve: Brush the skins with bacon drippings and sprinkle the skin side with kosher salt. Bake for 10 minutes on each side, then fill with cheese and bacon. Bake for 5 more minutes, or until the cheese is melted.
Pro Tips
- Russet potatoes that are small in size are ideal for handling, serving, and dipping.
- Shred the cheese from a block for best results, it melts and tastes better than bagged shredded cheese.
- Cracker Barrel Extra Sharp Yellow Cheddar is my brand of choice.
- If you scoop out too much and rip the skin, take some of the scooped out potato and press it back into place.
- These are easy to reheat in a 325° oven for about 15 minutes.
What to Add to Potato Skins
Aside from the classic bacon and cheese combo, try these additional fillings and make any combination you like!
- Caramelized Onions and Gruyere Cheese
- Diced or shredded Ham and Gouda Cheese
- BBQ Chicken or Pulled Pork
Storage
Store in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months. Potato skins freeze well!
Try These Next!
-
- Jalapeño Poppers
-
- Onion Rings
-
- Fried Chicken Tenders
-
- Perfect Fried Pickles
-
- Pizza Dip
-
- Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms
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Tried This Recipe?
Leave a review, I love hearing your feedback! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Be sure to try my Twice Baked Potato Casserole, Homemade French Fries, and Baked Potato Wedges next! (I love potato recipes. It’s a problem.)
Potato Skins
Ingredients
- 7 small Russet potatoes, see notes for size recommendation
- 5 strips bacon, thick-cut
- 2 teaspoons Kosher salt
- 1 Tablespoon butter, optional
- 1.75 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
- 2 green onions, diced
- 1/2 cup sour cream, for serving
Instructions
- Scrub the potatoes clean and pat completely dry.
- Preheat oven to 400°. Pierce each potato twice with a fork and place on a lightly greased baking sheet. Bake for 1 hour.
- Meanwhile, fry the bacon slowly over low heat until crispy on each side. Set the bacon aside and reserve the grease.
- Slice each cooked potato in half and use a paring knife to cut a rim around the edge. Use a spoon to scoop out the middle, leaving about 1/3 inch of potato on top of the skins. (Reserve the excess filling for making Baked Potato Soup!)
- Use the back of a spoon to smooth the potato layer over the skin. If desired, melt a small amount of butter over the top to make it creamier.
- Place the potatoes back on the baking sheet, skin-side-up. Brush the skins with bacon drippings and sprinkle with kosher salt. Bake for 10 minutes.
- Flip the potatoes over. Bake skin-side-down for 10 more minutes.
- Crumble the bacon into fine pieces. Top the potatoes with the shredded cheddar and bacon.
- Bake for 5 more minutes, until the cheese is melted.
- Sprinkle with diced green onions and serve with sour cream.
Notes
Pro Tips
- My ideal size for the potatoes I use for these are just over 1/3 lb. (.36 lbs. each to be exact.)
- Shred the cheese from a block for best results, it melts and tastes better than bagged shredded cheese.
- Cracker Barrel Extra Sharp Yellow Cheddar is my brand of choice.
- If you scoop out too much and rip the skin, take some of the scooped out potato and press it back into place.
- These are easy to reheat in a 325° oven for about 15 minutes.
Storage
- Store in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
We made these today & they were absolutely delicious!! My husband couldn’t believe how easy they were to make. Loved the brushing of bacon grease on the skin! We love your recipes!!
Thanks so much for your review Mary Jo! These are always such a hit with my husband and his football watching friends. I’m so happy your husband liked them! Thanks so much for the great review❤️
FANTASTIC!!! I’ve never made potato skins before even though my hubby LOVES them! Surprised him with these tonight. I cut the total baking time to 43 minutes by using my Ninja Foodi on the air crisper setting. Scoring the potato around the edge is brilliant and made scooping out the potato so easy! I only had regular cut maple bacon but no complaints on that. My potato skins turned out just like the recipe picture. Every recipe I’ve ever made from you, Stephanie, has been a “keeper”!!
Wahooo! I’m so happy these were a hit Jackie, thanks so much for taking the time to leave a review!💗
Can you do any of the steps in an air fryer?
Hi Laurie, this would be a good contender for the air fryer but I don’t have tested instructions outlined. ❤️
Yum a great recipe, I do this only I using the potatoe core and mash them with sour cream,
grated, cheese butter, and option milk and butter, mashed together, and restuff the potatoe and topped with grated cheese and bacon option a dash of paprika, and re bake. Dan
That sounds delicious Dan! Happy to hear you’re enjoying these. It’s probably one of my most requested appetizers whenever my husband and his friends are watching the game. Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a review!
We made these for Sunday night football to go along with our chicken wings WHAT A HIT what aTREAT
I love using your recipes too broaden my cooking an make family favourites they ABSOLUTELY LOVE
I’m so happy to hear they were a hit!😃 We make these on so many game nights, especially when my husbands friends are over. They always go fast. Thanks so much for taking the time to comment!
These potato skins are amazing I’m only 11 years old and your recipes are so good when I grow up I want to have a cooking vlog
Hi Hayden!! WOW! I am so impressed that you have this dream and direction at 11 years old, you can do it! I’m excited for your journey! Thank you so much for this review, I’m so glad that you’re enjoying my recipes- keep on cooking! 🙂 -Stephanie
These potato skins are amazing! I made them on New Years when my friends and I were watching the bowl games. We all devoured them. I love the tip to brush them with bacon grease. Thanks so much for the recipe!
Thanks so much Troy, I’m happy to hear they were a hit! This is my husbands go to when his football friends come over! They usually don’t last long!😋