Potato skins can be a bit labor intensive if you do them all in one go, but I’ve learned that you can cut your prep time in half and kill two birds with one stone if you bake your potatoes ahead of time. Bake your potatoes a few days ahead and use the insides to make mashed potatoes for dinner, and then save the hollowed out skins to make these tasty treats. Regular potato skins are great too, simple cheese and bacon, but for a more substantial and flavorful treat add some buffalo chicken and blue cheese. These are especially good for football Sundays and celebrating the super bowl!
Buffalo Chicken Potato Skins
Ingredients
- 2 Large white potatoes or 4 small
- 6 oz of cooked chicken breast shredded
- 4 to 5 Slices of cooked bacon cut into small pieces
- 1 Cup of shredded cheddar cheese separated
- ¼ Cup blue cheese crumbles
- 2 Tablespoons blue cheese dressing
- ½ Cup frank’s red hot hot sauce
- Sour cream and chives for garnish
Instructions
- If you haven’t baked your potatoes ahead of time, you can bake them in your oven at 350 degrees of 40 to 60 minutes, depending on size. They should be soft to the touch when done. Don’t forget to poke a few holes in them to allow some moisture to release. Once they are cool, cut them in half lengthwise and hollow out each half.
- To make the potato skins pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with foil
- Line the potato halves on the baking sheet and lightly spray with olive oil or baking spray
- Place in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes to allow them to get just slightly crisp
- While the skins are crisping, prepare the filling
- In a medium bowl, combine the shredded chicken, bacon bits, blue cheese crumbles, hot sauce, blue cheese dressing and ½ of the 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese
- Mix all the ingredients to combine
- Once the skins ar ready split the filling evenly between them and return to the oven for 15-20 minutes until warmed through
- Remove the skins from the oven and distribute the remaining ½ cup of cheese evenly across and return to the oven for an additional 5 to 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted and just bubbling
- When finished, remove the skins from the oven and top with sour cream and scallions for serving!
