Love potatoes and tacos? Then you will love this recipe for Taco Stuffed Potato Skins! Double the recipe so that you’ll have plenty to freeze for later.
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Potato skins are one of the most popular appetizers and tacos are one of the most popular dinners around. So, combining the two creates something amazing!
If your family loves both of these things just like mine does, I highly recommend that you make Taco Stuffed Potato Skins ASAP. Trust me when I say that you won’t regret it.
How do I make Taco Stuffed Potato Skins?
Potato skins by their very nature are a little bit more time-intensive than other appetizer options, but they’re definitely worth a little extra effort.
The first step to making Taco Stuffed Potato Skins is baking the potatoes until they’re soft. This takes about 45 – 60 minutes, depending on the size of your potatoes.
Next, the potatoes will need to cool enough so that you can handle them easily. I usually will toss them in the fridge for an hour or so.
Since the baking and cooling of the potatoes is what takes the longest, it’s often easier to do this the day before or in the morning.
After the potatoes have cooled, the next step is to cut them in half and scoop out the insides. It is very important that you leave enough potatoes in the skins to leave a solid base. Otherwise they will fall apart when you eat them.
Once ready, you’ll brush the skins with some oil, sprinkle generously with salt and bake for 15-20 minutes, until they start to crisp.
While the skins bake, prepare the taco filling.
Scoop the filling into the warm skins, cover with sprinkled cheese and then return to the oven for 5 minutes to melt the cheese.
Can I make this recipe ahead of time?
You absolutely can Taco Stuffed Potato Skins ahead of time, and I highly recommend that you do.
There are actually multiple ways that you can make this recipe ahead of time. That ends up making this a convenient recipe, even with the fact that it does require more work.
Option #1 – Make the potatoes ahead of time. You can bake them up to 3 days ahead of time before you cut and prep the skins.
Option #2 – Make and prep the potatoes and filling ahead of time. When you’re ready to make them, bake the skins, fill with the taco filling, cover with cheese and then bake another 15 minutes, until the filling is warm and the cheese is melted.
Option #3 – Make the potato skins up through the point bake the skins. Make the taco filling but let it cool before stuffing the potatoes. Set the baked skins on a cookie sheet, scoop the cooled taco filling into the skins and cover with shredded cheese. Place in the freezer to flash freeze for about an hour, then transfer frozen potato skins to plastic freezer bags.
To reheat frozen potato skins, bake at 425 degrees for about 15 minutes, until fully heated.
If you’re going to freeze your taco stuffed potato skins, definitely consider doubling or tripling the recipe so that you can have plenty on hand for snacks, lunches, appetizers and dinners.
Customization and topping ideas
There are all kinds of things that you can switch up in this recipe to make it your own!
Here are some tried-and-tested customization and topping ideas that your family is sure to love.
- Add a cup or two of kidney beans or black beans to the filling
- Add some corn to the filling
- If you like a little kick, stir some diced green chilies into the filling
- Dice some onion and green pepper and cook with the ground beef
- Swap the ground beef for ground turkey
- Top with any of the following options: sour cream, salsa, guacamole, queso sauce, shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, and/or fresh cilantro
Once you get the general idea mastered, you can have so much fun with these potato skins! Experiment with different ideas based on your family’s preferences.
Taco Stuffed Potato Skins
Ingredients
- 4 Large Russet potatoes or 8 medium-large Yukon gold potatoes
- 2 tablespoons Oil
- Salt
- 1/2 – 1 pound Ground beef
- 1 tablespoon Chili powder
- 1/2 tablespoon Cumin
- 1/2 tablespoon Salt
- 1/2 cup Salsa or picante sauce
- 1 cup Shredded cheese
Instructions
- Scrub potatoes and pierce a few times with a fork. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 45-60 minutes, until soft to the touch. Chill in the refrigerator until cool enough to handle, typically at least 2 hours.
- Cut the potatoes in half lengthwise. Scoop out the middle of each potato half and set aside for another use. (Make sure you leave a nice base of potato in each skin or else they will fall apart while eating.)
- Lightly brush all sides of the potato skins, sprinkle liberally with salt and place on a cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes, until golden brown and crisp around the edges.
- While the potato skins crisp, brown ground beef. Drain. Stir in chili powder, cumin, salt and salsa or picante sauce. Cook for 5 minutes, until thickened.
- Scoop some of the ground beef filling into each potato skin and top each with some cheese. Return to the oven for 5 minutes, until cheese is melted.
Notes
- Prep the potatoes, and even the filling, up to 3 days in advance and you’ll be able to get dinner on the table quickly.
- Make sure you allow enough time for the potatoes too cool so that you do not burn yourself.
- Add beans, corn, onions, and/or green pepper to the filling for a heartier potato skin.
- Top with all of your favorite taco toppings when serving.
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