Stuffed Jacket Potatoes

Stuffed jacket potatoes are a tasty and filling side dish or even a main course. With a filling of crème fraiche, cooked potato, bacon, cheese and chives, they are hearty and delicious, all year round.

A bit like a fuller version of loaded potato skins, twice baked potatoes are perfect with grilled meats and barbecues. Of course, they are equally delicious as a starter or main course with salad.

So simple to make and easy to vary the ingredients too. There are so many variations to try.

Which ones are your favourite?

Bon appétit!   

Twice baked potatoes, stuffed jacket potatoes or whatever you want to call them, have been around for years, but often get forgotten, despite being so delicious!They are great for filling family meals that the kids will love.

While you can cook them from scratch in the oven, this version has an optional shortcut, to cut down the initial cooking time.

The ingredients are simple ones, that you probably already have to hand as fridge staples.

Of course, you can vary the ingredients too, to make use of what you have and make this a great frugal dish to use up those vegetables that are sitting in the fridge.

Why you will love this dish

• Filling and frugal family meal
• Easy to prepare and cook
• Can be eaten as a starter, side dish or main course
• Simple to swap the ingredients to your favourites or food that needs to be used up

Jump to:

• Why you will love this dish
• 🥘 Ingredients
• 🍽 Equipment
• 🔪 Instructions
• ⏲️ Baking Time
• 💭 Top tip
• 💭 Top tip
• 🥗 Serve with
• Substitutions
• 📖 Variations
• Storage
• FAQs
• More potato dishes to try
• 📋 Recipe
• Food Safety
• 💬 Comments

🥘 Ingredients

See recipe card for quantities.

• Potatoes - large baking potatoes of any variety.
• Oil - vegetable, sunflower or olive oil to give the potatoes a crispy skin.
• Onion - brown or yellow all purpose onions.
• Garlic - garlic cloves for the freshest flavour.
• Crème fraiche - makes the filling light and creamy.
• Bacon - smoked bacon lardons or bacon for the best flavour.
• Cheese - cheddar cheese.
• Chives - fresh chives, not dried.
• Seasoning - flaked sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

🍽 Equipment

• Sharp knife
• Bowl
• Frying pan
• Wooden spoon
• Oven tray

🔪 Instructions

Scrub the potatoes and prick them with a fork about all over.

To save time, I prefer to start bake potatoes in the microwave.

Place them on a plate lined with kitchen paper and cook on full power for about 7 minutes.

Turn the potatoes over carefully and cook for another 7 minutes. Timings will vary.

Use a fork to check that the potatoes are cooked through.

⏲️ Baking Time

Preheat heat the oven to 200 C / 400 F / 180 FAN / Gas 6.

Brush the potatoes with the oil and put them directly onto an oven rack and bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown.

Remove them from the oven and leave to cool enough to handle.

Slice the potatoes in half and place them on a baking tray.

Scrape out most of the potato flesh, leaving an even layer, and place in a large bowl.

💭 Top tip

• Use a teaspoon to remove the potato for ease. For even better results, use a serrated grapefruit spoon if you have one.

Make the filling for the potatoes.

Peel the onions and garlic and finely chop.

Heat the frying pan over a medium heat and add the bacon and onions. Cook for 2 or 3 minutes until the onions are translucent.

Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute to release the flavour then remove from the heat.

💭 Top tip

• There should be enough fat released, as the bacon cooks, to fry the onions. Add a teaspoon of extra oil to the pan if you are using very lean bacon.

Grate the cheese and chop the chives, retaining enough for the topping.

Mash the potato in the bowl with a fork and add the prepared ingredients, along with the crème fraiche.

Mix together well.

Fill the halves with the mixture.

Top with the remaining cheese and chives.

Bake for another 15 minutes until golden.

🥗 Serve with

If you are serving the stuffed jacket potatoes as a side dish, they go well with casual dishes, such as grilled meats. Take a look at the beef, pork and chicken recipes for inspiration.

• Minted Lamb Burgers
• Turkey and Ham Pie
• Cod Cheeks in Panko
• Poor Man's Lobster
• Pinchos de Pollo
• Lincolnshire Sausage Skewers
• Picanha Beef
• Lemon Garlic Chicken Bake
• Venison Sausage Plait
• Slow Roast Pork Shanks

Substitutions

• Bacon lardons - use cooked ham instead and add with the cold ingredients.
• Crème fraiche - use yogurt, mayonnaise, sour cream or just a splash of milk.
• Onions - chopped, uncooked spring onions.

📖 Variations

• Vegetarian - skip the bacon and replace with chopped and cooked peppers, mushrooms, courgettes or aubergines.
• Meat feast - use chopped chorizo, leftover choopped cooked sausages, leftover chicken, prawns or salmon.
• Mini stuffed baked potatoes - use smaller potatoes and serve as party finger foods in small potatoes.

Storage

• Refrigerator - cover and store up to 3 days in the refrigerator.
• Freezer - wrap individually and store for up to 3 months.
• To reheat - Reheat in the oven for 20 minutes.

FAQs

More potato dishes to try

There are so many side dishes you may like to try, but here are some of my potato favourites.

• Potatoes Parisienne
• Sarladaise Potatoes
• Individual Scalloped Potatoes
• Duchess Potatoes
• Tartiflette
• Crispy Smashed Potatoes
• Gratin Dauphinoise
• Easy Roast Potatoes
• Pan Haggerty

📋 Recipe

Food Safety

• Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat.
• Wash hands after touching raw meat.
• Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods.
• Never leave cooking food unattended.
• Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds.
• Always have good ventilation when using gas.

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