Twice Baked Potatoes with Cheddar Cheese and Bacon Recipe

I enjoy cooking, but during the week I need simple meals that I can prepare quickly! Now that my kids are teenagers it seems like there is always an evening activity planned – basketball, Scouts, ceramics, or even a part time job.  One of my favorite ways to simplify week night cooking is to make things that can be prepared ahead of time, and just popped in the oven to heat up at dinner.  This lets me do my meal preparation when I have time, and not during the busy dinner hour.

One of my favorite make ahead dishes is Twice Baked Potatoes. They are easy to prepare ahead of time, and seem much fancier than a regular baked potato.

To make this easy side dish you simply need potatoes, Cheddar cheese, bacon, sour cream and some butter.  I made these using Land O Lakes® Butter with Canola Oil, which is perfect for this dish. It is a soft, spreadable butter, which is made with three simple ingredients – sweet cream, canola oil and salt.  It is much easier to use in this recipe than a stick of butter, since it is easy to scoop and doesn’t have to be softened or cut into small pieces.

The twice baked potatoes start with baking some potatoes. After they have cooled down a little I cut them in half, and scoop out all the filling.  Then I mash the potatoes up with a spoon.  I find if I use the mixer they get too mushy, so I just do it by hand, because I don’t care if there are a few lumps!

Next I mix in the sour cream, butter and a little bit of cheddar cheese.  Then the filling gets scooped back into the potatoes, and topped with lots of cheddar cheese and some bacon bits.

It is quick to prepare, and yet it seems like a fancy side dish, at least to my family!

Twice Baked Potatoes with Cheddar Cheese and Bacon Recipe

click here for printable recipe

Ingredients:

• 2 baking potatoes
• 2 T sour cream
• 1/2 c. cheddar cheese
• 1 T. Land O Lakes® Butter with Canola Oil
• 2 slices of bacon, cooked

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 and then bake the potatoes for about an hour, or until done.
2. Let the potatoes cool for about 15 minutes.
3. Cut the potatoes in half and scoop out the insides.  Mash the potatoes in a bowl.
4. Stir in the sour cream, 1/4 of cheese and the butter.  Mix until well blended.
5. Spoon the filling back into the potato shells.  Top with the remaining cheese and bacon bits.
6. Refrigerate until ready to serve.  When it is dinner time bake the potatoes at 350 for 20-25 minutes and serve.

Land O Lakes® Butter with Canola Oil is perfect for using on bread too, since it is ready to spread right out of the refrigerator.  It has a great buttery taste no artificial ingredients, so I feel great about serving it to my family.  And of course Land O’Lakes has been a trusted name in dairy for more than 90 years.

Disclosure: The author was compensated by Land O’Lakes for this post. All opinions are my own.