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.
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!
- 2 baking potatoes
- 2 Tablespoon sour cream
- 1/2 cup cheddar cheese
- 1 Tablespoon butter
- 2 slices bacon cooked
-
Preheat the oven to 350 and then bake the potatoes for about an hour, or until done.
-
Let the potatoes cool for about 15 minutes.
-
Cut the potatoes in half and scoop out the insides. Mash the potatoes in a bowl.
-
Stir in the sour cream, 1/4 of cheese and the butter. Mix until well blended.
-
Spoon the filling back into the potato shells. Top with the remaining cheese and bacon bits.
-
Refrigerate until ready to serve. When it is dinner time bake the potatoes at 350 for 20-25 minutes and serve.
Nutrition facts are estimates.
Disclosure: The author was compensated by Land O Lakes for this post. All opinions are my own.
Those look GREAT! And a lot easier than I would have imagined.
This looks delicious, and I agree it’s a great meal for a busy week night!
Oh I love twice baked potatoes. These look really good.
Yummy! I love twice baked potatoes with salad as a meal!
I totally want this and it’s only 10am here! LOL
Gonna have to try these, they sound yummy!
Mmmm, they look wonderful!!
yum yum yum. We love twice baked potatoes. And we have a couple different Land o Lakes spreadable butter tubs in our fridge right now. I think this flavor is one of them
My fiancee would love these!
Oh wow those look so good. I love twice baked potatoes.
These are making me hungry!
I love twiced baked potatoes! They look so yummy with the added bacon!!
I know my husband would LOVE these!
These look very delicious! The family would love them.
This looks really good!