About
Loaded Baked Potatoes are the rockstar cousins of regular straight-laced baked potatoes: colorful, flavorful, and rebellious! Filled with salty bacon bits, bright peppers, broccoli, and tangy sour cream, these Loaded Baked Potatoes are literally a mix of all the best flavors for a truly appetizing appetizer! You'll be dancing with all the tastes dancing on your tongue. Why would you even want a main course when you could just eat more of these?
Ingredients
- 6 medium russet potatoes
- 12 strips bacon, diced
- 1 pound broccoli florets
- 3/4 cup red bell pepper, diced
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper, to taste
- 4 cups cheddar cheese, grated
- 8 medium green onions, chopped
Directions
Step 1 -Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Step 2 -Pierce each potato with a paring knife and roast them in the oven until they are tender, about 1 hour, depending on the size of your potatoes.
Step 3 -Meanwhile, heat a sauté pan on the stove-top over medium heat and cook the bacon until crispy, about 7 minutes.
Step 4 -Drain the pan, reserving the bacon fat and setting the bacon aside.
Step 5 -Return the sauté pan to heat and add the reserved bacon fat.
Step 6 -Cook the broccoli and red pepper for 2 minutes. Add the water and allow the vegetables to cook until the water has evaporated. Remove the pan from the heat.
Step 7 -When the potatoes are done cooking, remove and allow to cool until you can handle them.
Step 8 -Cut them in half lengthways and with a spoon, scoop out the insides, leaving about 1/4 inch border on the skins.
Step 9 -Place the scooped-out potato in a bowl and mix with half the cooked bacon, broccoli, red pepper, sour cream, salt, pepper, and 2 cups of cheddar.
Step 10 -Divide the potato filling back into the potato skins evenly.
Step 11 -Return the stuffed potatoes to the oven and bake until heated through, or until an instant-read thermometer reads 165 degrees F in the center, about 10-12 minutes.
Step 12 -Remove and top with the remaining bacon, cheddar, and green onions.
