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Most people come to a cookout for hamburgers, steak, grilled chicken–you know–things that are cooked on the grill. Often the side dishes are just an afterthought. Some consider the sides to just be filler or an accompaniment to the meat. If you want a side dish that is just as popular as the meat, we have just the recipe for you.
Related: 32 Different Types of Potatoes | How to Store Potatoes (6 Easy Ways) | What Goes with Potatoes (Boiled / Mashed / Sweet / Baked) | Taco Stuffed Baked Potatoes Recipe | Bacon Cheesy Potatoes Recipe | My Awesome Twice-Baked Potatoes Recipe | Herb Roasted Parmesan Potatoes Recipe
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Taco Stuffed Baked Potatoes Recipe
Shake up Taco Tuesday this week by creating a new version of the taco. Our recipe for Taco Stuffed Baked Potatoes takes this family favorite and gives it a new twist. If your family still loves tacos, but you’re getting tired of the same old thing, try this recipe today.
Video Version
Equipment
- Vegetable Brush
- Fork
- Large Frying Pan
- Spatula
- Potholders
Ingredients
- 6 pcs Potatoes
- 1 pound Ground Beef
- 1 teaspoon Minced Garlic
- 1 tbsp Chili Powder
- ¼ teaspoon Garlic Powder
- ¼ teaspoon Onion Poawder
- ½ teaspoon Paprika
- 1½ teaspoons Cumin
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- ½ cup Water
- 1 cup salsa
- Salt and Pepper
- Taco Toppings such as sour cream, cheese, lettuce, tomato, green onions, and guacamole
Instructions
- Scrub the potatoes with a soft vegetable brush under cool running water. Poke the potatoes all over with a fork. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and put the potatoes in the center of the oven.
- Bake the potatoes for 60 to 75 minutes or until they are slightly soft when squeezed, and you can easily poke them with a fork.
- About 20 minutes before the baking time is over, heat a large frying pan over medium heat on the stovetop.
- Put the ground beef in the pan and cook it, chopping it with a spatula until it is fully cooked with no pink remaining. Add the garlic and cook just a minute more until the garlic is lightly browned.
- Drain any excess grease from the skillet and discard it. Season the meat with salt and pepper, stirring to combine.
- To the ground beef, add the paprika, onion powder, cumin, garlic powder, chili powder, and salt. Stir in the water and the salsa. Bring the taco meat to a simmer over medium heat. Put a lid on the pan and simmer the mixture for about 15 minutes to reduce the liquid. If there is still excessive liquid in the pan, remove the lid and continue to simmer until the meat is in a thick sauce.
- When the potatoes are finished, remove them from the oven and let them cool for about five minutes. Gently, with a knife, slice the potatoes open lengthwise. Using potholders, squish the ends of the potatoes to open them. Use care so that the potatoes will not break in half completely.
- Salt and pepper each potato and scoop about a tablespoon of sour cream into each potato. Use a fork to slightly stir and mash the potato without breaking the skins of the baked potato shell.
- Spoon the taco meat into each potato, evenly dividing the meat among the six potatoes. Top the meat with shredded cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, and any other taco toppings that you prefer.Serve the potatoes immediately.
Notes
So how does one tell the difference between real Mexican food and Tex Mex?
First, one big tell of Tex Mex food is the cheese that tops the recipe. Both Mexican food and Tex Mex recipes feature cheese very frequently in their dishes, but Tex Mex recipes generally use yellow cheeses like cheddar cheese. When authentic Mexican dishes use cheese, however, the cheese is only white cheese.
The second way to recognize the difference between Tex Mex and Mexican food is to consider the spices used to flavor the meal. Tex Mex frequently uses cumin, but Mexican food generally uses chili peppers, oregano, and cilantro, along with cacao and epazote.
Another way of telling the difference between Tex Mex and Mexican food is to check out the tacos. Tex Mex tacos feature either a flour tortilla or hard corn shell that has seasoned ground beef, cheeses, lettuces, and tomatoes in the shell as a filling. Mexican tacos, however, are always made with flat corn tortillas. The filling generally features slow-cooked, shredded beef or pork (not ground beef) that has been marinated before cooking. These tacos have limes, onions, and cilantro for flavoring.
Our recipe for Taco Stuffed Baked Potatoes would definitely be considered a Tex Mex recipe, rather than an “authentic” Mexican recipe, even though most people probably use the terms interchangeably. Whatever way that you want to label this recipe, the bottom line is that it is tasty, filling, and something that the whole family will enjoy. If you want to create a new twist on taco night, this is a quick, easy, and appealing way to do so.
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Twice-Baked Potatoes Recipe
This recipe for twice baked potatoes is a favorite for family cookouts. Even though it is not cooked on the grill, don’t be surprised if the entire pan is cleaned out the first time your guests go through the line. This recipe combines everyone’s favorite taste sensations: fluffy baked potatoes, smooth sour cream, buttery richness, melted cheesiness, and the savory flavors of bacon, chives, and other toppings.
Equipment
- Scrub Brush
- Baking Pan
- Spoon
- Mixing bowl
- Casserole Dish
Ingredients
- 8 pcs Medium to Large-Sized Russet Potatoes
- 1 stick Butter
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1 cup Sour Cream
- 2 cups Shredded Cheese whatever variety you prefer, but cheddar is a favorite; pepper jack gives the potatoes a spicy twist
- Toppings for the Potatoes whatever you like–bacon bits, ham cubes, barbecue, chives, or green onions
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
- Scrub the potatoes with a scrub brush under running water. Using a fork, poke many holes in the skins of the potatoes.
- Don’t skip this step or you risk your potatoes exploding from the steam pressure that builds up while they’re baking.
- Bake the potatoes for about 60-90 minutes, just like you would for an ordinary baked potato.
- Remove the potatoes from the oven and let them cool for about 15 to 20 minutes so that you can handle them more easily.
- Using a dishtowel if they’re still a bit hot, cut a slit in the top of the potatoes and squish them to create an opening in the potato skin.
- Using a spoon, gently scoop most of the baked potato flesh into a large mixing bowl. Leave a bit of the flesh lining the potato skin to give the skin some support.
- The idea is to create six potato “shells” into which you will pack the reserved flesh and the other delicious ingredients.
- One nice thing about using two extra potatoes is that if one or two shells tear or are unusable, you’ll have a couple of back-ups.
- Place the shells into a lightly greased baking pan.
- When you’ve scooped out all of the flesh and placed the shells in the baking pan, you can create the potato filling.
- Using a potato masher, mash the potatoes into a chunky pulp. You want the texture to be slightly chunky, not smooth like mashed potatoes.
- Stir in half the cheese, the sour cream, the salt, and the butter.
- Using a large spoon, scoop up a generous dollop of the potato mixture and gently pack it into a potato shell.
- Repeat with all of the remaining shells until there is no potato mixture remaining.
- Top the potatoes with the remainder of the cheese.
- Add your optional toppings, such as ham, bacon, or chives.
- If you’re serving the potatoes soon, bake them in the oven at 375 degrees for about 20-25 minutes or until the cheese is melted and bubbly.
- If you are preparing the potatoes for the future, cover the pan with aluminum foil and store them in the fridge for up to two days.
- When you’re ready to bake, put them into a preheated oven for about 30-35 minutes. Since you’ll be starting with cold potatoes, it will take a bit longer for them to bake.
Notes
In addition to being a favorite in the flavor department, twice-baked potatoes are popular with cooks too because they can be made up to two days before your cookout. Instead of scrambling at the last minute to assemble favorite side dishes, these potatoes can be made ahead of time, stored in the pan in the fridge covered with foil, and then popped right from the fridge into the oven the day of the cookout.
If you choose to make them ahead of time, you won’t have to worry about washing piles of dirty dishes from your prep work, and you can use the last few minutes before your guests arrive to relax and make everything in your home just perfect for them.
One thing that is great about twice-baked potatoes is that you can customize this recipe to reflect your own personal taste. Or you can create several versions of the same recipe so that each of your guests can have the potatoes the way that they like best. You can top the potatoes with different varieties of cheese, ham, bacon, chives, and even mushrooms. Don’t forget to make a basic version for the kids or any adults who have food sensitivities or dietary preferences.
Another great thing about this recipe is that it is easily scaled up or down to suit the size of the crowd that you expect. This recipe uses eight potatoes, but only makes six servings. This ensures that the potatoes shells are overflowing with goodness. If you need to serve a larger crowd, simply double or even triple the recipe.
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