Loaded Baked Potato Skillet

Loaded Baked Potato Skillet is a bit of a copycat recipe. We had something similar at a local restaurant and knew we had to recreate it at home. It’s such a wonderful side dish or can be used as a full meal if you want to fill up on only potatoes, which is entirely what we did 😊 The skillet is quite literally loaded with tender potatoes that are topped with a cheese sauce, shredded cheese (because you can’t have enough cheese), crumbled bacon, sour cream, and chives. It’s a typical loaded potato but pre-chopped, cooked in a skillet, and large enough to share. I highly suggest you give it a try!

The recipe can be found here.

Start by preheating the oven to 400 degrees F. Slice the butter into thin pieces and place half in the bottom of a 9-inch cast iron skillet (reserve the other half of the butter). Add the chopped potatoes and season liberally with salt and pepper. Add the other half of the sliced butter over the top of the potatoes. Cover with foil and bake for 40-50 minutes or until cooked through and easily pierced with a fork. Stir the potatoes after about 30 minutes to ensure they are not sticking to the skillet. If you want crispy potatoes on top, remove the foil for the last 20 minutes of baking to allow the tops to get crispy.

While the potatoes bake, cook the bacon according to package instructions. Add the bacon to a food processor and pulse until it resembles fine crumbs (it’s OK to have some larger pieces). Set the bacon aside.

Remove the foil (if you haven’t done so already) and top the potatoes with the cheese sauce. Spread over the top. I prefer to use store bought sauce, but you can make homemade if you prefer. Then sprinkle the shredded cheese over the top. Add as much or as little as you like. Return to the oven and baking until the cheese has melted (about 2-3 minutes).

Add the crumbled bacon and spread over the top. Add a large dollop of sour cream or Top the Tater to the center and garnish with fresh chopped chives.