Crispy Potato Skins

Now I don’t hide the fact that I have a slightly unhealthy obsession with TGI Friday’s. It’s my happy place, I have to go there for every big event in life. I’ve spent every birthday in there since I was a kid, so I basically know the menu off by heart. Think cheesey, bacon topped crispy potato skins with the ultimate combo of American mustard, ketchup and sour cream dip. It sounds wrong, but it is so, so right. Watch my Youtube channel for all of my potato recipes!

For this recipe, you can make it completely your own. I’ve gone for bacon and mushrooms as my toppings, with cheddar and Red Leicester cheese, but you can use whatever you’ve got! 3 cheeses, chorizo, peppers, olives, the world is your oyster.

You’ll need:

  • Maris Piper (Yukon Gold in the US) potatoes – as many as you want,
  • Plenty of your choice of cheeses, grated (I’ve gone with a handful each of cheddar and Red Leicester). Don’t buy the pre-grated stuff as it won’t melt as well on your skins.
  • 1 punnet of mushrooms,
  • 3-4 rashers of smoked streaky bacon,
  • Small handful finely sliced chives,
  • 3 tbsp sour cream,
  • American mustard and ketchup,
  • Vegetable oil, salt and pepper.

Scoop out your spuds

To make the crispiest potato skins, you need to start with baked potatoes. I just do mine in the oven after poking some holes with a fork to release the steam. Drizzle over a bit of vegetable oil and season the spuds generously with salt, then roast at 220ºc/440ºf for 45-50 minutes until golden and tender all the way through.

When the potatoes are cooked and crispy, slice them in half. There’s 2 ways to do this, either through the middle or the side (does that make sense? Who knows) so you end up with either deep or shallow ‘boats’. Personally I go for the shallower ones, because you can load them up with more toppings and get them extra crispy.

Use a spoon to scoop out all of the potato flesh into another bowl. Make sure to reserve it for mash, pie toppings or even my potato pillows recipe. Now, if you really want to make these potato skins epic, get that deep fat fryer out and fry the skins until golden brown and super cronchy all over. If you don’t fancy that, arrange them on a wire rack so that air can circulate and spray or brush them with a bit of oil.  Chuck them in the oven at 180ºc/350ºf for 15-20 minutes until lightly golden inside and super crispy.

Get your fillings out

This is the bit where you can have some fun with this recipe. I’ve gone for some golden and delicious fried mushrooms and crunchy bacon with two of my favourite cheeses. When you cook mushrooms, don’t be tempted to play with them in the pan too much! It’s best to let them dry fry in a hot pan with a big pinch of salt, then chuck in a few cubes or butter or glug of oil as the salt will draw out the moisture. Fry them in batches so the pan isn’t overcrowded, otherwise they start to stew and nobody wants that.

When your mushrooms are all fried off, lay in your rashers of bacon and fry them until super crispy. Drain the bacon onto a sheet of kitchen paper and leave to cool, then chop into fine crumbles.

Sprinkle some of your grated cheeses into each potato cup and a handful of the toppings of choice. Make sure to add in a final bit of grated cheese on top, to hold all of your toppings in place. Pop the filled skins back into the oven for 10-15 minutes for the cheese to get melty.

Sauce it up

When I was younger, my mom introduced me to the GOAT of all crispy potato skin saucing techniques. A scoop of American mustard, ketchup and a sour cream and chive dip. For the dip, just stir together sour cream and chopped chives, then season to taste with salt and pepper.

After you’ve scooped in all of your sauces, use a spoon or a table knife to marble them all together – DO NOT fully mix them! It somehow doesn’t taste as good, don’t ask me why. Just get them in your gob. It’s delicious.