Cheesy Potato Skins
The ultimate pub starter. Who doesn’t love a cheesy potato skin? Little boats of beige deliciousness with a mountain of melted, oozy cheese to tuck into. OMG YES PLEASE.
When you make any of my potato skin recipes, you will have some excess potato leftover (the bit you scoop out) and as I’m all about leaving no waste (especially potato based waste), why not try out my Chocolate Coated Potato Macaroon recipe for something a little bit different. That’s a starter and dessert sorted for ya! And I know the idea of sweet potato-y macaroons may seem a bit odd, but you honestly don’t even taste the potato, you just get that squidgy texture that makes these sweet treats so moorish and delicious.
Back to the potato skins as I always get sidetracked haha…I added bacon to this recipe to give it that 2000s pub feel, but you can switch this out for mushrooms or peppers for a veggie version. It is a great recipe for using up any veg/cheeses in the fridge that need eating. Can you tell I really don’t like throwing food out?
One question I get asked a lot is, “are potato skins good for you?” Well, that all depends on how you cook them and what you top them with! Potato skins are full of magnesium and potassium, so when baked they do make a healthy snack. Weirdly, I’ve also been asked a few times if potato skins are good for dogs. A little potato skin is ok, but it is best for dogs to eat potatoes with the skin peeled.
For more potato skin based inspo, you may enjoy my triple baked potato skins which are like the more grown up and sophisticated version of this recipe. Or if you’ve got all those festive feels, my brie, cranberry and sage skins are pure magic.
Ingredients
- 5 baking potatoes
- 100g grated mozzarella
- 100g grated double Gloucester cheese (red cheese)
- 2 sliced spring onions
- 2 rashers of smoked bacon or mushrooms for a veggie option
- Splash of oil
- Salt and pepper
- Splosh of creme fraiche
- Squeeze of American mustard
Method
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4.
- Rub some oil over your cleaned potatoes and season. Place on a baking tray and bake for 40 mins to an hour until cooked.
- Whilst the potatoes are cooking, cut your bacon into little pieces and fry off until crispy (if doing a veggie option do the same with sliced mushrooms, peppers or a different kind of veg if preferred).
- Slice your spring onions and grate all your cheeses.
- Once the potatoes are cooked, remove from the oven and whack the heat up to 200°C/400°F/Gas Mark 6. You can up the temp even more if you like them crissssspy.
- Cut all your potatoes in half and scoop out the middle so you are left with an even-ish layer of potato and skin (you can make this as thick or as thin as you like). Use the leftover potato for fishcakes, hashbrowns etc.
- Fill the skins with some mozzarella, bacon and Gloucester and return to the oven for around 15 mins to melt the cheese and crisp up the skins.
- Once ready sprinkle with spring onions, slap on some creme fraiche and lather in mustard. Dreamy!