Mini Loaded Baked Potato Bites
These mini loaded baked potato bites are filled with bacon, cheese, and chives—like crack dip in baked potato form. Addicting, easy, and perfect for parties.
Equipment
- Normal Kitchen Utensils
- Piping Bag or Stuffing Syringe (Optional) but Convenient
Ingredients
- 1 Lb Baby Potatoes (1-1.5 Inches In Diameter) Roughly 24 Total
- 2 Oz. Cream Cheese Softened to Room Temperature
- 1/4 C Sour Cream
- 1 Tbsp Bacon Bits Plus More for Garnish
- 1 Tbsp Grated Cheddar Cheese Plus More for Garnish
- 1 Tbsp Chopped Chives Plus More for Garnish
- 1 Tbsp Butter Melted
- Olive Oil for Baking
- Salt and Pepper to Taste
Instructions
- Add the potatoes to a pot and cover with an inch of water. Add salt (2 tsp table salt per quart of water) and bring to a boil over high heat.1 Lb Baby Potatoes (1-1.5 Inches In Diameter), Salt and Pepper to Taste
- Once the water is boiling, reduce the heat to medium and continue to boil for 10-12 minutes, until the potatoes are fork tender.
- While the potatoes boil, you can work on the filling. Combine the softened cream cheese, sour cream, bacon, cheddar cheese and chives. Mix thoroughly and season with salt and pepper to taste (usually just a few pinches of pepper for me). Note: if you can, I highly recommend making the filling the night before and sticking it in the refrigerator to let the flavors marry overnight. If you do this, bring it out an hour before cooking to let it warm to room temperature.2 Oz. Cream Cheese, 1/4 C Sour Cream, 1 Tbsp Bacon Bits, 1 Tbsp Grated Cheddar Cheese, 1 Tbsp Chopped Chives
- Set this mixture aside (do not refrigerate it at this point, because you want it room temperature).
- Once the potatoes are boiled, cut the heat, drain the potatoes and give them a minute to steam off excess water.
- Preheat your oven to 425 degrees F.
- Toss the potatoes with just enough olive oil to coat, along with 2-3 heavy pinches each of salt and pepper (just to get the outsides seasoned).Olive Oil for Baking
- Add the potatoes to a baking sheet or pan and bake for roughly 15 minutes, at 425 degrees F, to get the skins crispy and golden.
- Once baked, remove the potatoes from the oven and let them cool a few minutes, until they are cool enough to handle.
- To stuff the potatoes, cut a lengthwise slit in the top of the potato, being careful not to slice them fully in half. With your fingers, press both ends of the potatoes together to force the slit open (basically as you would do with a full-sized baked potato).No need to pull out any insides, just make sure you don't break the potatoes in half.
- Once all the potatoes are opened, drizzle a little bit of the melted butter inside each potato.(You should not need extra salt and pepper because you already seasoned the filling and the outside of the potatoes.)1 Tbsp Butter
- It is easiest if you have a piping bag or stuffing syringe to add the filling to. I often just add it to a plastic baggy and cut one of the corners off the baggy (makeshift piping bag). If you're in a pinch, you can simply add dollops using a small spoon.
- However you want to do it, squeeze or spoon some of the filling into each potato, both filling the inside of the potato, and letting some of the filling rest on top.
- To garnish, you can add a bacon bit and a couple shreds of cheddar on top of the filling of each potato. Then sprinkle them with some extra chopped chives.
- Enjoy warm!