This is not your everyday potato skins recipe! These loaded potato skins are twice baked. then filled with a rich, creamy cheese sauce, and topped with crispy bacon and green onions.

Make them for a tasty party appetizer or a delicious side dish to burgers, steaks, and pork chops!

potato skins on a white plate with a blue and white napkin to the side

TGI Fridays is a famous American chain restaurant and cocktail bar that has been around for years.

One of their most popular appetizers are their loaded potato skins. So much so, that they began mass producing and selling them in the freezer section in grocery stores.

However, the frozen version are not as as good as the homemade potato skins. This recipe is a copycat version of the original restaurant baked TGI Fridays potato skin appetizer. They are very similar in taste only WAY better!

Watch how to make

Ingredients

You will need the following ingredients to make loaded potato skins.

red potatoes-You can substitute with 6 medium russet potatoes.
olive oil
cream cheese
cheddar cheese- You can substitute with pepper jack cheese for a spicier filling.
butter
whole milk-Do not substitute with low fat or skim milk.
cooked bacon-You can substitute with real bacon bits.
green onions-You can substitute with chives.

How to make loaded potato skins

Follow these simple steps to make loaded potato skins.

Rinse potatoes off. Poke each potato with a fork several times. Coat with olive oil and place on a greased cookie sheet. Sprinkle with salt.
Bake potatoes for 50 minutes or until they are tender at 375 degrees. Remove the potatoes from the oven and allow them to cool.
Cut the potatoes in half. Scoop out the insides of the potatoes, leaving enough to maintain the structure of the potatoes.
Place butter in a sauce pan and melt on medium/low heat. Add cream cheese, cheddar cheese, and milk, stirring until the cheese is melted. Remove from heat.
Add cheese mixture to the center of the potatoes. Top with bacon.
Bake at 400 degrees on a greased baking dish for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven, top with green onions, and serve.

Tip

Tip: You can cut the halved potatoes in half to make bite sized loaded potato skins for more servings.

What do you dip potato skins in?

Honestly these baked potato skins are fantastic by themselves.

However, you can dip your potato skins in sour cream, creamy horseradish sauce, ranch, and sweet or smokey barbecue sauce.

Can you freeze loaded potato skins?

These loaded potato skins are freezer friendly and are perfect for making in advance to cook for later!

Follow these steps to freeze oven baked potato skins:

To freeze, bake potatoes and fill with cheese according to directions. Top with bacon.
Place loaded potato skins on a tray and place in the freezer. Freeze for one to two hours.
Once the loaded potatoes are frozen, place potatoes in a freezer bag. Remove any extra air out of the bag when sealing. Freeze until ready to serve.
When ready to serve, defrost potato skins and bake at 400 degrees 15 to 20 minutes until the cheese is bubbly.

About the recipe

This recipe is from my sweet friend, Kim Pryzgoda's mother, Aura Lee Davis.

The loaded potato skin recipe came from Aura Lee Davis pictured 2nd to the left.

Aura Lee Davis is an AMAZING cook. Anything that comes from her kitchen is Fantastic. She made these loaded potato skins as an appetizer when we visited her for a girls weekend and everyone loved them.

She also shared her Eggplant Lasagna Recipe that was so delicious, I had to add the blog also!

Please leave me a comment below if you make these loaded potato skins and tell me what you think. I would love to hear back, and so would my readers.

Also post your picture of your potatoes on Instagram or Facebook, and tag @aforkstale with #aforkstale hashtags! I will share with my followers! xoxo!

Recipe