I've recently discovered how delicious twice-baked potatoes are so I wanted to share how I make them. You can add your favorite fillings and leave out anything you don't like as the core of how these are made is pretty basic and leaves you a lot of space to do what you want with them. Enjoy learning how I made my bacon and sausage twice-baked potatoes.

Instructable 343

Step 1: Ingredients and Supplies

I separated my ingredient photos out into stages - Baked Potato - Meat Filling - Baked Potato Filling

Ingredients:

Potatoes - about 6
Olive Oil
Salt - how much you use and when will just depend, I didn't want to go overboard as my sausage and bacon were both salty on their own as well
Pepper
Meats of choice
- 12 oz Sausage
- 1/2 Pack of Bacon - let's face it, I made the whole pack and then just ate half but you'll probably realistically use about 1/2 a packs worth
Cheese - about 1/2 cup
Milk - about 1/3 cup - I don't like to have too much but you can add more if you think it's too thick
Butter - about 1 stick
Sour Cream and Green Onions to garnish (optional)

I hate to say "about" on these ingredients, but really you can wing it and many things will just depend on how many potatoes you do. I did 5, but felt like I could have done 6 with how much meat I had to put in it.

Supplies:

Baking Sheet
Mixing Bowl
Scrubber and Towel
Tongs
Spoons
Cutting Board and Knife
Cheese Grater
Frying Pan
Potato Masher - you can just use a spoon or fork too

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Step 2: Baked Potato

Start by baking your potatoes. If you have a favorite way to do this, go for it!

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F

Start by washing, scrubbing, and drying your potatoes.

Put them in a bowl and sprinkle them with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Mix them up to coat them.

Stab your potatoes.

Once your oven is ready, put them right on the shelves in the oven (with something below them to catch any dripping oil) and bake for about 50 minutes. I usually do 20 minutes at a time, test them, and turn them. Once you can stab them, they are done.

Step 3: Prep Meats

While the potatoes are baking, I recommend preparing all your meats.

I started by frying up all my bacon (so I'd have some to eat).

Once the bacon was done, I chopped up my sausage and fried up the pieces.

I recommend starting this right when the potatoes go in so they are done in time. Even if you get done before the potatoes and they get "colder" don't worry, everything will go back in the oven (hence twice baked).

Step 4: Prep Baked Potatoes

Once the potatoes are done, it's time to get them ready!

Also, turn your oven down to 350 degrees F once they are out.

They will be hot, so I recommend holding them in the tongs and carefully slicing them in half. I cut them so they are wide and can hold a lot and sit well on the pan.

Once they are all sliced, it's time to scoop out the insides! Again, I hold them with a tongs and then use a spoon to scoop out the potato. Make sure to leave a thin layer around so they hold their shape.

Put everything you scooped up into a bowl.

Step 5: Fill Potatoes

Time to make your mashed filling. I started by adding my butter to the potatoes and mashing. I like to add right away so the potatoes can melt the butter.

Add the milk and mix.

Now add in any other fillings, for me it is sausage, bacon, and cheese (set a little cheese aside).

You can add some salt and pepper here as well, just keep in mind how salty your other ingredients are.

Mix it all up! From here you can decide if you need more of anything such as bacon or cheese.