Double baked potato
What’s better than a baked potato? A potato baked twice. DUH.
I’m a big fan of making too much on purpose.
Baked potato is a great example of this! There are so many delicious ways to use once-baked potatoes, and potatoes being such a cheap and versatile ingredient too, it’s brilliant to have a couple at hand. This is a great way to use leftovers for the filling too, like chicken and cheese as I suggest below, or beans, peppers or similar!
Double baked potato w/chicken and cheese
For 2 people
Prep time: 45 minutes (for first baking) + 5 minutes (filling ingredients) | Cook time: 15 minutes
2 large or 4 small baking potatoes
About a cup of leftover cooked chicken (roast chicken leftovers would be perfect) or other meat works too
About a cup of cheese: a mix of cheddar and parmesan is great (soft cheese, mozzarella or burrata are great as well!)
Seasoning of your choice: salt, pepper, oregano, mixed herbs…
Some salad ingredients for a crunchy salad on the side: f.ex. cucumber, lettuce, tomato and peppers
Instructions
You might be very familiar with baking a potato and you can totally do this your way. My way is to cut a cross in to the potatoes with a knife, then first run them in the microwave for about 10 minutes while the oven warms up (start it at absolute top temperature!). This way I can get nice, mushy potatoes on the inside, but with crispy skin on the outside from the oven. When the oven is warm, carefully cover the (very hot!) microwaved potatoes in olive oil and drizzle some sea salt on them, and put them on a tray covered in baking paper in the oven. Bring the temperature down to about 220ºC (430ºF) and cook the potatoes in the oven for about 30 minutes. There’s your standard baked potato!
Now a double baked potato can be done immediately after you’ve baked them the first time, or as a use of leftover baked potatoes that you made a day or two before.
Mix together your cooked chicken, choices of cheese and seasoning, and place on top of the slightly opened baked potato. You can then either run it in the microwave for about 3 minutes, or, if you’d like a more crispy, grilled feel to them (recommended!), bake them in the oven on one of the top shelves for about 15 minutes (200ºC). You can change the oven setting to grill for the last minute or so to really crips up the cheese on top.
While the potatoes are double baking, make a side salad to go with them for a lovely, cold and crunchy contrast.
You can of course do any version of filling you’d like, just vegetables or a vegan cheese, for example.
Did you make the double baked potatoes? What did you use in your filling? Share on Instagram and tag @TheFromScratchBody and hashtag #TheFromScratchBody so I don’t miss it!
