This is the Best Twice Baked Potatoes recipe, made with Havarti, Gruyere, and shredded cheddar cheese, then topped with bacon. These easy twice baked potatoes are creamy, delicious, and loaded with flavor.
If you love twice-baked potatoes, try our Twice Baked Potato Casserole. It’s loaded with lots of the same flavors and feeds a crowd too. If you love potato recipes, try our Baked Potato recipe. It makes the most amazing crispy skin potatoes that are light and fluffy on the inside.
The Best Twice Baked Potatoes
Who doesn’t love twice baked potatoes, with their crispy skin, fluffy insides, and gooey melted cheese? This recipe is stuffed full of 3 types of cheese, bacon, and green onion.
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Feel free to load them up with whatever your favorite toppings are, like sour cream, different types of cheese, caramelized onions, salsa, sliced jalapenos, or peppers.
Wondering what to serve with twice-baked potatoes? Try our Crockpot Turkey Breast, Grilled Chicken Recipe, Sloppy Joe Recipe, and Homemade Meatloaf too.
3 Cheese Twice Baked Potatoes Video Tutorial
Key Ingredients
- Russet Potatoes – you will need about 8 large Russet potatoes for this recipe.
- Cheese – the three cheeses that I chose to use for these potatoes are Havarti, Gruyere, and cheddar cheese. Feel free to experiment with different types of cheese to see what combination you like best.
- Butter – you will need some butter for the potato filling mixture and some melted butter to brush on the insides of each skin.
- Seasoning – this recipe calls for using salt, pepper, garlic salt, and onion salt. Again, you can experiment with seasoning and adjust to how you like it.
- Sour Cream – either full fat or lite sour cream will work great.
- Milk – whole milk is best but 2% will work.
- Bacon Bits – you can buy these premade or easily make your own Homemade Bacon Bits.
- Green Onions – this is for garnish. You can substitute chives.
How to Make Cheesy Twice Baked Potatoes
- Prep the potatoes. Poke holes into your washed potatoes, about a 1/2″ deep. Rub cooking oil on the outsides of the potatoes, then place in a 9″ x 13″ baking dish and season with salt.
- Bake. Bake in a preheated oven for 50-60 minutes, or until fork tender.
- Scoop out the insides. Allow the potatoes to cool for about 5-10 minutes, then scoop out the insides into a mixing bowl, leaving just a small layer of potato on the skins so the potato skins keep their shape.
- Brush the potato skins with butter. Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and brush the inside of each potato skin with the melted butter. Sprinkle with garlic salt, then set aside.
- Mash the potatoes. Mash the potatoes until mostly smooth, then add the sour cream, shredded cheeses, garlic salt, onion powder, salt, and pepper. Taste test and add more seasonings if needed.
- Add the filling back to the potato skins. Spoon the potato mixture into the potato skins. Sprinkle with the remaining shredded cheddar cheese, top with bacon bits, and cover with foil.
- Bake again. Return to the oven for 30 minutes before removing the foil and baking for an additional 10 minutes, or until the bacon is crisp and the cheese is melted.
- Serve. Remove from oven and sprinkle with sliced green onions before serving warm. Enjoy!
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! Vigorously rub and wash your potato under warm water to remove any dirt. Prick with a fork several times to allow steam to escape while cooking. Place potato on a microwave safe dish and cook for 7 minutes on high. If your potato isn’t fork tender after 7 minus, cook in additional 1 minute increments until fully cooked. Let the potato cool for 2 minutes before serving.
Bake potatoes at 400º F for about an hour. Smaller potatoes make take a little less time and larger potatoes may take a little more. Cook potatoes until they are fork tender or about 210 º F.
Potatoes are ready when they are fork tender or their internal temperature reaches 210º F. If the potato is firm, bake a little longer. A baked potato will be dry under the skin if it’s overcooked.
Yes, freezing twice baked potatoes works perfectly fine. Make them according to instructions but don’t cook them after they are assembled. Add the prepared twice-baked potatoes to a gallon-sized ziplock bag and freeze for up to a few months. Thaw before baking; bake in a preheated 350-degree Fahrenheit oven for about 30 minutes or until warm, and the cheese is golden brown. Top with freshly sliced green onions if desired.
Recipe Variations to Try
- Broccoli and Cheddar: Add cooked broccoli florets and shredded cheddar cheese to the potato filling, then sprinkle the top with extra cheese before baking.
- Buffalo Chicken: Mix shredded cooked chicken with buffalo sauce and blue cheese dressing into the potato filling. Top with additional blue cheese crumbles and green onions before baking.
- Caramelized Onion and Gruyère: Sauté thinly sliced onions until caramelized and mix with shredded Gruyère cheese in the potato filling. Top with more Gruyère before baking.
- Jalapeño Popper: Mix diced pickled jalapeños, cream cheese, and shredded cheddar into the potato filling. Top with additional cheddar and sliced jalapeños.
Storing and Make Ahead Instructions
- Make Ahead-You make these ahead of time and refrigerate for 3 days before the final bake. Add sliced green onions after baking.
- Freezing- You make these ahead of time and freeze them until you want to use them. Assemble them but do not do the final bake. Add the shredded cheese and bacon bits. Add to a freezer ziplock bag and remove as much excess air as possible. Freeze for up to 2 months.
- Reheating– Simply warm in the microwave for about 2 minutes to reheat or re-heat in the air fryer for 5 minutes or until warmed through and the cheese is bubbly.
The Best Twice Baked Potatoes Recipe
Ingredients
- 8 medium russet potatoes
- 3 ounces Havarti cheese, shredded
- 3 ounces Gruyere cheese, shredded
- 6 tablespoons butter, (divided)
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 teaspoons garlic salt
- 4 teaspoons onion powder
- 1½ cups sour cream
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1¾ cups shredded cheddar cheese, (divided)
- 1/2 cup bacon bits
- 1/4 cup green onions, sliced thin
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Wash potatoes then use a fork and poke holes about 1/2" deep into the skins of the potato. Rub cooking oil on the outsides of the potatoes, then place in a 9" x 13" baking dish. Season with salt on all sides.
- Bake in a preheated oven for 50-60 minutes, or until fork tender.
- Remove from the oven and allow the potatoes to cool for about 5-10 minutes until you can handle them.
- Once cooled down, scoop out the inside of the potato. Leave a small layer of potato on the skins so the potato skins keep their shape. Put the insides of the potato in a medium sized mixing bowl.
- Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and brush the inside of each potato skin with the melted butter. Sprinkle with garlic salt, then set aside.
- Mash the potatoes until mostly smooth, then add the sour cream, shredded cheeses, garlic salt, onion powder, salt, and pepper. Taste test and add more seasonings if needed.
- Spoon the potato mixture into the potato skins. Sprinkle with the remaining shredded cheddar cheese, top with bacon bits, and cover with foil.
- Bake again for 30 minutes before removing the foil and baking for an additional 10 minutes, or until the bacon is crisp and the cheese is melted.
- Remove from oven and sprinkle with sliced green onions before serving warm. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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These homemade 3 cheese twice-baked potatoes with bacon are the ultimate twice baked potatoes…like amazing. They’re made with Havarti, Gruyere, and shredded cheddar cheese. These easy twice baked potatoes are creamy, delicious and loaded with flavor. These are the best twice baked potatoes.
