Loaded Sweet Potato Skins.

Enjoy a big plate of extra crispy, extra loaded sweet potato skins in no time! This game-time favorite is hard to resist.

Football season is here. One of my favorite times of the year for the main reason being: snacks. Snack foods galore. An excuse to make a meal out of snacks and appetizers and dips and beer. Does life get any better?

I am absolutely not affiliated with this company, but have you ever tried these? A relatively healthy choice compared to anything else you’ll find on the shelves these days. I’ve seen them at Wegman’s, Acme, and Whole Foods. Highly recommended.

Speaking of sweet potato snacks, I made these loaded sweet potato skins for the Eagles game last weekend. I wasn’t planning to share the recipe because let’s face it… they’re just potato skins. But that’s exactly why I should share this recipe: cheesy, bacon-topped potato skin goodness. The plate disappeared before 1st quarter had ended.

The best bar food on the planet. Unless you’re from Maryland–> yum, try those.

But seriously. A great potato skin is really everything you want out of comfort food/game food grub. Salty and crispy, with enough starchy weight to satisfy your hunger. My ideal potato skin is cut thin so that it’s not just a twice-baked potato. Nor is it a pencil thin, crunchy piece of potato skin. How disappointing. Rather, the potato should be cooked just right with the best of the best toppings. Crispy real bacon, not bits out of a can. Sour cream, chives, and a whole lotta melted cheese.

And if you love potato skins as much as I do, you have to try them with sweet potatoes. Dare I say they’re even better than regular potato skins. Plus you get all the fiber, vitamin A, and other good stuff. Orange for the win.

Loaded sweet potato skins are so simple. The potatoes are hollowed out, leaving just enough edge, then filled back up with the mashed sweet potato. I highly recommend mashing the sweet potatoes with a little milk to make the filling smooth and extra creamy. Top the filled skins with cheese, bake, add bacon, enjoy.

Crunch, crunch, crunch. The trick for their crisp? After hollowing out the skins, drizzle them with a little olive oil. Or, as I like to call it, the “crisp maker.” Don’t leave it out! Once drizzled, bake the potato skins for about 10 minutes before filling them.

Voila! Extra crispy skins.

When I’m feeling like something a little healthier, I add a little garlicky spinach to the filling. This is how I do it: three handfuls of spinach cooked down on the stove with 1 clove of minced garlic and 1 Tablespoon of olive oil. Mash this into the sweet potato filling and fill the hollowed out skins as directed below. Then, I usually top each filled skin with 1 Tablespoon of shredded cheese. And I skip the bacon. Bake, and enjoy with a salad – makes a great, meat-free healthy meal. Try it!

These crispy skins are becoming a game-time staple. Freaking adore them.

221K+

Loaded Sweet Potato Skins

total time: 1 HOUR, 30 MINUTES

PRINT RECIPE

Enjoy a big plate of extra crispy, extra loaded sweet potato skins in no time! This game-time favorite is hard to resist.

Yield: 8 potato skins, may easily be doubled or tripled for a crowd

Ingredients:

• 4 medium sweet potatoes
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 1/4 cup milk1
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• ground pepper, to taste
• 1 cup shredded cheese (I use half sharp cheddar and half mozzarella)
• 4 strips bacon, cooked until crispy, and crumbled
• sour cream and chopped chives for serving

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400F degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Pierce each sweet potato a few times and bake for 40-50 minutes or until soft. Allow the potatoes to cool slightly. Slice potatoes in half lengthwise.
2. Reduce oven temperature to 375F degrees. Scoop out sweet potato flesh, leaving a thin layer of sweet potato inside, and add flesh to a medium bowl. Place skins back on the baking sheet face up, drizzle with olive oil and bake for 10 minutes.
3. Mash the sweet potato flesh with milk, salt, and pepper until smooth and creamy. After 10 minutes, remove the skins from the oven. Fill each with an equal amount of mashed sweet potato and top each with cheese. Bake for 15 minutes until the cheese is melted. Remove from the oven and top with bacon. Serve with sour cream and chopped chives, if desired.
4. Skins are best enjoyed immediately. Cover leftovers tightly and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Additional Notes:

1. Buttermilk, whole milk, or half-and-half is best. Try to avoid low fat milks. You want a very thick, creamy mash.

© SALLY’S BAKING ADDICTION. All images & content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words, or link back to this post for the recipe.

Try my Baked Sweet Potato Fries next.

And, of course, my cinnamon-sugar version.

And and and Soft Pretzel Bites (with kicked-up cheese sauce)

See more savory recipes.

Share on Google Plus

About Dijana Recipes

This is a short description in the author block about the author. You edit it by entering text in the "Biographical Info" field in the user admin panel.