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Mini Twice Baked Potatoes are like appetizer-sized potato skins with the volume turned up. Although this party snack recipe tastes like it took all day, these bacon-studded beauties can be yours in just 35 minutes.
I’ve always had an infatuation with Twice Baked Potatoes as a side dish option. What’s not to love about cheesy, fluffy potatoes stuffed inside a crunchy potato skin, all topped with bacon, sour cream, and chives?
Since they’re pretty decadent and are somewhat of a labor of love, when I was a kid, my family never ate them as much as I’d like. But I’m delighted to be making up for lost time thanks to this quicker, party-friendly format that can be ready to serve and savor in a mere 35 minutes.
These Mini Twice Baked Potatoes are endlessly customizable (see fun topping ideas below to take this appetizer recipe on a trip around the globe!) and are always a hit when I share them as part of a game-day menu, a holiday appetizer, or at a potluck.
Table of Contents
Recipe ingredients
At a Glance: Here is a quick snapshot of what ingredients are in this recipe.
Please see the recipe card below for specific quantities.
Ingredient notes
- Baby potatoes: Red or white-skinned; either is fantastic. Seek out similarly-sized, small round potatoes for easy snack-ability and even cooking time.
- Olive oil: A light coating on the skin of the baby potatoes acts like “glue” for the salt as the spuds bake, plus lends a lovely sheen and crisp texture to the potato skin.
- Scallions or chives: Dill or any other favorite herbs you crave and have handy will also work as a garnish for these bite-sized snacks.
- Bacon: Once you crumble or chop it, just 2 strips of cooked bacon go a long way to lend a salty and savory punch to these Mini Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes.
Step-by-step instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Prick each potato a few times with a fork. Arrange the potatoes in a single layer on a microwave-safe plate lined with paper towels. Microwave on HIGH for 4 minutes. Turn the potatoes over and microwave for an additional 4 minutes on HIGH.
- Using an oven mitt or kitchen towel to handle the hot potatoes, halve each potato lengthwise and scoop out the middle into a medium bowl, leaving 1/4″ layer of potato on the side of each skin.
- Arrange the potato halves cut side down (skin side up) on a baking sheet. Brush with olive oil and sprinkle liberally with salt. Bake for 10 minutes or until the skins are crispy. Remove from the oven and set oven to broil.
- Meanwhile, to the bowl with the scooped potato filling add cheese, sour cream, scallions, butter, 1 teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper. Mix well.
- Divide the filling among the crisped potato skins.
- Return filled potato skins to the oven and broil until cheese is melted and bubbly. Remove from oven and top with bacon bits. Garnish with parsley if desired and serve warm.
Recipe tips and variations
- Yield: My Mini Twice Baked Potato recipe makes eight servings, each with 4-half baby potato bites (for 2 potatoes per person).
- Storage: Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- Make ahead: These mini potato skins can be assembled a day in advance. Bake right before serving time.
Recipe FAQs
I’ll coach you through this classic dinner side dish idea via my Russet-based Twice Baked Potatoes recipe.
Consider leftover chicken, shredded pepper jack cheese, corn, and roasted peppers for a Mexican twist. Or for an Italian riff, try cooked and crumbled chorizo, shredded Mozzarella, diced tomatoes, and basil (or bruschetta).
This is the same technique I use to bake potatoes in half the time. A quick shift microwave trims a lot of oven time from the recipe; leaving fewer minutes between you and a platter of Mini Twice Baked Potatoes!
Twice-Baked Potatoes
A true steakhouse classic, Twice Baked Potatoes are doubly delicious and easy to make ahead. These show-stealers are loaded up with lots of cheddar, bacon, and scallions for major flavor in every bite.
View Recipe
More bite-sized snack ideas
Appetizer Recipes
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Appetizer Recipes
Deviled Eggs
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Crockpot Meatballs with Grape Jelly Sauce
Appetizer Recipes
Baked Potato Skins
Mini Twice Baked Potato Skins
Ingredients
- 16 baby potatoes scrubbed (about 1 ½ pounds, see note 1)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil (see note 2)
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- ½ cup shredded cheddar cheese
- ¼ cup sour cream or plain Greek yogurt
- 2 tablespoons chives or scallions, plus more for garnish (see note 3)
- 1 tablespoon butter melted
- 2 strips cooked bacon crumbled (see note 4)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Prick each potato a few times with a fork. Arrange the potatoes in a single layer on a microwave-safe plate lined with paper towels.
- Microwave on HIGH for 4 minutes. Turn the potatoes over and microwave for an additional 4 minutes on HIGH.
- Using an oven mitt or kitchen towel to handle the hot potatoes, halve each potato lengthwise and scoop out the middle into a medium bowl, leaving 1/4″ layer of potato on the side of each skin.
- Arrange the potato halves cut side down (skin side up) on a baking sheet. Brush with olive oil and sprinkle liberally with salt.
- Bake for 10 minutes or until the skins are crispy. Remove from the oven and set oven to broil.
- Meanwhile, to the bowl with the scooped potato filling add cheese, sour cream, scallions, butter, 1 teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper. Mix well.
- Divide the filling among the crisped potato skins. Return filled potato skins to the oven and broil until cheese is melted and bubbly. Remove from oven and top with bacon bits. Garnish with parsley if desired and serve warm.
Notes
- Baby potatoes: Red or white-skinned; either is fantastic. Seek out similarly-sized, small round potatoes for easy snack-ability and even cooking time.
- Olive oil: A light coating on the skin of the baby potatoes acts like “glue” for the salt as the spuds bake, plus lends a lovely sheen and crisp texture to the potato skin.
- Scallions or chives: Dill or any other favorite herbs you crave and have handy will also work as a garnish for these bite-sized snacks.
- Bacon: Once you crumble or chop it, just 2 strips of cooked bacon go a long way to lend a salty and savory punch to these Mini Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes.
- Yield: My Mini Twice Baked Potato recipe makes eight servings, each with 4-half baby potato bites (for 2 potatoes per person).
- Storage: Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- Make ahead: These mini potato skins can be assembled a day in advance. Bake right before serving time.
Nutrition
Meggan Hill is the Executive Chef and CEO of Culinary Hill, a popular digital publication in the food space. She loves to combine her Midwestern food memories with her culinary school education to create her own delicious take on modern family fare. Millions of readers visit Culinary Hill each month for meticulously-tested recipes as well as skills and tricks for ingredient prep, cooking ahead, menu planning, and entertaining. She graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the iCUE Culinary Arts program at College of the Canyons.
So Good! Had requests for the recipe and for any leftovers! Will Certainly make again.
Hi Terri, that’s so great! I’m so happy to hear that! They are so good, just tiny little bites of potato with the best toppings. I’m glad they worked out. Thank you for the comment! -Meggan