Potato Boats are everything you love about baked potatoes, with crispy, seasoned skins filled with a creamy potato mixture, plenty of melted cheese, and crispy bacon. Unlike potato skins, which are mostly hollow and topped with ingredients, potato boats are generously filled before being baked again until hot, golden, and irresistibly cheesy.
Potato Boats Recipe Essentials
- 🍽️ Course: Side Dish
- ⏱️ Cooking Time: 1 hour 25 minutes baking
- 🍴 Servings: 8 serving
- 🧀 Flavor Profile: Rich, creamy, cheesy, savory, and garlicky with smoky bacon, Parmesan, cheddar, and tangy sour cream.
- 🥗 Best Served With: Grilled steak, roasted chicken, barbecue, or a crisp green salad.
- 🧊 Make Ahead?: Yes, assemble the stuffed potato ahead of time, refrigerate, and bake just before serving.
Summarize and Save This Content On
My family has always loved potatoes, and these loaded potato boats have been a favorite for years. I stopped boiling potatoes long ago because baking them creates a crispier skin that pairs perfectly with the creamy, cheesy filling.
I switch between bacon and ground sausage depending on what I have on hand. They're always one of the first dishes to disappear from the table.
If you're intrigued by these stuffed potato boats, you should also try buffalo chicken zucchini boats and these shepherd's pie potato boats.
Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Kid and crowd-approved: Whether you're trying to feed your family with picky kids or if you're having company, these potato boats satisfy every time.
- Customizable add-ins: You can get creative and swap the ingredients (like the bacon, cheese, and spices) to make the flavor profile your own.
- Make-ahead friendly: It's easy enough to prepare in advance, so you spend less time working on dinner.
Ingredients
The key ingredients for this potato boat recipe are listed below. They help to create the most creamy, fluffy, and flavorful filling.
- Russet potatoes: These are the starchiest and sturdiest potatoes! The skin holds up perfectly without tearing, and the fluffy center mixes so well with the cheeses. I love them when I make this steakhouse baked potato, too.
- Bacon: Crispy bacon (made fresh or leftover, like if you have extra toaster oven bacon) adds salty, savory flavor. One of my favorite quick swaps for this is ground sausage.
- Cream cheese and sour cream: The combination of cream cheese and sour cream guarantees the creamiest texture possible. I never use one without the other!
See the recipe card below for exact ingredient amounts, nutritional information, and detailed instructions.
Variations
- Fully loaded: Use chopped green onion or chives, reserve some bacon for sprinkling on top, and dollop an extra scoop of sour cream for an extra impressive, loaded version.
- Broccoli cheddar: Combine chopped broccoli (fresh or thawed) with the cheesy filling for a broccoli cheddar twist.
- Shredded chicken: Fold in some cooked, shredded chicken to create a more filling appetizer, quick dinner, or lunch!
How to Make Potato Boats
Preheat your oven to 400°F for the first bake and line a baking sheet with foil or parchment paper.
Step 1: Season and bake the potatoes. Start by coating your washed and dried potatoes with salt, pepper, rosemary, and oil. Then, place them in the oven and bake for 60-70 minutes, or until tender.
Step 2: Saute the onion and garlic: Cook the bacon and then saute the onion and garlic until translucent and fragrant.
Step 3: Slice and scoop the potatoes. Once the potatoes have cooled enough to handle safely, slice each of them in half lengthwise. Then, scoop the flesh into a bowl, leaving about ¼-½ inch of potato to keep the skin sturdy.
Step 4: Prepare the filling. Combine the cooked potato with the rest of the filling ingredients with a hand mixer until smooth.
Step 5: Fill the potato shells. Fill each potato skin with the filling, then finish with more shredded cheese and topped bacon.
Step 6: Bake and serve. Arrange them on a sheet pan and bake the potato boats in the oven at 350°F for about 15-20 minutes, or until hot and melty. Allow them to cool slightly before serving them with truffle oil aioli or harissa dipping sauce.
Expert Tips
- Don't overmix the filling: When combining the filling ingredients, use your mixer at low speed and only mix until everything is just incorporated. This prevents the potato filling from becoming dense.
- Make the shells the right thickness: The potato shells should be about ¼-½ inch thick so they stand up to the heavy filling and being baked twice without tearing.
- Ziploc bag piping trick: Transfer the creamy potato mixture to a Ziploc bag and snip off one of the bottom corners. This turns it into a piping bag, allowing you to fill the potato skins cleanly and evenly.
- Make-ahead directions: Follow all directions until you reach the second bake. Instead, allow the potato boats to cool, carefully place them in an airtight container, and refrigerate for up to 24 hours. Then, let them sit on the counter while the oven preheats, and bake them at 350F for 20-25 minutes (similar to the recipe).
- Storing the leftovers: Once cooled, put any leftover potato boats into an airtight container and refrigerate them for 4-5 days.
These buffalo chicken stuffed potatoes are a fun, spicy version that can be turned into a tasty meal!
Serving Suggestions
- Creative toppings: Top your potato boat with your favorite chili or try this slow-cooked vegetarian chili. Chopped jalapeños, sautéed peppers and onions, and more work as toppings to take the potatoes to the next level.
- Complete the meal: Serve it as a flavorful, hearty side dish with your choice of protein! I highly recommend these crockpot steak bites.
- More appetizers: These potato boats would make a showstopping appetizer. Some more recipe ideas for your guests to enjoy include sweet chili bacon-wrapped shrimp.
Potato Boats Recipe FAQs
This can happen if you develop too much starch when mashing the cooked potatoes into the filling. It can also happen if you use a waxy potato like red potatoes, which can become more dense when you mash them. Stick to a russet or Idaho potato, and only mix your filling until the ingredients come together.
Yes! This helps to warm the filling, melt the cheese, and crisp up the potato skins.
You can, but do it before the second bake. After filling the potatoes, place the boats into an airtight, freezer-safe container and freeze them for up to 3 months. Bake them at 350°F straight from the freezer and add extra time to the bake or thaw them in the fridge overnight first.
The oven or air fryer are best because the microwave can make the skins soggy. Either method should be heated to 350°F, and it will take anywhere from 10-20 minutes.
More Delicious Potato Recipes
Do you like potato recipes? Here are some recipes you may also like to try.
If you try this recipe and love it please leave a star rating in the recipe card below or even better, drop a review in the comment section. I always appreciate your feedback. Be sure to follow along with me on Facebook, Pinterest, and YouTube for more easy recipes!
Potato Boats with Cheddar and Bacon
Ingredients
- 4 large russet potatoes or Idaho potatoes
- ¾ cup bacon or, ground sausage, cooked and crumbled or 12 slices, divided
- ¼ cup butter
- 2 cups cheddar cheese shredded, divided
- ½ cup parmesan cheese grated
- ½ brick (8 oz) cream cheese softened
- ½ cup sour cream or flavored sour cream
- ¼ cup milk or cream, until reach desired consistency
- 1 small onion chopped fine
- 2 tablespoon garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
Outside of Potato (Optional)
- 5-6 tablespoons olive oil 2 large egg whites
- 1 tablespoon kosher or sea salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 tablespoons dried rosemary optional
- 2 tablespoons dried thyme leaves optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Wash and dry the potatoes, then pierce each potato 2 to 3 times with a knife or fork on all sides.
- If desired, Combine salt, pepper, rosemary, and/or thyme in a small bowl and sprinkle all over a cutting board. Brush the potatoes with olive oil and then roll each potato on different covered sections on cutting board until covered in spice mixture.
- Place the potatoes directly on the oven rack or a baking sheet and bake for 60 to 70 minutes, or until fork tender.
- Remove the potatoes from the oven and let them cool until they are safe to handle. Reduce the oven temperature to 350°F.
- Meanwhile, cook the bacon until crisp and crumble it. Reserve ¼ cup for top. Sauté the chopped onion in a tablespoon or two of bacon grease until softened and translucent. Add garlic and cook until fragrant. Set aside and allow to cool. Reduce the oven temperature to 350°F.
- Slice each potato in half lengthwise to create 8 potato boats. I find an oven mitt works great to hold the potato if it is too hot to handle. Using a spoon, carefully scoop the flesh into a large mixing bowl, leaving about ¼ to ½ inch of potato around the edges so the skins remain sturdy enough to hold the filling.
- Add to the large bowl of scooped potato, cooked bacon, sautéed onion, garlic, cream cheese, sour cream, milk or cream, salt, pepper, butter, Parmesan cheese, and 1 cup of the shredded cheddar cheese to the bowl. Beat with a hand mixer or mash and stir until smooth and creamy. Taste mixture and adjust as necessary.
- Arrange the potato skins in a large baking dish. Place mashed potatoes into a resealable bag and push to the bottom corner. Cut corner off with scissors. Squeeze out mashed potato into the potato pressing gently to fill every corner. If no bag available simply spoon potato mixture back inside the potato or pipe. Sprinkle the tops with the remaining cheddar cheese and additional bacon crumbles.
- Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the filling is hot and the cheese has melted. If desired, switch the oven to broil for 2 to 5 minutes until the cheese is golden brown and bubbly, if desired. Let the potato boats cool for a few minutes before serving, then enjoy!
Notes
- For a light, fluffy filling, use russet or Idaho potatoes and mix only until the ingredients are just combined.
- Leave about ¼ to ½ inch of potato inside each shell so they're sturdy enough to hold the filling without tearing during the second bake.
- Spoon the filling into a zip-top bag and snip off one corner to create a simple piping bag for cleaner, more even filling.
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