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–+ servings
A Volcano Potato on a cutting board.
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4.94 from 16 votes

The Ultimate Volcano Potato

The Ultimate Volcano Potato needs to be on every potato lovers bucket list! With baked potato toppings like these, it's a flavor explosion in every bite!
Prep Time25 minutes
Cook Time1 hour 20 minutes
Broil Time5 minutes
Total Time1 hour 50 minutes
Servings: 6
Calories: 651kcal
Author: Karin and Ken

Ingredients

  • 4-5 large Idaho or Russet potatoes
  • 12 (3 per potato) bacon slice
  • 2 cups cheese shredded (more or less to taste)
  • ¼ -½ cup Parmesan cheese grated or shredded (more or less to taste)
  • 1 cup sour cream or flavored sour cream based dip more or less to taste
  • ½ cup bacon cooked, crumbled, or, ham, chopped, or ground sausage, cooked more or less to taste, if desired
  • hot sauce - to taste optional
  • ¼ cup onion diced
  • ¼ cup butter more or less to taste
  • barbecue sauce
  • ¼ cup green onions thinly sliced, for garnish if desired
  • salt - to taste
  • pepper - to taste
  • toothpicks
  • cooking spray
  • ¼ cup cream or milk, if needed

Instructions

  • Get out and measure your ingredients.
    Ingredients needed to create the best volcano potato
  • Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Prepare a rimmed baking sheet with tinfoil coated in cooking spray. Wash and dry potatoes. Use a fork to poke several holes all over the potato to allow steam to escape while baking.
    Six russet potatoes on a foil lined pan.
  • Cut a slice off of the fattest end of the potato so that you can stand each potato up on a flat surface easily, without wobbling.
    Six russet potatoes on a foil lined pan with end sliced off o potatoes will stand up.
  • Cover or coat with olive oil and
    Oil drizzled on top of potatoes on the foil lined pan.
  • Sprinkle with salt and some pepper. Stand potatoes up. Bake for 50 minutes or until potatoes are fork tender.
    Covered potatoes with salt and pepper and stand potatoes up.
  • In the meantime, using a small bowl, whisk together sour cream, 2 tablespoons of barbecue sauce (or more or less to taste) and hot sauce (if using) until well combined.
    Clear bowl filled with sour cream, barbecue sauce and hot sauce
  • Once blended, chill in the refrigerator until serving. We prefer to purchase a sour cream based flavored dip and add barbecue sauce or just skip this step and just use store bought. It is totally up to you. Prepare and refrigerate until needed.
    Sour cream mixture blended in clear bowl.
  • Remove potatoes from the oven when done and allow them to cool until you are able to handle them, usually 5-10 minutes. Do not turn your oven off yet. Slice top off each potato.
    Cooked Baked potatoes removed from oven with tops cut off.
  • Using a spoon or melon baller carefully scoop out the pulp inside the potato, as deep and as close as you can to the inside edge.
    Empty potatoes on foil lined baking sheet.
  • Place pulp in a medium sized mixing bowl with ¼ cup butter. The butter will melt as the scoops of potato pulp land on it in the mixing bowl. If the potato breaks a little while scraping the inside that is ok. The bacon will keep the potato secure.
    Butter and scooped out potato flesh in big clear bowl.
  • Add cooked, crisp and crumbled bacon.
    Butter and scooped out potato flesh in big clear bowl. in big clear bowl.
  • Add diced onions, sour cream, meat and cheeses to the potato pulp.
    Potato flesh in big clear bowl with parmesan cheese, sour cream and onions added.
  • Blend, ideally with a handheld mixer, until contents are smooth. Taste the potato mixture as you go and adjust amounts and ingredients to taste. 
    Potato flesh blended together in big clear bowl.
  • Dump contents into a re-sealable bag.
    Potato flesh mixture placed inside a large resealable bag.
  • Press potato mixture into one corner.
    Potato flesh mixture pressed into bottom of bag.
  • Cut corner off with scissors, about a 1 inch long cut. Try not to make the hole too big. Squeeze contents back inside the potato. Try to fill the potato up with as much of the potato mixture as possible.
    Bag contents with potato mixture inside being squeezed inside empty potatoes.
  • Potatoes will pile up on top and overflow and that is ok.
    Potatoes on foil lined rimmed baking sheet filled with potato mixture.
  • Wrap each raw slice of bacon around the potato, starting at the bottom, using toothpicks to secure the start and end of each piece as it overlaps.
    Bacon being wrapped around each potato starting at the bottom, using toothpicks to secure bacon..
  • Shove toothpicks in your potato about ½ inch deep.
    Up to 3 slices of bacon are wrapped around each potato.
  • You should be using 2-3 slices of bacon per potato.
    Six potatoes wrapped in bacon, ready for the oven on a baking sheet.
  • Return potatoes to prepared sheet and bake for 20 minutes.
    Potatoes are ready to go in the oven.
  • Using a brush add barbecue sauce to each bacon slice, on the sides of the potato. Be generous with the barbecue sauce. Bake for 10 minutes in the oven or until bacon is cooked. Baste the potatoes again with the barbecue sauce while baking. You will be glad you did later!
    Barbecue sauce is being added to outside of bacon slices.
  • Preheat the broiler on high. Press shredded cheese on top of each potato and place potatoes back in the oven to bake or broil until cheese is brown and melted, a few minutes.
    Cheese ae to top of each potato and broiled for a few minutes until melted.
  • Remove potatoes from oven and drizzle sour cream mixture on top and even drip down the sides if desired! Top with green onions.
    Finished potatoes with barbecue sauce sour cream mixture drizzled on top and down sides.
  • Serve immediately. Enjoy every bite!

Video

Notes

You can do so many things with a russet potato...the options are almost endless. If you want some other ideas than the volcano potato, check out this link full of mind-blowingly great recipes. I'm sure you won't be disappointed!

Nutrition

Calories: 651kcal | Carbohydrates: 49g | Protein: 24g | Fat: 41g | Saturated Fat: 22g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 12g | Trans Fat: 0.3g | Cholesterol: 106mg | Sodium: 743mg | Potassium: 1182mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 1035IU | Vitamin C: 15mg | Calcium: 542mg | Iron: 3mg