Taco Stuffed Jacket Potatoes For the Budget-Friendly Win
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Stuffed Jacket Potatoes? One of the best bargains out there is the potato. Even KwikTrip has them with an everyday price of $0.38 a pound, but you can often get a 5-pound bag for roughly a buck at the grocery store.
If you know the trick to whipping up jacket potatoes then you have a base for so many different meal ideas! You can easily turn it into a meal with a few simple toppings!
Back in the ’80s, stuffed jacket potatoes were all the rage in Wisconsin Restaurants – I remember the menu at my mom’s place with 6 varieties on it! Taco stuffed jacket potatoes were just one idea, there were tuna taters, broccoli and cheddar taters, chicken a la king taters, chili taters, and then simply loaded taters with bacon, cheese, sour cream, and chives. You are only limited by your imagination on what you can stuff your jacket potatoes with!
All About Stuffed Jacket Potatoes:
What is the difference between a jacket potato and a baked potato?
Think of putting on a jacket. That is all it is – the jacket means the skin of the potato. Regardless of whether the potato is cooked in water, oil, dry bake, or roasting, it is a jacket potato if the skin is still on it. It usually refers to a russet potato that is baked in the oven until soft and fluffy. Since most baked potatoes are with their skin on, you could use these terms interchangeably.
What are the best potatoes for baking?
I always go for the Russet! The skins are nice and thick, which allows them to crisp up perfectly in the oven. Add that to the starchy insides that make for an extra fluffy and sweet filling? You have a winner! Most places refer to russets as “baking potatoes”.
Are you supposed to wrap baked potatoes in foil?
Just. No. Foil holds in the moisture and steams the potatoes instead of baking them. It will result in a “boiled” taste and texture.
Why do restaurants serve baked potatoes wrapped in foil?
It is easier to wash a bunch of potatoes, season them (probably with salt) and then wrap them with foil at the beginning of a night to pop into the ovens for the nightly dinner shift. The main reason they are wrapped in foil is to increase the time that the potatoes remain hot after being removed from the oven. Potatoes do hold lot of heat on their own, for a while, so this isn’t necessary for the home chef.
Should you pierce baked potatoes?
Absolutely. First of all, they could explode. It isn’t a given, but it is possible and a horrible mess to clean up in an oven. Add the fact that a potato is full of water? That water turns to steam and tries to escape in the oven. By poking holes in the skin, it allows the steam to escape so you have a better final potato product and help eliminate that “boiled” taste and texture.
Why do they put salt on the outside of baked potatoes?
Should you eat the skin of a jacket potato?
How to bake a perfect jacket potato:
Taco Stuffed Jacket Potatoes
While your potatoes are baking, you can make whatever filling you plan to stuff them with. In this case? It would be the taco meat. We are adding back in some of that fluffy goodness of the jacket potato so you have a cross between a twice-baked potato and a taco topped tater.
Taco seasoning is on sale all the time for under $0.50 a packet and you really only use half a pack as it is only half a pound of ground beef. That helps keep this a thrifty meal!
Oh. So. Good.
You will need:
4 Large potatoes, baked and with the filling scooped out and reserved
1/2 Cup sour cream
1 Cup cheese, shredded
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 Pound ground beef
1 Onion, chopped
2 Tbsp taco seasoning
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Heat the oil in a pan over medium heat.
Sautee the ground beef, taco seasoning, and onion until the onion is softened and the ground beef is browned.
Remove from heat.
In a bowl combine the potato pulp with the sour cream and half the shredded cheese, mashing until everything is like a thick paste.
Add the taco meat and stir until incorporated.
Stuff the potatoes with the filling and top with the remaining cheese.
Bake for 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted and bubbly.
Can you just see that crisp skin on the Taco Stuffed Jacket Potatoes that are just waiting for your fork? Yum!
Other articles you may find helpful:
Taco Stuffed Jacket Potatoes
If you know the trick to whipping up jacket potatoes then you have a base for so many different meal ideas! You can easily turn it into a meal with a few simple toppings!
Ingredients
- 4 Large potatoes, baked and with the filling scooped out and reserved
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1 cup cheese, shredded
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 lb ground beef
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 tbsp taco seasoning
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Wash and dry your potatoes.
- Cut a cross on the top center of the potatoes instead of poking them to release the steam.
- Put the potatoes at the top rack of the oven – right on the rack, not on a baking sheet or in a casserole dish.
- Cook 1-2 hours until they feel crunchy on the outside.
- This is the important part: remove the potatoes, cut them open again to release the steam, then put them back into the oven for 10 more minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- Heat the oil in a pan over medium heat.
- Saute the ground beef, taco seasoning, and onion until the onion is softened and the ground beef is browned.
- Remove from heat.
- In a bowl combine the potato pulp with the sour cream and half the shredded cheese, mashing until everything is like a thick paste.
- Add the taco meat and stir until incorporated.
- Stuff the potatoes with the filling and top with the remaining cheese.
- Bake for 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted and bubbly.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
4Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 657Total Fat: 29gSaturated Fat: 13gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 12gCholesterol: 95mgSodium: 584mgCarbohydrates: 70gFiber: 7gSugar: 6gProtein: 30g
