This crispy potato skins recipe is stuffed with fluffy mashed potatoes combined with three types of cheese, sour cream, and green onions and topped with crushed garlicky croutons. It’s the ultimate game-day appetizer!

 

Crispy Oven Baked Potato Skins

I think I could live on appetizers. I mean, if there’s one thing that gets me through football season, it’s the snacks, and these crispy potato skins steal the show every year. They’re one of my favorite appetizers to make for game day (DA BEARS 🐻), and they pretty much vanish from the plate as soon as they hit the table. Can you blame us? Garlicky, cheesy, oven-baked potato skins loaded with all the fixings and plenty of crunch are impossible to resist. 

Why You’ll Love This Crispy Potato Skins Recipe

• Easy to make. It couldn’t be easier to turn the skins of a baked potato into a cheesy, savory appetizer or side dish! These aren’t just hollowed-out cheesy potato skins – no siree. They’re hollowed out and stuffed with mashed potatoes, cheese, and sour cream.
• Triple-baked. These baked potato skins are crispy. Like, REALLY crispy. I bake them in the oven three times and load them up with crushed croutons for an even more delicious crunch.
• Three kinds of cheese. Because no one ever complains about too much cheese.

Ingredients For Potato Skins

When I found potatoes on sale recently, I got a couple of bags and made these potato skins with one of them. Below is a quick overview of the ingredients. Be sure to scroll down to the recipe card for a full ingredient list and detailed instructions.

• Potatoes: Choose a starchy baking potato, like Yukon Gold or Russet potatoes.
• Salt and Pepper
• Sour Cream: I can’t even fathom creamy mashed potatoes without sour cream, so obviously, it makes an appearance in my potato skins recipe. You can use low-fat or regular sour cream to make the potato filling, but don’t skip it!
• Green Onions and Parsley: Thinly sliced green onions and fresh chopped parsley.
• Cheese: I couldn’t decide which kind of cheese I loved most, so I went with three. Shredded cheddar for sharpness, parmesan for flavor, and part-skim mozzarella for meltyness. The trifecta of cheeses.
• Croutons: Garlicky croutons amp up the crunch factor in these baked potato skins. I crush up the croutons, but you could also use garlic breadcrumbs, and toast them in a dry skillet.

How to Make Crispy Potato Skins

Who’s ready to devour some crispy, cheesy homemade potato skins? This appetizer calls for three quick stints in the oven, so it’s like thrice baked potatoes!

1. Bake the potatoes. Start by baking your potatoes in the oven or air fryer. Afterward, let the potatoes cool.
2. Hollow out the potato skins. Cut each baked potato in half, and use a spoon or fork to scoop the flesh into a bowl. Next, slice the potato halves in half again to make wedges.
3. Bake the skins. Arrange the hollowed-out potato wedges back on the baking sheet, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and return them to the oven for 15 minutes so that the outsides start to get crispy.
4. Fill and bake again. Meanwhile, mash the leftover potato, and add sour cream, green onions, parsley, and shredded cheese. Add in crushed croutons and stir it all together. Fill the prepared potato skins, top with more croutons, and bake again.

Are Potato Skins Healthy?

Potatoes and their skins are high in potassium, vitamin C, and antioxidants. Most of a potato’s fiber and nutrition is found in the skin, so eating the skins is the best way to reap the health benefits (Healthline). My crispy potato skins are also baked, not fried, so they’re a healthier option over variations that are cooked in oil.

Tips for Crispy Potato Skins

• Make sure that your potatoes are dry before you bake them. Give your potatoes a rinse and a scrub under cold water, and make sure they’re 100% dry before putting them in the oven. Excess moisture in the potato skins can keep them from becoming crispy.
• Cool the potatoes until they’re easy to handle. The baked potatoes should still be warm when scooping them out, and not piping hot.
• Don’t scrape right down to the skin, but leave about ¼ inch of flesh in each potato half so that the skins hold up with the filling.

Potato Skins Toppings and Variation Ideas

Adapting this recipe couldn’t be easier! Try these quick variations and tasty toppings:

• Skip the mashed potato filling. If you’d prefer a more classic crispy baked potato skin, simply sprinkle the hollowed-out, baked skins with shredded cheddar and then place them under the broiler to melt the cheese. Afterward, top them with sour cream and green onions.
• Add bacon. Mix cooked, crumbled bacon into the mashed potatoes or sprinkle bacon over the top of the finished potato skins.
• Taco meat. Fill your potato skins with cooked ground beef seasoned with homemade taco seasoning, like a baked potato version of taco bowls.
• Pulled pork. Top crispy potato skins with juicy BBQ pulled pork for something smoky and different.
• Chili. Leftover turkey chili makes a cozy, savory topping for crispy potato skins.

Serving Suggestions

• Pizza. Crispy potato skins are an easy appetizer next to Macedonian fried pork pizza. 👌
• Dip. My crab artichoke dip or baked shrimp dip makes an appearance at our Super Bowl parties every year. Hot dips are classic and so satisfying, perfect to serve with crackers or veggies.
• Chicken wings. Another finger-food favorite, homemade lemon pepper wings are flavorful, extra crispy, and easy to make.
• Burgers. What’s better than burgers and fries? Burgers and potato skins, obvi. Try my juicy homemade turkey burgers or these vegetarian black bean burgers.
• More appetizers. There’s never a shortage of party snacks in our house! I love serving crispy potato skins alongside a spread of jalapeño poppers, chewy pretzel bites, or these zesty Cajun shrimp tortilla bites with guac.
• Drinks. Hosting a crowd? Wash down these crispy potato skins with a homemade Bloody Mary cocktail or festive apple cider mimosas.

How to Store and Reheat Leftovers

• Fridge. Store cooled potato skins in an airtight container and keep refrigerated for up to 3 days. The croutons will soften over time, but the flavor will still be delicious! Reheat the potato skins in the oven to help crisp up the crumbs again.
• Freeze. If you’re planning on freezing the potato skins, I recommend leaving out the croutons. Pre-freeze the filled potato wedges on a baking sheet and then transfer them to a zip-top bag. Store the potato skins frozen for up to 3 months. You can bake the skins straight from frozen, but they might require additional baking time.

More Easy Appetizer Ideas

• Air Fryer Chicken Tenders
• Southwest Egg Rolls
• Crispy Garlic Parmesan Wings
• Air Fryer Fried Calamari
• Roasted Parmesan Cauliflower Bites
• Grilled Chimichurri Steak Skewers