Taco Baked Potatoes
Turn a plain old baked potato into a spicy, creamy extravaganza with this Taco Stuffed Potatoes recipe!
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❤️ Why we love this recipe
This packed-with-flavor recipe for taco baked potatoes is a full meal in a one single potato (although we wouldn’t say no to maybe a prosecco margarita on the side? 💃) and here’s why.
We are going to bake up that potato, scoop out the insides and then mash it up with some spiced taco meat.
Then we are going to smoosh that taco-filled mashed potatoes back into the potato skins, cover the whole thing with cheese and bake it a little more until the cheese is melty.
THEN! You can go crazy with whatever toppings you like…sour cream, guacamole and salsa are on the top of our list, but you do you, topping-wise.
It is a taco in a potato and we are HERE FOR IT.
🥔 Ingredients you need
📝 Ingredient notes and substitutions
- Potatoes: Look for Idaho or russet potatoes (sometimes labeled as baking potatoes)…they are sturdy enough to stand up to having the insides scooped out and re-stuffed.
- Taco Seasoning: This is a mixture of spices like chili powder, cumin, paprika and other spicy spices. You can buy it pre-mixed in the international aisle of your supermarket, or you can make your own homemade taco seasoning in about 5 minutes with this easy recipe.
- Cheese: We love a nice sharp cheddar for these potatoes, but you can use a Mexican cheese blend, milk cheddar, Jack cheese…you pick! Go for the finely shredded kind for the best melting.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities and nutritional information.
👩🏻🍳 How to make this recipe
STEP 1: Scrub some potatoes well, pierce them a few times with a fork and bake them until they are soft, either approximately 10 minutes in the microwave or one hour in a 350° oven. Cool them for 10 minutes.
STEP 2: When they are cool enough to handle, cut the tops off of the potatoes lengthwise. Carefully scoop the cooked potato out of each potato skin, leaving the skins as intact as possible, and put the potato insides in a bowl.
STEP 3: Next! Cook some ground beef in a skillet over medium high heat until it is browned, and then add 1 tablespoon of taco seasoning and 2 tablespoons of water. Let it all simmer for 2 to 3 minutes.
STEP 4: Back to that potato filling! Mash all of the potato insides with some cream cheese and butter. Add some half-and-half in small increments until the potatoes are consistency that you like.
STEP 5: Now stir your taco meat into the mashed potato mixture.
STEP 6: Stuff each potato skin with the mashed potato taco mixture. Smoosh it down in there and use all of it!
STEP 7: Top your stuffed potatoes with shredded cheddar cheese and bake them in a 400° oven for about 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted.
Now all that’s left to do is decide how many toppings you want to adorn your taco stuffed baked potatoes with!
🤔 Recipe FAQs
Your best bet is russet or Idaho potatoes, which have a nice sturdy skin (you can also use a sweet potato!). Steer clear of Yukon Gold or Butter potatoes – they are scrumptious but their skin is too thin to hold in the stuffing.
If you are more info chicken for these babies, then absolutely! Just swap out the same amount of ground beef for the chicken…use shredded cooked chicken and warm it up with the taco seasoning and water. Or you can leave meat out entirely and have a vegetarian version.
Yes, if you need to, except for the last step when you melt the cheese. Let them come to room temperature first though.
Pop it in the comments section below and I will answer pronto!
🥣 Equipment we used for this recipe
These are some of my favorite kitchen tools! These are Amazon affiliate links, which means I get a little something if you buy through my links at no extra cost to you. (Which helps pay for all that bacon I keep buying! 😄) And I only share things I use and love. I’m so grateful for your support!
- Measuring Cup: We love these angled cups that show the measurements on both the inside and outside of the cup.
- Measuring Spoons: These handy magnetic spoons are not on a ring, so you can just pick the one you need.
- Cutting Board: These sturdy, dishwasher-safe cutting boards come in all different sizes.
- Potato Masher: We go back and forth between this masher and our potato ricer, but both will do the trick! The masher is better if you haven’t peeled the potatoes.
- Pyrex Mixing Bowls: These classic sturdy bowls come in all different sizes and are great for everything from mixing ingredients to being casual serving bowls.
- Rimmed Baking Pan: These baking pans are great for everything from roasting veggies to baking our favorite rum raisin oatmeal cookies.
🍽️ What to serve with this recipe
If you have an extra-hungry crowd, add some sheet pan nacho quesadillas on the side. And top off your potatoes with some bacon guacamole.
A peach margarita goes perfectly with this Tex-Mex dish and for dessert, let’s sweeten things up with a Strawberry Cheesecake Tart!
😍 Other baked potato recipes we love!
⭐️ We want to know what you think!
If you try this recipe, we would love to hear how it came out for you! I’d be super grateful if you could leave a star rating (you pick how many stars! 🌟 ) and your thoughts in the Comments section below the recipe card.
Taco Baked Potatoes
Turn a plain old baked potato into a spicy, creamy extravaganza with this baked stuffed taco potatoes recipe!
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cooling Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Microwave and Oven
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Gluten Free
Ingredients
- 4 large russet potatoes
- 1/2 pound ground beef
- 1 tablespoon taco seasoning
- 4 ounces cream cheese, softened and at room temperature
- 2 tablespoons butter at room temperature
- 1/2 cup half and half, warmed
- 1 cup shredded cheddar or jack cheese
- Any of the following for garnish: guacamole, sour cream, chopped scallions, salsa, chopped jalapenos, crushed tortilla chips, ground red pepper, fresh lime wedges
Instructions
- Scrub potatoes well, pierce a few times with a fork and bake until soft, either approximately 10 minutes in the microwave or one hour in a 350 degree oven. Cool for 10 minutes.
- Preheat your oven to 400.
- Cut the tops off of the potatoes lengthwise and discard. Carefully scoop the cooked potato out of each potato skin, leaving the skins as intact as possible.
- Cook the ground beef over medium high heat until browned. Add a tablespoon of taco seasoning and 2 tablespoons of water and let it simmer for a few minutes.
- Mash all the potato insides with cream cheese and butter. Add half and half in small increments until the potatoes are a consistency that you like (you might not need all the half and half).
- Stir the taco meat into the mashed potato mixture.
- Put the potato skins on a baking pan. Stuff the mashed potato mixture into the potato skins, smooshing it down until you have used all of it.
- Sprinkle cheese on the top of each potato. Bake for about 10 minutes or until cheese is melted.
- Garnish with your choice of toppings and serve at once.
Notes
- Potatoes: Look for Idaho or russet potatoes (sometimes labeled as baking potatoes)…they are sturdy enough to stand up to having the insides scooped out and re-stuffed.
- Taco Seasoning: This is a mixture of spices like chili powder, cumin, paprika and other spicy spices. You can buy it pre-mixed in the international aisle of your supermarket, or you can make your own homemade taco seasoning in about 5 minutes with this easy recipe.
- Cheese: We love a nice sharp cheddar for these potatoes, but you can use a Mexican cheese blend, milk cheddar, Jack cheese…you pick! Go for the finely shredded kind for the best melting.