Taco Night Twice-Baked Potatoes Recipe

There's so much more going for twice-baked potatoes than potato skins, though the two are similar and often get confused. You bake a potato, scoop out the centers, and refill with deliciousness — it's a similar formula for both spuddy dishes. What sets twice-baked potatoes apart is the repurposed filling. A flavorful mash, crafted from the center scoopings, goes back into the skins, and the whole thing is baked once again (hence the twice-baked namesake). Such a basic but foolproof formula is also very versatile, meaning you can load and top your twice-baked taters with just about anything the heart desires.

When tasked with making a twice-baked potato worthy of taco night, I didn't want to simply make a Tex-Mex-inspired baked potato and call it a day. I wanted these spuds to be flavorfully taco-themed from the inside-out. We start with the skins, which get a salt and cumin rub for maximum aromatic goodness. The mashed filling features lots of butter, garlic, and chipotle peppers for a touch of smoky heat. Finally, the topping is a fully loaded blend of melty cheese, seasoned ground beef, and pico de gallo ingredients, resulting in twice-baked potatoes that truly are taco-inspired from start to finish.

Gather the taco night twice-baked potato ingredients

For baking the potatoes, you will need four large russets or baking potatoes (uniformly sized and shaped), olive oil, salt, black pepper, and cumin. For the taco beef, you will need olive oil, ground beef, and taco seasoning. This recipe works really well with an assortment of ground meats, so feel free to use your favorite instead of beef.

To make the taco-inspired filling, gather butter, garlic, chipotle peppers in adobo, sour cream, cheddar cheese, scallions, salt, and pepper. Finally, to top off the spuds, you'll need fresh tomatoes, red onion, cilantro, scallions, and jalapeños.

Step 1: Preheat the oven

Step 2: Prep a baking sheet

Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

Step 3: Pierce the potatoes

Place the potatoes on the prepared baking sheet and prick all over with a fork.

Step 4: Season the potatoes

Drizzle the potatoes with olive oil and season with salt, pepper, and cumin. Rub the oil and seasoning into the potatoes using your hands.

Step 5: Bake the potatoes

Transfer the potatoes to the oven to bake for 1 hour, or until tender. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and set aside until the potatoes are cool enough to handle.

Step 6: Heat oil in pan

While the potatoes are cooling, make the taco beef by heating olive oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat.

Step 7: Season and brown the beef

Once hot, add the ground beef and taco seasoning to the skillet, stir to combine, and saute until cooked through, about 5 minutes.

Step 8: Halve the potatoes

Once the potatoes are cool enough to handle, slice them in half lengthwise.

Step 9: Scoop out the potato centers

Using a spoon, scoop out the potato flesh and place in a large bowl. Keep the potato skins on the baking sheet.

Step 10: Prep the mashed filling

Make the mashed filling by adding the butter, garlic, chipotle peppers, sour cream, ½ cup cheddar cheese, scallions, salt, and pepper to the bowl with the potato flesh.

Step 11: Mash the filling

Using a potato masher, mix and mash the ingredients together until the filling is thoroughly combined.

Step 12: Fill the potato skins

Divide the filling evenly between the potato skins.

Step 13: Add the taco beef

Step 14: Top with cheese

Sprinkle the beef with the remaining ½ cup grated cheddar and return the stuffed potatoes to the oven.

Step 15: Bake the potatoes

Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the cheese has melted, the skins have crisped, and the filling is hot throughout.

Step 16: Garnish the twice-baked potatoes with taco-inspired toppings

Serve the potatoes with tomatoes, onions, cilantro, scallions, and jalapeños, as well as any of your favorite taco condiments.

Taco Night Twice-Baked Potatoes Recipe

Upgrade taco night with this taco-inspired twice-baked potato recipe, which boasts crispy spud skins stuffed with creamy mash, taco beef, cheese, and toppings.

What are some tips for making the best baked potatoes?

Although this recipe is for twice-baked potatoes, tips for making the best baked potatoes apply as well, since the spuds all start out the same and go through similar cooking processes. It all starts before you even turn on the oven, when choosing the best potatoes to get the job done. For baking, russet potatoes (also known as baking potatoes) are the best option. These large taters have a high starch content, which makes for a light and fluffy mashed potato filling down the line. Make sure to give your potatoes a good water scrub to remove any dirt and debris, and let them dry entirely before proceeding with the olive oil and seasoning rub. That little rubdown we do helps create a really nice, crispy exterior. Don't be tempted to wrap the potatoes in foil, which will result in steamed skins instead of crispy ones.

Venting the potatoes (poking them with a fork) allows for any trapped steam to escape, which keeps them from splitting or bursting while baking. Those little vent holes also help promote even cooking, so tedious as it may be, it's not a step to skip.

What other taco toppings could I add to these twice-baked potatoes?

A good taco night should be anything but boring, and that sentiment goes for this taco-inspired twice-baked potato recipe as well. To keep things mostly classic, I stuck with go-to taco fillings like seasoned ground beef, cheddar cheese, tomato, onions, jalapeños, scallions, and cilantro. I left things a little more to the imagination in terms of condiments, allowing for a more choose-your-own-adventure approach. A good dollop of sour cream or guacamole would go a long way here, but if you want to get more creative, you've got no shortage of options.

I could see some fajita-veggie action (sauteed bell peppers and onions) working very well on these potatoes. You can experiment with an assortment of cheeses, reaching for cotija, Oaxaca, Monterey Jack, or pepper Jack to spice things up a bit. Added crunchy elements would also go a long way here. Think shredded cabbage or crispy lettuce, radishes, crushed tortilla chips, or fresh corn kernels for added textural appeal. Softer goodies would work nicely too, like black beans or plain avocado slices.