Starchy amazing goodness

Yes! Potatoes! My heart swells with the thought of sticky Sweet Potatoes and creamy delicious Russet Potatoes. Call it stuffed, call it loaded, call it piled mile-high. One of my favorite easy weeknight dishes is a Baked Potato with all the works.

Stuffed Baked Potatoes work perfectly as a Structure in Meal Building making them a quick and easy go-to meal. After we’re done here, I hope you find yourself making super tasty Stuffed Baked Potatoes at home as often as I do!

So, let’s get started!

The Quick and Easy Formula

I approach Stuffed Baked Potatoes as I do with my other favorite meals (like Rice Bowls) - using the Meal Building Formula. This system of efficiently creating meals breaks each dish down into four main components:

STRUCTURE | BASE | TOPPINGS | SAUCE

1. Structure: Think of this as the "title" or "category"
   In this case, it’s the Baked Potato!

2. Base: An optional, complex addition to define a dish

3. Toppings: Additional veggies, fruits, dips, or salsas

4. Sauce: Something delicious to drizzle all over
   You may wind up mixing it into your base, too!

Pretty straightforward, yeah? Let’s dive in a little deeper and explore the specifics.

Creating your Stuffed Baked Potato

1. Structure

When building your Stuffed Baked Potato, consider the Potato itself your “Structure”. There are a ton of different kinds of potatoes out there, so feel free to use your favorite!

You’ll want to use potato varieties that are large, that way you can stuff them, of course!

Most commonly used are:

• Russet Potatoes

• Sweet Potatoes (any kind)

>> These varieties above are my go-to. I’m sure to pick individual Potatoes that are about the size of my hand, fairly regular in shape, and are hard in texture. Mushy Potatoes are no good, avoid them!

Preparing your Baked Potato

Okay, so baking a Potato takes some time. Depending on the size, shape, or kind of Potato you’re baking, the cooking times will vary.

This is what I do:

1. Turn oven to 425 degrees

2. Wash Potato(s)

3. Puncture each Potato with a fork or knife 8-10 times

4. Loosly cover each Potato in aluminum foil

5. Put Potato(s) in oven (doesn’t need to be preheated all the way) and bake for 45 minutes…

6. Check on Potatoe(s). If a fork can be inserted very easily, they’re done! If not, bake another 10 minutes. Repeat if necessary.

That’s pretty much it! Super easy, super straightforward. Just takes some patience.

>> I don’t season my Potatoes with Salt, Pepper, or Spices beforehand because I hate the extra steps. If you’re more ambitious than I, go for it! Give it a rub with any seasonings before wrapping in foil.

>> If you want to thank your past-self in the future, bake some extra Potatoes and store them in the fridge for up to 3-5 days. Don’t keep them in the foil though— that makes for a botulism breeding ground. For super quick meal arrangement, simply microwave the pre-baked Potatoes for 2 minutes till they’re piping hot all the way through!

2. Base

Ahoooo boy. This is where your Baked Potato gets real fancy. Including a Base for a Stuffed Baked Potato isn’t necessary, but I highly recommend it if you want a hearty meal.

Bases I use most often:

• Bean Mixtures like Spicy Beans, Sweet Corn

• Chunky or Hearty Soups like Veggie Chili or Cozy Peanut Stew

• Baked Beans

• Steamed or Roasted Veggies

• Cooked Lentils

Think outside the box when choosing a Base for your Baked Potato. Especially if you’re working with Russet Potatoes, their flavor is so mild that you can combine it with just about anything and it’ll be delicious. Creativity in the kitchen is what makes cooking exciting! Experiment away.

3. Toppings

Toppings for your Baked Potato can be super expansive or you can stick to the classics. If you aren’t sure where to start, just use what you’ve got in your fridge or in the pantry.

Here are some ideas:

Baby Tomatoes
Corn
Avocado
Green Onion
Chives
Cilantro
Red Cabbage
Green Cabbage
Carrots
Peas
Broccoli

Pico de Gallo
Sauerkraut
Kimchi
Guacamole
Hummus
Pickled Jalapenos
Roasted Red Bell Pepper
Olives
Crushed Tomatoes
Beans
Herbs & Spices

>> I’ve usually got shredded Red Cabbage, diced Green Onion, halved Baby Tomatoes, Pickled Jalapenos prepped in my fridge for quick Stuffed Potato making.

4. Sauce

A Sauce isn’t necessary, but is always an awesome addition. I enjoy using creamy Sauces for Stuffed Baked Potatoes because I think it pairs really nicely with the starchiness of the Potato.

My favorites to use are Spicy Cilantro Crema, Cashew Lime Crema, or Vegan Nacho Cheese Sauce.

Some other suggestions: Vegan Sour Cream, Vegan Ranch Dressing, Cashew Alfredo Sauce, Avocado Goddess Dressing, Lemon Tahini Dressing

>> I’ve always got one Sauce prepped in my fridge that I use on a variety of meals. I recommend keeping one to two of your fav Sauces in your fridge at a time because it can be a great motivator for making healthy meals on the fly.

View all of my Sauce Recipes here

Arranging your Stuffed Baked Potato

Okay let’s say we’ve got our Potato baked and warm, we’ve got our Base ready, we’ve got the Toppings all chopped, we’ve got our Sauce ready for pouring. Awesome. There are a few different ways you can go about arranging your Stuffed Baked Potato.

1. Cut a rectangle down the middle of your Potato, from end to end, and scoop out the inside. Mix the scooped out Potato with your base, toppings, and/or sauce, and stuff back in.

2. OR Cut Potato down the middle in a cross-hatch pattern, pull apart sides, and pile base, toppings, and sauce over top.

Sweet Potatoes have a higher sugar & water content making them much easier to scoop out or break up the inside. Don’t be discouraged if the skin of your Russet breaks, they’re tough to handle sometimes.

If you decide to scoop out the middle and mix ingredients together, you may need to add a few splashes of water to get everything to combine - especially with Russets, as they’re pretty starchy. If your Potato gets cold in the stuffing process, nuke in the microwave for a few minutes to get everything nice and toasty again. Just be sure to leave off any raw veggies or sauces before doing this.

>> I pretty much always opt for simply piling everything over top of my Potato, much quicker and just as tasty.

Deciding what to Stuff in your Potato

Aside from actually eating your Stuffed Baked Potato, I think brainstorming ideas is the most fun part of arranging this meal.

If you’re super new to meal-building or the kitchen and don’t know where to start, I recommend reading this post on How to Build a Yummy Rice Bowl for ideas on how to brainstorm for meals. (Scroll to “Getting Started”)

I’ve included below some of my go-to meals, hopefully these ideas will inspire you to try something new!

My Favorite Stuffed Baked Potato Creations

Sweet Potato & Peanut Stew

Structure - Baked Sweet Potato
Base - Cozy Peanut Stew
Toppings - Green Cabbage
Sauce - Cashew Lime Crema

Curry Spiced Baked Potato

Structure - Baked Russet Potato
Base - n/a
Toppings - Peas, Onion Powder, Curry Powder
Sauce - Spicy Cilantro Crema

** I think this one’s best if you scoop out the inside, combine potato with toppings & a little water, stuff back in the potato skin, and drizzle with the Crema overtop

Creamy Spicy Beans

Structure - Baked Russet Potato
Base - Spicy Beans, Sweet Corn
Toppings - Baby Tomatoes, Pickled Jalapenos
Sauce - Cilantro Lime Crema
** I think this one’s best if you scoop out the inside, combine everything together, and stuff back in the potato skin

Chili Stuffed Potato

Structure - Baked Russet Potato
Base - Veggie Chili
Toppings - Green Onions
Sauce - Spicy Cilantro Crema

We did it!

Time to Start Stuffin Your Spuds

I really hope this post conveyed how easy and fun it is to make Stuffed Baked Potatoes at home. I think everyone should make more potatoes - many more potatoes.