Grilled Potato Skins loaded with cheese and bacon are grilled in 10 minutes. It is perfect for baking the potatoes earlier in the day and grilling at game-time!
The snow hit hard in our area this weekend, and we were getting nervous that we wouldn’t be able to grill our Over the Top Amazing Grilled Potato Skins for the upcoming playoff games. Our grill is currently covered with 9 inches of snow, so we are going to have to start digging it out. Have you ever had your lid frozen shut? We have and passed on some handy tricks in that post.
Tailgate-related food is some of my favorite as we watch the games. We came from a smaller town in Washington state where football is incredibly popular and people live and die by the high school games. There is still part of that feeling inside of us! Yes, we still root for the Seahawks even though we also cheered on the good old Cleveland Browns when we lived in Cleveland. What can I say? We love a good underdog!
We decided to expand our tailgating menu to include the Grilled Potato Skins which our son declared as “the best thing we have ever grilled!” These have a very mild grilled flavor that takes the normal potato skins to a different – and even more yummy(!) – level. They are only on the grill for a short amount of time so the flavor is definitely more “grilled” than “smoked” for this recipe. It lends itself to a good party on the deck with friends that aren’t as into the smoky flavor as we are!
🍲 Preparation
We like to bake our potatoes in the oven prior to grilling.
Step One: Wash the potatoes and poke a few holes in them with a fork. Brush them with olive oil and then sprinkle them with coarse-ground sea salt or Kosher salt.
I made the mistake of using finely ground salt once and the potato skins were way too salty!
Step Two: Wrap them in aluminum foil and bake them in the oven at 400 degrees for 60 – 90 minutes. The time will vary depending on the size of your potatoes.
Note: You can microwave these in a pinch, but you will lose a bit of flavor, and you won’t get that crispy skin. If you have the time, definitely bake.
Step Three: After they are cooked, allow them to cool. Slice them in half lengthwise and scoop out the center of the potato, leaving about ¼ of an inch around the outer skin. Reserve the inside of the baked potato for other dishes.
🔥 Grilling Instructions
Step One: Heat the grill to 325 degrees. I used the GrillGrate on my Big Green Egg, but you can keep the potato skins straight on the grating with direct heat. It won’t be on that long, so you won’t need to worry about burning.
Step Two: Place the scooped out potato halves on the grill with direct heat for five minutes. Add cheese and bacon to the potatoes and grill for an additional five minutes. They should be nice and bubbly.
Step Three: Remove them from the grill and add green onions, sour cream and even some butter to make them fully loaded.
Serve them immediately. In our case, a couple of them were snatched from the serving tray before it even made it back to the kitchen!
Related Potato Recipes
Grilled Foil Wrapped Sweet Potatoes – As easy as one-two-three, these “baked” sweet potatoes are perfect for a lower carb alternative at your BBQ.
Smoked Fingerling Potatoes – OMG! I am in love with smoking potatoes. The fingerling spuds are smaller, so they don’t take as much time, but what a fun treat (especially when topped with butter and garlic!)
Brisket Twice Baked Potatoes – I topped my twice baked potatoes with some leftover smoked brisket and turned these into a meal, all on its own.
Mouth Watering Grilled Potato Skins
Ingredients
- 4 Baking Potatoes large
- 1/2 cup Shredded Cheese mexican, or mixed
- 1/2 cup Bacon cooked, crumbled
- 2 tbsp Green Onions chopped
- 8 tsp Sour Cream
- 4 tbsp Olive Oil
- 2 tbsp Sea Salt
Instructions
Preparing the Potatoes
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees
- Wash the outside of the potatoes. Poke 3-4 holes in both sides of the potatoes. Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt and wrap in foil. Place in oven and bake for 60 -90 minutes. You want them to be fork-tender, so the large potatoes may take a little more time.
- Allow potatoes to cool. Scoop out the meaty part of the potato while leaving about 1/8-1/4 inch of potato near the skin all the way around. If you take too much out, the skins will become weak and won't hold together while grilling.
Grilling the Potato Skins
- Preheat the grill at 325
- Brush the scooped out potatoes with olive oil inside and out. Place on the heated grill and grill for five minutes.
- Sprinkle a tablespoon of cheese and bacon in each potato skin and grill an additional five minutes. That will give the cheese enough time to melt and the potato skins will get a bit crispy.
- Remove from grill and sprinkle with green onions and add sour cream
Notes
Nutrition
Jason’s been firing up the grill for over 30 years after graduating from the US Coast Guard Academy. His love of finely-grilled steak and chicken led him to buy his first Weber grill to put on his apartment patio in 1992. Each military move led to a new grill (a mixture of gas and charcoal) until he fell in love with the Big Green Egg in 2008. Since then, he has added another 4 grills to the collection. Yes, he has a problem. Jason loves smoking in the ceramic BGE with exotic woods including olive wood from Egypt and hard to find varieties such as sassafras and orange wood. Jason takes the term “foodie” to a whole new level, jumping at the chance to take food tours and cooking classes during foreign travels. These have provided inspiration to incorporate new ideas into recipes when he gets back home. He has been featured in Fox News, Parade, Yahoo News, Kansas City Living and more. After retiring from the military and moving to southwest Florida, he has focused grilling and smoking locally sourced meats and fish (read: he likes to catch his own fish!)
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