One especially requested appetizer from my husband is Tater Skins. He loves the ones from TGI Fridays with the cheese and bacon. Well, those little taters are draining my wallet, so I offer up these (pretty close, maybe better) alternatives:
Ingredients:
1 Bag Red Skin Potatoes (there were 14 in my bag)
1/2 Block Cream Cheese
1/2 Bag Shredded Cheddar (2 Cups)
1/4 Stick Butter
1/4 C Milk
1 Box of Pre-Cooked Bacon (or if you have leftover bacon from breakfast)
Olive Oil
Kosher Salt
First things first. Poke your cleaned potatoes with a fork several times. Next, rub them with a little olive oil and kosher salt and put them on a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for about 50 minutes or until they are tender.
Meanwhile, add the 1/4 stick of Butter to a saucepan and melt. Next, add the Cream Cheese and combine with butter until melted. Then, add the Shredded Cheddar and the 1/4 C Milk. Continue to stir over Medium/Low heat until everything is well combined into a nice glob of cheese heaven!
Pour cheese mixture into a greased bowl and set aside to cool.
When the potatoes have cooled, cut them in half and scrape out some of the insides. Make sure to leave enough potato to hold a good structure, but take out enough to leave room for the cheese & bacon. Cut them in half again to make them bite sized.
Using a Teaspoon, scoop out the cheese mixture and put in the center of the potatoes.
Cut the pre-cooked bacon using kitchen sheers into strips and press it onto the cheese topping so that it won't fall off later. Put the Tater Skins into the refrigerator for about an hour to let them set up.
Finally, divide them up into serving sized that will suit your family, place them in marked freezer bags and freeze. Tater Skins will last up to 1 year in the freezer.
When you're ready to serve them, place them frozen on a greased cookie sheet and bake at 400 degrees for about 10 minutes (depending on your oven). Enjoy!
The Fake-It Yourself Breakdown:
56 Fake-It Yourself Tater Skins (Bag Potatoes $2.00, Cream Cheese $0.89, Shredded Cheddar $2.19, Pre-Cooked Bacon $2.29)
Total Fake-It Cost: $7.37
Compare to Frozen TGI Friday's Potato Skins (6 Count Box $3.79, $34.11 for 54 (9 Boxes!!!))
Total Fake-It Yourself Savings $26.74
PS - It's mashed potatoes with dinner tonight!
I love TGI Fridays potato skins, but you're right they cost way to much!
ReplyDeletegood tip! and way cheaper!
ReplyDeleteI love this!! Can't wait to make them for the family.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE that you made them using RED POTATO'S.
ReplyDeleteI love red potatoes. And even love them more with them "loaded". (lol)
Guess who made my TOP 3 recipes on
ReplyDeleteMADE IT ON MONDAY?!...YOU! :)
Thank you for the recipe...I will be trying them out :)
ReplyDeleteThank you thank you!
ReplyDeleteThey are absolutely delicious! Oh my goodness, they are an absolute hit with everyone who eats them! I've been having a hard time coming up with appetisers/side-dishes, and I usually end up staying away from potatoes because I end up letting them go to waste! Now this solves a whole lot of problems, I have enough for four more meals in the freezer! Money-saver, time-saver, potato-saver!! Yay!
you can also make twice baked potatoes with that too.
ReplyDeletecut the potatoe in half bake until tender, scoop the inside of the potatoe out, in a bowl mix the potatoe you have scraped out mix butter, milk, sour cream, shredded cheese and bacon bits.. spoon back into the potatoes and bake until golden brown.. if you want you can top them with extra shredded cheese!
Made these for the Super Bowl Party!! AWESOME!! Rave Reviews! Love the Chlorox Clean-Up tip also!!! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI"m so so so glad you posted this. Potato skins are my daughters (and mine) favorite, but I usually can't afford them. I refuse to pay that much for something that goes so quick. Thank you for this recipe!!!!
ReplyDeleteI've made these before, but not with this recipe! Mine didn't come out like the TGIF ones...lol I will definitely be trying this!!
ReplyDelete