We’re at peak football food season here in Tennessee, which means I’m busting out all my tailgating favorites. And I’m most definitely saving a spot for these fried potato skins! They fit perfectly into any game day spread as an appetizer or meal.
Special thanks to Mike Kubiesa for the recipe inspiration! He stuffs the deep-fried potato skins with chili, but I couldn’t resist trying it with brisket. You can make one of my brisket recipes, like the Foil Boat Brisket or Smoked Brisket, then use the leftovers for easy prep with these loaded potato skins. A great way to get so many freakin’ delicious meals out of one grill session!
Why You’ll Love Fried Potato Skins
Think on what you love most about French fries. The crispy, golden outside and the melt-in-your-mouth potato inside, right? With fried potato skins, you get the best parts of French fries AND the chance to load them up with your favorite toppings. And friends, I went wild. Like a full-on baked potato bar loaded into these crispy potato skins. Brisket, bacon bits, two kinds of cheese and jalapeño ranch dressing? Game ON.
Like you would with your favorite baked potato recipe, you can easily change out the filling or the toppings for what you want. Mike uses chili, which looks so freakin’ delicious. Taco meat, pulled pork or even chicken would be great here too.
Looking for more appetizer or game day ideas? Check out my roundups of The Best Grilled Appetizer Recipes and The Best Tailgating Recipes.
Fried Potato Skins Ingredients
- Filling: We’ll stuff our fried potato skins with chopped brisket, bacon bits, jalapeños, cream cheese, sharp cheddar cheese, kosher salt, black pepper and garlic powder.
- Potatoes: I like to use baked russet potatoes in this recipe. You’ll need frying oil for the deep fryer portion of this recipe, plus chopped scallions for garnish.
- Jalapeño Ranch: This dressing takes the fried potato skins to an 11. Grab some sour cream, mayonnaise, pickled jalapeños, garlic powder, black pepper and buttermilk for basically the best ranch dressing of your life.
Why Use Russets?
There are a few reasons why russets are the ideal potato in this fried potato skins recipe. First, with baked potatoes, you want a potato that’s low in moisture and high in starch. This balance creates a baked potato with a fluffy inside and crispy potato skin. Secondly, a Russet’s thick, rough skin crisps up really nicely and holds its structure well — two qualities you need when frying potato skins. Finally, Russets are typically large and oblong, which creates deeper cups. That’s the essentially perfect shape for loading up with toppings!
This recipe also calls for fully baked potatoes. To bake your russets, scrub them, use a fork to poke 6-8 holes in the potato, then bake at 425 degrees Fahrenheit for 45-60 minutes (depending on the size of your potato). Skip the foil so you have a crispy exterior! You’ll know they’re done when you can slide in a fork or knife with no resistance. Let them rest for five minutes after you take them out of the oven.
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How to Make Fried Potato Skins
Begin by fully baking your 6-8 russet potatoes until they are completely soft on the inside. Then, cut the potatoes lengthwise and scrape out the filling. Season with salt and set to the side.
Heat up some frying oil to 350 degrees F. Add in the potato skins and fry 2-4 minutes until crispy golden brown. When they’re done, pull off and let cool.
In a bowl, mix together your filling ingredients. You’ll use finely chopped brisket, bacon bits, diced jalapeños, cream cheese, shredded cheddar cheese, kosher salt, black pepper and garlic powder.
Add a scoop of the filling into your potato skins, then top with more shredded cheese and bacon bits.
Time to cook! Preheat your smoker to 325 degrees F for indirect cooking. Place the potato skins in the smoker and let them cook for 10-15 minutes, until the cheese is fully melted on top and the potatoes are hot throughout. Pull off and let cool for 5 minutes.
In a bowl, mix together the jalapeño ranch dressing ingredients: sour cream, mayonnaise, diced pickled jalapeños, pickling juice, garlic powder, black pepper, and buttermilk to your desired consistency and salt to taste.
Serve the dressing with the fried potato skins and enjoy!
What to Serve with Fried Potato Skins
These loaded, cheesy potato skins are a meal unto themselves, so you don’t need much to round out your lunch or dinner. A simple green salad, coleslaw, dill pickles or grilled vegetables on the side would be great, plus a cold IPA to wash it all down. Like I said, they fit in perfectly with any tailgating or appetizer spread too!
For More Potatoes
Leftovers and Reheating
If you’ve got leftover potato skins, store them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days. I’d recommend storing the filling separate if you can, so that way your potato skins don’t get too soggy. But no big deal if they’re already assembled! To reheat, place them in a baking sheet in a 400-degree F oven for 10 to 15 minutes. You could also use your air fryer at 375 degrees F for 5-8 minutes.
FAQs
You’ll want to use medium to large russets, about 8-10 ounces. That’s roughly the size of your fist. Smaller potatoes won’t give you enough room for the filling once you scoop out the potato flesh. On the flip side, larger potatoes can be tough to fry evenly, and they can get too large to eat as finger food.
For sure. They’ll have a sweeter flavor and different texture than russets, but will still be freakin’ delicious. Sweet potatoes have more moisture and less starch than russets, so the skins won’t get quite as crispy. They still fry up nicely, though. Sweet potato skins are more delicate too, so be sure to handle them gently.
Absolutely! You can bake the potatoes, scoop them out and fry the skins the day before. Store the unfilled fried skins in an airtight container in the fridge. Then, when you’re ready to eat, add your filling in the set potato cups and proceed with the rest of the recipe.
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Fried Potato Skins
Ingredients
Filling:
- 1.5 lbs Finely Chopped Brisket
- 1 cup Bacon Bits
- 2 small Jalapenos diced
- 8 oz Cream Cheese
- ¼ cup Cheddar Cheese shredded
- 2 tsp Kosher Salt
- 1 tsp Black Pepper
- 1 tsp Garlic Powder
Potatoes:
- 6-8 Russet Potatoes fully baked
- Chopped Scallions garnish
- Frying Oil
Jalapeno Ranch:
- 2.5 tbsp Sour Cream
- 2 tbsp Mayonnaise
- 1 tbsp Diced Pickled Jalapenos
- 1 tbsp Pickling Juice
- 1.5 tsp Garlic Powder
- 1 tsp Black Pepper
- Buttermilk to desired consistency
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Begin by fully baking your potatoes until they are completely soft on the inside.
- Cut the potatoes out lengthwise and scrape out the filling. Season with salt and set to the side.
- Heat up some frying oil to 350F.
- Add in the potato skins and for 2-4 minutes until crispy golden brown. Pull off and let cool.
- In a bowl mix the filling. Add a scoop of the filling into your potato skins topping with more shredded cheese and bacon bits.
- Preheat your smoker to 325F for indirect cooking.
- Add the potato skins to cook for 10-15 minutes until the cheese is fully melted on top and its hot throughout. Pull off and let cool for 5 minutes
- In a bowl, mix together the jalapeno ranch. Serve with the fried potato skins and enjoy!
