Last Updated on August 20, 2022 by Karen
Jazz up taco night with these Cheddar Taco Potato Boats, which are potato skins stuffed with ground beef taco filling! They’re fun to eat, yet hearty, delicious, and filling.
We love Taco Tuesday and we go through our rotations of Crockpot Pork Carnitas Tacos with Pico de Gallo Instant Pot Beef Barbacoa and Korean Beef Bulgogi Tacos with Apple Carrot Slaw. But how about making these Cheddar Taco Potato Boats for a fun twist? Today, we are ditching the tortillas and taco shells, and using the taco meat in baked potatoes instead.
Russet potatoes are baked till tender, then filled with a yummy beef taco mixture and topped with melted, bubbly cheddar cheese – it doesn’t get any better.
These are great for sharing at football parties or even for an evening spent plopping on the couch watching your favorite teams play!
What is twice-baked potatoes?
You can bake the potatoes and make the filling ahead of time. Then all you have to do is to scoop, stuff, and bake or grill until the potato boats are heated through.
Here are the ingredients you’ll need to make these Cheddar Taco Potato Boats
Potatoes: Choose Russet potatoes that are large and elongated which are best for this recipe. You can use any other baking potatoes.
Onions: Yellow or white onions work.
Garlic: Fresh minced garlic has the best flavor.
Ground beef: I use 90% lean/10% fat ground beef for this recipe, but you can certainly use ground beef with different fat content. You can also use ground turkey or chicken for a lighter dish.
Taco seasoning: The seasoning gives the filling a ton of flavor. You can use storebought seasoning, or homemade taco seasoning. You can vary the heat by using either mild or spicy taco seasoning.
Unsalted butter: You can also use olive oil.
Green onions: Chives or cilantro can be used if you don’t like green onions.
How to make Cheddar Taco Potato Boats from scratch:
1. Bake potatoes until fork tender, let cool, then scoop out the filling.
3. Prepare taco filling by cooking ground beef with onions, garlic, tomatoes with green chiles, and taco seasoning, then stuff it back into those potatoes.
4. Top it with some more cheese and bake until melted, then garnish with green onions.
How do you serve these Cheddar Taco Potato Boats
These Taco Stuffed Potatoes are meant to be a main dish, as they are pretty hearty and filling. Just like tacos, you can top these cheddar taco potato boats with your favorite taco toppings. Lettuce, tomatoes, jalapenos, cilantro, green onions, sour cream, salsa, and guacamole are great. You can get as creative as you want with the toppings!
How do you prevent the potatoes from falling apart when scooping out the filling?
The trick is to let the potatoes sit and cool thoroughly before cutting them in half and scooping out the filling. I like to use a small teaspoon or melon baller to scoop out the potato, working gently and slowly. Avoid scooping out the filling with a big spoon all at once. If the potatoes fall apart, just use some aluminum foil to wrap them up and hold it together.
Cheddar Taco Potato Boats
Ingredients
- 4 large russet potatoes
- ½ lb ground beef
- 1 small onion diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tbsp taco seasoning
- 2 tbsps unsalted butter melted
- Salt and pepper to taste
- green onions for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400F. Poke the potatoes with a fork, and place on a baking sheet. Bake until fork tender, about 1 hour. Let the potatoes cool.
- Cut potatoes lengthwise in half and scoop out the flesh, leaving a half inch shell. Brush potatoes inside and out with melted butter and season with salt and pepper.
- In a large nonstick skillet over medium heat, brown beef and onion, breaking up the meat into small chunks, until cooked through, about 10 minutes. Drain grease if necessary.
- Add garlic, tomatoes, and taco seasoning. Cook until most of the liquid has evaporated, 3 to 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and set aside.
- Divide the taco mixture among the potato boats and top with cheddar cheese.
- Bake at 350F for 15 minutes until the potatoes are heated through and the cheese is melted. Garnish with green onions and serve.
Notes
What are some variations to these taco boats?
This is a really good recipe idea for my family. We avoid wheat so using the potato to kind of substitute using a bun is genius. #client
These look aaaamazing- my mouth is seriously drooling! Love that they’re more substantial than potato skins. I’m making them this weekend when we have friends over to watch football :)
These look and sound awesome
Looks Delicious.
What do you do with the potato that you scoop out?
Hi Carol, usually I save the potatoes to add to frittatas, breakfast hash and soups