Twice-Baked Potatoes Are The Ultimate Comfort Food

Life is too short to eat boring potatoes. If someone were to serve you a plain baked potato, sans seasoning or butter, you would likely be disappointed. Spuds are full of culinary potential — they can take on a number of different forms and flavors — but if you're unsure of how to jazz them up, give Mashed recipe developer Sher Castellano's 30-minute twice-baked potatoes a try. This classic comfort food option will warm your belly and your heart with its rich, cheesy flavor.

This twice-baked potato is the love child of mashed potatoes and baked potatoes. Imagine a crispy baked potato hollowed out, stuffed with fluffy smashed potatoes, cheese, butter, sour cream, and anything else you desire, and then baked to perfection.

As the name of the recipe suggests, these twice-baked potatoes come together in a half-hour. They make a wonderful side dish for fish or steak, or you could incorporate protein, like ham or chorizo, into your potato filling to make them an entree.

Castellano's twice-baked potatoes are perfect for both special occasions and weeknight dinners. When gathering your ingredients, it's important to select the correct variety of potato. "Russet potatoes are best because they have a great texture, firm and not too soft, and have a terrific skin texture, which holds up for a double bake process," they said.

For this recipe, you'll use a few ingredients to enhance the natural creaminess of the inside of the baked potato. Sour cream, milk, and cheddar — or whatever cheese you like best — add decadence to this fluffy filling. The most difficult part of this recipe is scraping out the center of the potatoes. Be careful not to tear the skins or create any punctures. Once you've done that, simply combine the rest of the ingredients, refill the potato skins with that mixture, and bake them again.

Castellano keeps the toppings basic for this simple twice-baked potato recipe, with sour cream, tomatoes, and scallions. However, there's room to experiment with other varieties of fresh ingredients for the top of your potato.