Stuffed Baked Potatoes with Cheese Sauce
Submitted by windstrm
Twice-baked stuffed potatoes whipped with egg yolk and butter until fluffy, then topped with a sharp cheddar cheese sauce spiked with mustard and cayenne.
YIELD
6 servingsPREP
10 minCOOK
1 hrsREADY
1 hrsThese twice-baked potatoes go beyond the usual sour cream and chives routine. The scooped-out potato gets whipped with warm milk, butter, and an egg yolk until genuinely light and fluffy, then piped back into the shells with a swirl on top and baked again until golden. The egg yolk is the secret to that airy, almost soufflé-like texture.
The cheddar cheese sauce made from scratch is what sets these apart from every other stuffed potato. A roux of butter and flour gets seasoned with dry mustard, cayenne, and black pepper before the milk and sharp cheddar go in. The mustard sharpens the cheese flavor, and the cayenne adds a subtle heat that builds in the background.
Four potatoes yield six half-shells for stuffing. The recipe intentionally discards two shells and redistributes that extra potato into the remaining six, so each one is generously mounded with filling.
Pro Tips
- Pierce the potatoes with a fork before baking; steam needs to escape or they can burst in the oven
- Heat the milk and butter together slowly, just until the butter melts. Boiling the milk makes the filling grainy
- Beat the potato filling with an electric mixer as directed. A fork or masher won’t get it smooth enough for piping
- Make the cheese sauce while the stuffed potatoes finish their second bake so both are hot at serving time
- Use sharp or extra-sharp cheddar for the sauce. Mild cheddar doesn’t have enough flavor to cut through the starchy potato
- Stir the cheese sauce off the heat after adding the cheddar; high heat makes it stringy and oily
Variations
- Bacon loaded: Stir crumbled bacon and chopped chives into the potato filling before stuffing
- Broccoli cheddar: Add steamed broccoli florets to the cheese sauce for a broccoli-cheddar potato
- Blue cheese sauce: Swap the cheddar for crumbled blue cheese for a bolder, tangier topping
Ingredients
Directions
Preheat oven to 425℉ (220℃). Scrub potatoes; pierce each with a fork. Place on oven rack; and bake until fork-tender- 50 to 60 minutes.
Remove potatoes from oven. Cool slightly; split in half lengthwise. Gently scoop out potato, keeping shells intact. Turn potato into a large bowl. Set 6 shells on a baking pan; discard remaining shells.
In saucepan, heat milk and butter slowly until butter melts-don’t let boil.
With portable electric mixer, beat potato until smooth. Add salt; gradually beat in warm milk mixture. Add egg yolk, beating well until mixture is light, fluffy and smooth. Spoon potato mixture into shells, making a swirl at the top. Return to oven. Bake 10 minutes, or until hot.
Meanwhile, make cheese sauce: In small saucepan, slowly heat butter; remove from heat, stir in flour, mustard, salt, pepper, cayenne and milk until smooth.
Before serving, spoon cheese sauce over top of each potato.
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