Let’s get real … we all love potato skins, but do we really like eating the potato skin? No! We only want the potato and the toppings. As a child I just scraped off all the toppings, ate them, and left the skins. Then as I grew up, I started eating the skins like normal adults, but always wished I could enjoy all the delicious, yummy, goodness of potato skins without the skins.
Recently, I introduced my daughter, who loves loaded baked potatoes and bacon to potato skins, figuring that she of all people would love them. She ate them and comments on how great all the toppings were, and then said, “I wish I could have all the toppings without the potato skin.”
It was like she read my mind and her comments triggered something in my brain. I remembered a recipe for these potato slices that were like potato skins, but without the skin. I think they were an old Pampered Chef recipe. I looked through a few cookbooks I had stashed in the kitchen cabinets, but couldn’t find it, so Natalie and I decided to just go for it anyway and see what happens.
Our Barbecue Bacon Cheddar Potato Rounds were AMAZING!
Typical potato skins are made by slicing one potato in half lengthwise to make two potato skins.
For this recipe, we sliced the potato in the opposite direction, which gave us about 12 potato rounds. The number of potato rounds you get depends on how thick your potato slices are. For a softer, more baked potato like base, cut the potato in thick slices. For a firmer, crispier potato base, cut the potato in thin slices. Just make sure your slices are of uniform thickness so they cook evenly.
Once sliced, we placed the potato rounds on a baking stone, sprayed them with an olive oil spray and sprinkled on salt and pepper. We then flipped the potato rounds over and did the same thing to the other side before putting them in the oven to bake for 20 minutes at 450 degrees.
While the potato rounds were cooking, we combined chopped bacon, chopped green onions, and shredded cheddar/jack cheese in a small bowl, mixing them together.
After 20 minutes, we removed the potato rounds from the oven, flipped them over once again, topped them with barbecue sauce, and generously piled on the topping mixture. The loaded potato rounds then went back in the oven for another 5 minutes to melt the cheese. Just before serving, we topped each Barbecue Bacon Cheddar Potato Round will a dollop of sour cream.
Natalie devoured almost all of these delicious appetizers in minutes. Minutes. If any of the rest of us wanted some, we were going to have to make more! Luckily, I thought ahead and made a couple without the cheddar/jack cheese, and because our sour cream was a non-dairy sour cream, I was able to enjoy a few too!
The Barbecue Bacon Cheddar Potato Rounds were so good, it leaves me wondering, what other kinds of potato rounds could I make?
Barbecue Bacon Cheddar Potato Rounds
This easy Barbecue Bacon Cheddar Potato Rounds recipe improves traditional potato skins by slicing the potato, minimizing the skin, and adding more toppings.
Prep Time
Cook Time
Total Time
Ingredients
- 2 large unpeeled potatoes
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1/3 cup barbecue sauce
- 6 bacon slices, cooked and chopped
- 1/3 cup green onions, chopped
- 1 cup cheddar jack cheese blend, shredded
- Sour cream
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Slice potatos into rounds approximately 1/4" thick. You should get about 12 rounds per potato.
- Arrange potato rounds on a baking sheet or stone, stray with olive oil, and sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. Flip potato rounds over and repeat. Bake for 20 minutes.
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine the bacon, green onions, and cheese, and mix together.
- Remove cooked potato rounds from the oven, top with barbecue sauce, pile on the topping mixture, and return to the oven for 5 more minutes, or until the cheese is melted.
- Top each Barbecue Bacon Cheddar Potato Round with sour cream and serve immediately.
Notes:
Make about 24 potato rounds.
Do not peel the potato. Leaving the peel on will help maintain the round shape.
