If you love the tang and heat of buffalo chicken wings, then you're going to love these EASY stuffed potatoes! Chock full of shredded buffalo chicken, cheddar and mozzarella cheeses, cream cheese, and sour cream, I promise these are a COMFORT FOOD delight!
1 to 2tablespoonskosher salt or sea saltdivided or as needed
1 ½cupscheddar cheesedivided
1 ½cupsmozzarella cheese
4ouncescream cheesesoftened to room temp
½cupsour creamat room temp
2cupsshredded chicken
½cupFrank’s RedHot Original Sauceor similar buffalo sauce
1tablespoongreen onionsthinly sliced; optional for garnishing
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350F (if you have convection, this is the time to use it), line a baking sheet with foil, scrub the potatoes well, pat dry, and poke holes in about a half dozen places evenly spaced around each of the potatoes to prevent them from exploding in the oven. Tips - Make sure to use Russet potatoes or starchy potatoes intended for baking and not waxier potatoes such as Yukon Golds or Red Potatoes. Make sure they're all uniform in size so they cook at a uniform rate.
Drizzle each potato with olive oil, rub a bit of salt evenly all over each potato, and place on the prepared baking sheet.
Bake for about 1 hour, or until a fork pierces easily through the center. You can flip the potatoes over once midway through the cooking time, but it's not completely necessary.
Remove the potatoes from the oven using hot mitts, and set the on a cutting board for about 5 minutes to cool slightly.
Slice the potatoes vertically down the center.
Using a small spoon, scoop out some flesh from each of the potato halves. Be mindful not to go too deep and leave a small perimeter around the edge of each potato skin for stability so the potato doesn't collapse.
Place the scooped out flesh from all 8 halves into a medium bowl; set the skins aside momentarily.
To the potato flesh, add 1 cup cheddar cheese, all the mozzarella, cream cheese (tip - make sure it's softened to room temp so it mixes easily, take it out when you first begin baking the potatoes), sour cream (tip- also take it out when you start baking the potatoes). and mash and stir to combine and incorporate the ingredients. Tip - Use a potato masher or a large fork to help mash. Do not put this mixture through your food processor, blender, or any other appliance; it doesn't have to be perfectly smooth, nor should it be, so do it by hand.
Add the chicken, evenly pour over the Frank's RedHot Sauce or similar buffalo sauce, and stir to combine.
Evenly divide the chicken and potato mixer among the 8 potato skins, using a small spoon to place the filling mixture into each skin and place them on the baking sheet.
Evenly sprinkle the potatoes with the remaining 1/2 cup cheddar cheese (you can use a bit more if you want them cheesier) and bake for about 20 minutes, or until the cheese has melted and is as lightly golden browned and set as desired.
Optionally, garnish with green onions to taste. If desired, serve wtih additional sour cream, Ranch dressing, or blue cheese dressing.
Potatoes are best warm and fresh but leftovers will keep airtight for up to 5 days; I don't recommend freezing this recipe. I also don't recommend making the recipe in advance (the texture of baked, chilled, and re-baked potatoes is never quite the same) but if you absolutely need to, read the FAQ section of the blog post for my thoughts on how to make ahead.