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4.9 from 48 votes

The Ultimate Volcano Potato

The Ultimate Volcano Potato needs to be on every potato lovers bucket list! With baked potato toppings like these, it's a flavor explosion in every bite!

Prep Time
25 mins
Cook Time
1 hr 25 mins
Broil Time
5 mins
Total Time
1 hr 50 mins
Servings: 6
Calories: 651 kcal
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: American

Ingredients

  • 4-5 large Idaho or Russet potatoes
  • 12 (3 per potato) Bacon slice
  • 2 cups cheese shredded (more or less to taste)
  • ¼ -½ cup Parmesan Cheese grated or shredded (more or less to taste)
  • 1 cup sour cream or flavored sour cream based dip more or less to taste
  • ½ cup Bacon cooked, crumbled, or, ham, chopped, or ground sausage, cooked more or less to taste, if desired
  • hot sauce - to taste optional
  • ¼ cup onion diced
  • ¼ cup butter more or less to taste
  • barbecue sauce
  • ¼ cup green onions thinly sliced, for garnish if desired
  • salt - to taste
  • pepper - to taste
  • Toothpicks
  • cooking spray
  • ¼ cup cream or milk, if needed

Instructions

    Cup of Yum
  1. Get out and measure your ingredients.
  2. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Prepare a rimmed baking sheet with tinfoil coated in cooking spray. Wash and dry potatoes. Use a fork to poke several holes all over the potato to allow steam to escape while baking.
  3. Cut a slice off of the fattest end of the potato so that you can stand each potato up on a flat surface easily, without wobbling.
  4. Cover or coat with olive oil and
  5. Sprinkle with salt and some pepper. Stand potatoes up. Bake for 50 minutes or until potatoes are fork tender.
  6. In the meantime, using a small bowl, whisk together sour cream, 2 tablespoons of barbecue sauce (or more or less to taste) and hot sauce (if using) until well combined.
  7. Once blended, chill in the refrigerator until serving. We prefer to purchase a sour cream based flavored dip and add barbecue sauce or just skip this step and just use store bought. It is totally up to you. Prepare and refrigerate until needed.
  8. Remove potatoes from the oven when done and allow them to cool until you are able to handle them, usually 5-10 minutes. Do not turn your oven off yet. Slice top off each potato.
  9. Using a spoon or melon baller carefully scoop out the pulp inside the potato, as deep and as close as you can to the inside edge.
  10. Place pulp in a medium sized mixing bowl with ¼ cup butter. The butter will melt as the scoops of potato pulp land on it in the mixing bowl. If the potato breaks a little while scraping the inside that is ok. The bacon will keep the potato secure.
  11. Add cooked, crisp and crumbled bacon.
  12. Add diced onions, sour cream, meat and cheeses to the potato pulp.
  13. Blend, ideally with a handheld mixer, until contents are smooth. Taste the potato mixture as you go and adjust amounts and ingredients to taste. 
  14. Dump contents into a re-sealable bag.
  15. Press potato mixture into one corner.
  16. Cut corner off with scissors, about a 1 inch long cut. Try not to make the hole too big. Squeeze contents back inside the potato. Try to fill the potato up with as much of the potato mixture as possible.
  17. Potatoes will pile up on top and overflow and that is ok.
  18. Wrap each raw slice of bacon around the potato, starting at the bottom, using toothpicks to secure the start and end of each piece as it overlaps.
  19. Shove toothpicks in your potato about ½ inch deep.
  20. You should be using 2-3 slices of bacon per potato.
  21. Return potatoes to prepared sheet and bake for 20 minutes.
  22. Using a brush add barbecue sauce to each bacon slice, on the sides of the potato. Be generous with the barbecue sauce. Bake for 10 minutes in the oven or until bacon is cooked. Baste the potatoes again with the barbecue sauce while baking. You will be glad you did later!
  23. Preheat the broiler on high. Press shredded cheese on top of each potato and place potatoes back in the oven to bake or broil until cheese is brown and melted, a few minutes.
  24. Remove potatoes from oven and drizzle sour cream mixture on top and even drip down the sides if desired! Top with green onions.
  25. Serve immediately. Enjoy every bite!

Notes

  • You can do so many things with a russet potato...the options are almost endless. If you want some other ideas than the volcano potato, check out this link full of mind-blowingly great recipes. I'm sure you won't be disappointed!

Nutrition Information

Calories 651kcal (33%) Carbohydrates 49g (16%) Protein 24g (48%) Fat 41g (63%) Saturated Fat 22g (110%) Polyunsaturated Fat 3g Monounsaturated Fat 12g Trans Fat 0.3g Cholesterol 106mg (35%) Sodium 743mg (31%) Potassium 1182mg (34%) Fiber 3g (12%) Sugar 3g (6%) Vitamin A 1035IU (21%) Vitamin C 15mg (17%) Calcium 542mg (54%) Iron 3mg (17%)

Nutrition Facts

Serving: 6Serving

Amount Per Serving

Calories 651

% Daily Value*

Calories 651kcal 33%
Carbohydrates 49g 16%
Protein 24g 48%
Fat 41g 63%
Saturated Fat 22g 110%
Polyunsaturated Fat 3g 18%
Monounsaturated Fat 12g 60%
Trans Fat 0.3g 15%
Cholesterol 106mg 35%
Sodium 743mg 31%
Potassium 1182mg 25%
Fiber 3g 12%
Sugar 3g 6%
Vitamin A 1035IU 21%
Vitamin C 15mg 17%
Calcium 542mg 54%
Iron 3mg 17%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.