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Taco loaded baked potato topped with seasoned ground beef, nacho cheese, chipotle sauce, and fresh chives on a metal plate

Taco Potatoes

Large russets baked bare at 400°F with oil and coarse salt so the skin crisps, split and fluffed with butter, then loaded with 85/15 ground beef mixed into nacho cheese and hot sauce. Cheddar over the top under the broiler, finished with chipotle sauce and chives.
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes
Servings: 6 potato halves
Course: Dinner, Lunch, Main Course
Cuisine: American, Tex-Mex
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Potatoes
  • 3 large russet potatoes Get the biggest you can find.
  • Olive oil For coating the outside.
  • Coarse salt or your favorite steak seasoning On the skin before baking.
  • 1.5 tbsp butter About 1/2 tbsp per potato half.
  • Garlic pepper seasoning To taste, on the fluffed potato.
Taco Beef
  • 1 lb 85/15 ground beef The fat keeps it juicy. Do not drain it.
  • 0.5 medium onion diced
  • Taco seasoning To taste.
  • 0.5 can store bought nacho cheese Any brand.
  • 3 tbsp Taco Bell mild hot sauce
Topping
  • Freshly grated cheddar cheese
  • Chipotle sauce or sour cream
  • Chives For garnish.

Equipment

  • Oven or grill Running at 400°F. The potatoes go straight on the rack or the grates.
  • Skillet For the ground beef.
  • Fork For fluffing the potatoes.
  • Broiler For melting the cheddar at the end.

Method
 

Bake the Potatoes
  1. Preheat your oven or grill to 400°F. Wash and dry the potatoes, coat the outside with a little oil and season with coarse salt. Place them directly on the oven rack or grill grates. Do not wrap them in foil, or the skin will steam instead of crisping.
  2. Bake 45 minutes to 1 hour, until tender when pierced with a fork.
  3. Turn off the oven and leave the potatoes inside to stay warm while you cook the beef.
Cook the Taco Beef
  1. Brown the ground beef with the diced onion and taco seasoning until cooked through.
  2. Stir in half a can of nacho cheese and about 3 tablespoons of hot sauce until the beef is coated.
Load and Broil
  1. Cut each potato in half lengthwise and place the halves cut side up, pressing them so both ends rest flat on the plate.
  2. Fluff the inside of each half thoroughly with a fork. Add about 1/2 tablespoon of butter to each and mix it in, then season with garlic pepper.
  3. Spoon the beef mixture over each half and top with freshly grated cheddar.
  4. Place under the broiler until the cheddar is melted and bubbly. Finish with chipotle sauce or sour cream and chives.

Notes

No foil: Foil traps moisture against the skin, which is why foil wrapped potatoes come out soggy. Bare on the rack the moisture leaves and the oil and salt crisp the skin. That skin is what holds everything together once loaded.
Biggest potatoes you can find: Each one gets split into two halves, so you want as much potato as possible.
Fluff before the butter: A baked potato is compacted when it comes out. Butter on an unfluffed potato just sits on top. Fluffed, it seeps through and seasons the whole thing, and it gives the beef something to hold onto.
85/15, do not drain: The fat keeps the meat juicy and it is going into nacho cheese anyway.
Timing: Prep time and servings are estimates. The 400°F and the 45 minute to 1 hour bake are as given.

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