Dinner,gluten free,Healthy Foods,Side dishes,vegetables,vegetarian

Twice baked potatoes with broccoli

Name: Twice Baked Potatoes with Broccoli
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 50 min
Total time: 60 min
Ingredients: 6 medium russet potatoes (or potato of choice); 3 cups broccoli, washed and trimmed in small 1 inch pieces; 6 tablespoons butter, softened; 1/2-1 cup milk (You can also use heavy cream, which is really good!); 3 cups grated cheddar (We used a medium, but you can also use a sharp if you prefer); salt and pepper to taste; 1/2 cup green onions, small chop (This will be for inside the potato and for topping.)

posted on : July 24, 2020 posted by : Amy 2 Comments

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These twice baked potatoes are a slightly healthier version of the classic twice baked potato loaded with bacon….slightly. There is still plenty of cheese and butter, but the broccoli lightens it up just a bit! It is a little time consuming, but definitely worth the extra effort.

Baking the potatoes

Let’s start with the potatoes. There are a lot of methods for baking potatoes, but I like the simplest method. Wash the potatoes. This is pretty important. Potatoes are a root vegetable, meaning they are grown under ground. Unless you have grown your own, it is hard to say what they are grown in. So, wash well.

woman washing russet potato with running water

Give it a good poke with a fork. If there isn’t a place to release pressure, these babies will blow up in your oven. Trust me, you don’t want that mess! Bake until tender, but not mushy. I test by quickly squeezing the potatoes, when you squeeze, there should be a little give, but not too much!

woman poking potato in preparation for baking

When the potatoes are almost done, start getting the broccoli ready. I cut it into small florets. I mean, I like bigger chunks, but they aren’t the best in a twice baked potato.

cut broccoli on cutting board with paring knife next to it.

I like to blanch my broccoli as it helps them maintain that bright beautiful color. To blanch any veggie, you add the chopped veggie to boiling water. Let it cook in the hot water about 2-3 minutes.

Immediately immerse in ice water. Once it has chilled, drain and set aside to dry.

woman draining the broccoli from boiling

Assembling the twice baked potatoes with broccoli

Once your potatoes have cooked and cooled just slightly, cut in half.

Carefully scoop out center.

woman spooning out the inside of baked potatoes for filling

I used a mildcheddar, but love a sharp as well. You can also use pepper jack, gruyere or any cheese of choice. Here is a great cheese grater. Mine is so old, but still works, so I won’t be getting rid of it anytime soon.

woman grating mild cheddar cheese on metal grater

Now, heavy cream was my choice for many years, but I use a 2% milk now.

woman pouring milk into a medium sized metal bowl with mixer on the side.

Add in your grated cheese.

woman adding cheese to twice baked potato filling in small metal bowl

Mix until you have a good thick consistency. It should look about like the photo below. After the mixing with the mixer I like to fold in the broccoli. I just don’t like for it to get all broken up by the mixer.

woman mixing filling for twice baked potatoes with hand mixer

Spoon into shells. Now the filling is ready for the twice baked potatoes with broccoli, let’s fill!

woman spooning filling into twice baked potatoes with broccoli

Top with remaining cheese and bake until the cheese is melted.

The finished twice baked potatoes with broccoli

Once it has baked, top with the remaining sliced green onions.

Obviously twice baked potatoes are generally a side dish, but we had 3 each and it was a great, light meal.

Aren’t these twice baked potatoes with broccoli just beautiful?

Other potato options

Looking for another healthy potato recipe? How about this potato gratin? Or a potato nest with fried egg?

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