Get inspired to make your own Baked Potato Bar with tons of Topping Ideas! Everyone loves a loaded baked potato, so why not throw a Baked Potato Party? It's super simple to put together and guests will love making their own loaded baked potatoes.
I made a batch of my dutch oven chili recipe yesterday and had a ton of leftovers, so of course, I had to make loaded baked potatoes!
Making a loaded baked potato bar is so much fun and a pretty inexpensive way to feed a lot of people. This is a great way to satisfy a lot of guests on game day too!
For more game day favorites, check out these Fried Mozzarella Balls, Loaded Tater Tots and Italian Sliders.
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Why You'll Love Building a Baked Potato Bar:
- Easy to Prepare. You can customize the experience and make it as complex or easy as you want. Buy store-bought chili or pre-chopped veggies and bagged cheese if you want to save on time.
- Fun to Make and Eat. This recipe is a lot like taco night or building cheese burger bowls, it's super fun to choose your own potato toppings and kid's love it too.
- Inexpensive. Compared to making several appetizers or a big meal, this is a fairly cheap way to feed a crowd.
- Game Day Favorite. Chili is big on game day and a chili and cheese loaded baked potato is even better!
For more of my favorite potato recipes, try this Chicken Potato Broccoli Casserole, Southern Stewed Potatoes and Whipped Sweet Potatoes.
Ingredients:
Russet Potatoes: The best potato for that classic Steakhouse vibe. They bake easily and hold together well when loaded with all the toppings!
Butter and Salt: The potatoes are brushed with melted butter and sprinkled with salt for extra flavor.
*Tin foil is used to wrap each potato individually. This keeps the butter and salt in the packet and makes for the best baked potatoes with a skin you'll want to eat too.
Baked Potato Bar Toppings:
Dutch Oven Chili Recipe: If you have the time, I highly recommend this recipe, which is a classic chili with ground beef, ground pork, and kidney beans with a ton of flavor. Make it the night ahead for the family and save the leftovers for this potato bar (two meals with one recipe, heck yea).
Peppers and Onions: Cooked in olive oil and salt for a flavor packed and healthy topping idea.
Bacon: Crisped up for the perfect addition to loaded baked potatoes. I recommend an original or traditional flavor since we have a lot of toppings going on these taters.
Cheese: Cheddar cheese is my personal favorite, but pepper jack, Monterrey jack, or Colby are always great too. I like it shredded on the largest setting of the grater for baked potatoes.
Other Toppings: Classic toppings like butter, green onion and sour cream are a must. For a Mexican inspired vibe, add salsa, cilantro, jalapeños, limes and black olives!
See recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
Substitutions and Extra Additions:
If you prefer to use olive oil to coat the potatoes for baking instead of butter, that works great too!
For different chili variations, try my Copycat Panera Bread Turkey Chili or Green Chili Chicken. These two options have a bit more broth, so keep that in mind. It can get messy because they're not as thick as the classic chili.
Don't feel intimidated by the topping list. These are all just ideas, and you don't have to make them all.
For other toppings, try steamed broccoli (which pairs amazing with potato and cheddar cheese or nacho cheese), a variation of cheeses, diced avocado, diced tomatoes, jalapeño pimento cheese, taco sauce, crunchy tortilla strips, or chopped romaine hearts.
To save prep time, you can buy canned or store made chili, pre-chopped veggies, bagged cheese or even use bacon bits.
How to Make Baked Potatoes and Prep Hot Toppings:
For an oven baked potato, follow the steps below. For a smoker version, check out this recipe for Smoked Baked Potatoes on the Traeger.
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Prepare a large tin foil sheet for each potato (10 sheets if 10 potatoes are being used). Place one potato in the center of the foil sheet and brush with butter on both sides, and sprinkle with salt. Roll the tinfoil in a way that the butter will not leak out. Repeat with all of the potatoes.
Step 2: Place all the potatoes on a cookie sheet and bake for 1 hour.
Step 3: As the potatoes are cooking, simmer the chili on the stovetop.
Step 4: If making peppers and onions, slice the onion and peppers into strips. Heat a large skillet over medium low heat and add a tablespoon of olive oil. Once hot, toss in the peppers and onions with a ½ teaspoon of salt and cook for 8-10 minutes, stirring frequently, until softened and browned.
Step 5: Cut the bacon into 1 inch slices and pull apart into pieces. Cook in the skillet over medium heat until crispy. Remove to a paper towel lined plate to remove extra grease.
Step 6: Once the potatoes are out of the oven, allow them to sit for 20 minutes. Carefully unwrap and place on serving plate. Use a pairing knife to cut a slit down the potatoes to make it easy to people to load them up. Serve next to all the toppings.
Step 7: Time for the party to start! Load up those baked potatoes and enjoy!
Tips for a Baked Potato Bar:
- The chili can stay simmering on the stovetop for however long. I recommend making the bacon and peppers and onions at the same time, about when the potatoes come out of the oven, since they have to sit for 20 minutes. This way, everything is nice and hot or just reheat the peppers and onions and bacon before serving.
- Prep the cold toppings ahead in the day and store in the fridge to prevent scrambling when people get there. Even the cheese can be shredded ahead.
- Those paper baskets or paper plates or bowls and plastic utensils are useful to prevent a million dishes.
- One trick I do at taco, pizza or baked potato parties is lay everything out on a throwaway tablecloth when serving. This helps prevent a lot of mess and you can toss it after.
Recipe FAQs:
Larger sized russet potatoes cook best at 425 degrees for an hour. If they are smaller, check them around 50 minutes. I suggest lathering them with butter and salt and wrapping in foil before baking.
Plan to cook them about one hour and 30 minutes prior to guests arrival. To keep warm, leave in the warm oven turned off or on low temp, or they will overcook. You can also keep them in the crockpot on low, but I wouldn't do this for too long or they may shrivel up a bit or get dry.
Almost everything tastes good on a baked potato from chili and cheese, to bacon, sour cream, butter and green onion. Take it to another level with salsa, peppers and onions, cheese, sour cream, jalapeño, cilantro and black olives or go with steamed broccoli and loads of nacho cheese!
More Party Recipes You Will Love:
If you tried this Baked Potato Bar Recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it goes in the 📝 comments below. I love hearing from you!
PrintRecipe
Baked Potato Bar with Topping Ideas
- Total Time: 1 hour, 40 minutes
- Yield: 10 potatoes with toppings 1x
Description
Get inspired to make your own Baked Potato Bar with tons of Topping Ideas! Everyone loves a loaded baked potato, so why not throw a Baked Potato Party with tons of toppings? It's super simple to put together and guests will love making their own loaded baked potatoes.
Ingredients
Baked Potatoes:
- Plan for 1 Russet potato per person (I made 10 potatoes, which is about a 5 lb bag)
- 4 tablespoons salted butter
- 1 tablespoon flaky seasalt
- 1 tin foil sheet per potato
Baked Potato Bar Topping Ideas:
- 3 cups chili
- 1 green bell pepper (seeds and stems removed) and 1 yellow onion, sliced + 1 tablespoon olive oil and ½ teaspoon salt
- 8 slices original bacon, cut into 1 inch pieces
- 4 tablespoons butter, cut into thin teaspoon sized slices
- 1 cup sour cream
- small can black olives, drained
- 1 cup salsa
- ½ cup sliced pickled jalapeños
- ½ cup fresh cilantro, minced
- ½ cup green onion or chives, sliced on a bias
- 8 ounces block of cheddar cheese, grated
- 1 lime, cut into wedges
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Prepare a large tin foil sheet for each potato (10 if 10 potatoes are being used). Place one potato in the center of the foil sheet and brush with butter on both sides, and sprinkle with salt. Roll the tinfoil in a way that the butter will not leak out. Repeat with all of the potatoes.
- Place all the potatoes on a cookie sheet and bake for 1 hour.
- As the potatoes are cooking, simmer the chili on the stovetop.
- If making peppers and onions, slice the onion and peppers into strips. Heat a large skillet over medium low heat and add a tablespoon of olive oil. Once hot, toss in the peppers and onions with a ½ teaspoon of salt and cook for 8-10 minutes, stirring frequently, until softened and browned.
- Cut the bacon into 1 inch slices and pull apart into pieces. Cook in the skillet over medium heat until crispy. Remove to a paper towel lined plate to remove extra grease.
- Once the potatoes are out of the oven, allow them to sit for 20 minutes. Carefully unwrap and place on a serving platter. Use a pairing knife to cut a slit down the potatoes to make it easy to people to load them up. Serve next to all the toppings.
- Time for the party to start! Load up those baked potatoes and enjoy.
Equipment
Notes
- The chili can stay simmering on the stovetop for however long. I recommend making the bacon and peppers and onions at the same time, about when the potatoes come out of the oven, since they have to sit for 20 minutes. This way, everything is nice and hot or just reheat the peppers and onions and bacon before serving.
- Prep the cold toppings ahead in the day and store in the fridge to prevent scrambling when people get there. Even the cheese can be shredded ahead.
- Those paper baskets or paper plates or bowls and plastic utensils are useful to prevent a million dishes.
- One trick I do at taco, pizza or baked potato parties is lay everything out on a throwaway tablecloth when serving. This helps prevent a lot of mess and you can toss it after.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cooling Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Category: dinner
- Method: bake
- Cuisine: American
Holly
Love this idea & all the toppings!
Tara Smithson
Thanks so much and I hope you try them!