Loaded Smoked Potato
intro
Tender, smoky russet potatoes piled high with crispy bacon, melted cheddar, sour cream, and chives—an indulgent, crowd-pleasing BBQ side dish.
Ingredients
Steps
Prep potatoes and smoker
Preheat your smoker to 225°F (107°C), adding 2 cups of hickory or applewood chips to produce thin, steady blue smoke. While the smoker heats, scrub 900g russet potatoes under cold running water, pat completely dry with paper towels, then rub all over with 30ml (2 tbsp) olive oil, 1 tsp kosher salt, and 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper.
Smoke potatoes until tender
Arrange the seasoned potatoes directly on the middle rack of the preheated smoker, leaving 2.5cm (1 inch) of space between each potato for even air flow. Close the smoker lid and cook for 60 minutes, maintaining a consistent 225°F (107°C) temperature, until a fork slides easily into the center of the largest potato with no resistance.
Cook crispy bacon
While the potatoes smoke, heat a large cast-iron skillet over medium stovetop heat (350°F / 175°C). Lay 170g thick-cut bacon slices in a single layer in the skillet, cooking 4-5 minutes per side until deeply golden and fully crisp. Transfer cooked bacon to a paper-towel lined plate to drain excess grease, then crumble into small bits once cool enough to handle.
Prep split potato base
Once potatoes are fully smoked, transfer them to a wooden cutting board and let rest 5 minutes until cool enough to handle. Slice each potato lengthwise down the center, then gently fluff the inner flesh with a fork, taking care not to tear through the outer skin. Drizzle the fluffed interior of each potato with 1 tbsp (14g) melted unsalted butter, and season evenly with the 1 tsp (3g) garlic powder across all four potatoes.
Melt cheese on potatoes
Stuff 1/2 cup (55g) of freshly shredded sharp cheddar into the fluffed center of each split potato, pressing gently so the cheese settles into the warm flesh. Return the cheese-topped potatoes to the 225°F (107°C) smoker for 5 minutes, until the cheese is fully melted, gooey, and lightly bubbly around the potato edges.
Add toppings and serve
Remove the cheesy smoked potatoes from the smoker, then top each evenly with 2.5 tbsp (40g) full-fat sour cream, a quarter of the crumbled crispy bacon, and 1 tbsp (3.75g) finely chopped fresh chives. Serve immediately while the potatoes are hot and the cheese is fully melted.
Tips
2.Shred cheddar fresh from a block rather than using pre-shredded cheese; anti-caking additives in pre-shredded cheese prevent smooth, gooey melting and dull the cheese flavor.
3.If you don’t have a dedicated smoker, set up a charcoal grill for indirect heat, place wood chips directly on the hot coals, and cook at the same 225°F (107°C) temperature for identical results.
OMG y’all, this loaded smoked potato is an absolute game changer! I made these for our weekend backyard cookout and every single person asked for the recipe. The smoky flavor gets all the way through the potato, not just the skin, and piling on the cheese, sour cream, crumbled bacon and chives? *Chef’s kiss* So easy too, I thought smoking potatoes would be fussy but it was totally low effort. 10/10 will make again for our next potluck!
My kids are SO picky about side dishes and they both went back for seconds of these! I swapped the regular sour cream for Greek yogurt to cut a little calories and added some steamed broccoli on top for extra veggies, and nobody even complained. Perfect easy side for our weekly Sunday family dinner, didn’t heat up the whole kitchen since I did these on the smoker instead of the oven. Will absolutely be adding this to our regular rotation!
Wow, these hold up so well for meal prep! I made a big batch on Sunday, stored the smoked potatoes (without toppings) in airtight containers in the fridge, and just heated one up each night after work and loaded on the toppings. Way better than the boring baked potatoes I used to make, and the cook time is totally manageable even on a lazy weekend. Only note: I’d poke a few extra holes in the potatoes if you’re using extra large russets, mine took an extra 10 minutes to get fully tender last time.
Brought these to our neighborhood block party last weekend and they were the first side dish gone! I set up a little loaded potato bar with all the toppings on the side – bacon bits, shredded cheddar, chives, sour cream, even some chili and jalapeños for people who wanted to go extra. People were raving about how the smoky flavor made them taste way fancier than they were, nobody believed how easy the recipe was! 10/10, will be making these for every outdoor event from now on.
Just got my first smoker last month and was nervous to try something that wasn’t just ribs or brisket, but this recipe was so easy to follow! I was worried I’d over-smoke the potatoes or undercook them, but the time and temp instructions were spot on. My roommate said these were the best thing I’ve made on the smoker so far, even better than the brisket I spent 12 hours on last week lmao. Only thing I messed up was forgetting to buy chives, so I used green onion from my windowsill and it worked great.
Made these vegan for my sister’s visit last week – used dairy-free cheese, coconut sour cream, and coconut bacon bits, and the smoky potato flavor was so good even my meat-loving brother asked for seconds! I love that the recipe is so adaptable, no weird hard-to-find ingredients, and it’s easy to tweak for different diets. The cook time felt like it flew by too, I was able to prep the toppings while the potatoes smoked.
SO good! I made these alongside some smoked brats for game day last Sunday and my entire friend group was obsessed. The skin gets so crispy and the inside is fluffy, way more flavorful than a regular baked potato. I thought 1 hour 15 minutes would be too long but it was exactly right for the size potatoes I grabbed from the grocery store. Zero complaints, will make again.
Perfect easy weeknight side! I know people usually save smoker recipes for weekends, but I just threw these on after I got home from work, had time to change, help the kids with homework, and they were done right when we were ready for dinner. Loaded them up with leftover chili from the night before and a little cheese, and it was a whole meal honestly. Game changer for busy school nights, I can’t believe how simple this was.