Who doesn’t love spinach-artichoke dip? These twice-baked spinach and artichoke potatoes combine that classic dip with a delicious baked potato.
Twice-baked spinach and artichoke potatoes are a marriage of two of my very favorite foods. There are few dishes in life that I love more than a perfect baked potato. At Christmas, my mom makes a gigantic prime rib and, while I adore a medium-rare slab of prime beef, I honestly get more excited about the twice-baked potatoes I make to go alongside than the meat. If I am offered a loaded baked potato as a side dish option in a restaurant, I am rendered unable to order any other side. In fact, I will not order pasta in a restaurant that serves baked potatoes. I just can’t. Here in Chattanooga, most of the barbecue restaurants serve baked potatoes piled high with smoked meat, and I always order the potato, even when I convinced myself before walking into the restaurant that I would order a sandwich or a plate or something else besides a potato.
Spinach and artichoke dip is another love of mine. I still remember my first experience with it, when my friends and I decided my freshman year of college that TGIFriday’s was the best restaurant on the planet. Hey, we were young! And excited to be hanging out downtown, because we were college kids and we were sooooo cool. I remember ordering spinach-artichoke dip as my entrée on multiple occasions. Once I had to go to the ER (stress-related neck cramps…I was a bit of a perfectionist even back then) and my roommate went and got me some TGIFriday’s spinach-artichoke dip and had it waiting for me when I got home (thanks, Crisi. You really were the best!).
So what could be better than to combine two of my favorite things into one dish? And if there is any way to make a baked potato better, it’s to bake it twice. Scoop out the flesh, mix in some good stuff, throw some extra cheese on top, and bake it up. I won’t say that they’re quick, because baking potatoes takes a long time (I believe in really baking the potatoes, not microwaving them) but I will say that they’re easy. And I will continue to find new things to stuff into a potato…
These spinach and artichoke potatoes are a great side dish for a family meal, but they are also a great main dish.
Yield: 4 servings
15 minPrep Time:
1 hr, 25 Cook Time:
1 hr, 40 Total Time:
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Ingredients
- 2 large baking potatoes, scrubbed clean and dried
- olive oil
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 5 ounces baby spinach
- 1/2 can artichoke hearts, well-drained and quartered
- 4 ounces Swiss cheese, shredded
- 1/4-1/2 cup sour cream
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Rub the potatoes lightly with olive oil. Place them on a baking sheet and bake for one hour. Remove from the oven (leave the oven on), cut in half, and set aside to cool briefly.
- Preheat 2 tablespoons of the butter in a 10-inch skillet over medium heat. Add the spinach to the skillet and cook until completely wilted.
- Use a spoon to scoop the flesh from the potato halves and into a bowl, being careful not to break or tear the skins. Place the skins back onto the baking sheet. Use a fork to mash the potatoes. Add the remaining butter, the spinach, the quartered artichoke hearts, half of the cheese, and enough sour cream to bind the mixture together and make it creamy. Salt and pepper to taste.
- Divide the potato mixture among the 4 potato skins. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the cheese has lightly browned. Serve immediately.
Click here to print the recipe for twice-baked spinach and artichoke potatoes!
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