This easy chili baked potato recipe is perfect for a weeknight or family dinner for a crowd! You can cook potatoes in half the time with this trick.
What is for dinner? Yes, this is a fight for all of us! Alex and I found that to be the case above all difficult to feed a crowd. But here’s a solution that’s a perfect dinner for a crowd: Chili Baked Potatoes! Bake potatoes, garnish with chili and any toppings, and it’s an easy dinner everyone can enjoy. Chili is a hearty combo with chewy potatoes, and really: who doesn’t love a baked potato bar with all those fun toppings? This recipe is gluten-free and vegan, making it suitable for a variety of diets around the table. This is how we make them: with our tip for quickly cooking potatoes!
How to make chili potatoes
Chili Baked Potatoes are a really simple concept: make chili, bake potatoes, serve! It’s a great option for entertainment, like a big family dinner. Alex and I served this to a group of 12 for dinner and it turned out great! Everyone loved the toppings and our pot of chili was feeding more people! Here are the basic steps:
Quickly baked potatoes: our tip!
Guess what: we have a trick to cook potatoes in half the time! The classic way of cooking potatoes is whole, like our whole baked potato. If using large potatoes this may take up to 1 hour or more. Here’s the magic: Instead of cooking the potatoes whole, cut them in half. That’s it! This simple one-minute trick saves about half the baking time. Because the potatoes are half as thick, they cook in half the time. As simple as that!
Here are our fried potato recipes:
Russet Potatoes versus Sweet Potatoes
These chilli baked potatoes are perfect with red potatoes or sweet potatoes. I love the taste of sweet potatoes because it brings that sweet and salty combination. But the classic red potato is always well received. If you compare them, which potato is the healthiest? Here is a breakdown (source):
- 1 medium sized sweet potato contains 100 calories, 4 grams of fiber and 2 grams of protein. They’re packed with slowly digesting carbohydrates for sustained energy and contain four times your daily vitamin A requirement.
- 1 medium white potato contains 170 calories, 4 grams of fiber and 5 grams of protein. It’s high in potassium (more than a banana) and contains resistant starch, which keeps you feeling full.
- Which potato is healthier: sweet potato or white potato? Both are healthy carbohydrates! Sweet potatoes have a slightly lower glycemic index than white potatoes, so blood sugar levels rise slightly more slowly with sweet potatoes.
Chili Baked Potato Toppings: A baked potato bar!
These Chili Baked Potatoes are perfect for a baked potato bar! Arrange the potatoes and chili, then plenty of toppings for your guests to choose from. There are so many fun things to add! Here are some of our favorite baked potato toppings:
- sour cream (or vegan sour cream)
- Grated cheese: Mexican blend, cheddar or smoked cheddar
- Sliced spring onions
- Marinated Jalapenos
- tortilla strips
- pickled onions
- Roasted Savory Pepitas
- Thinly sliced radishes or pickled radishes
- Cut avocado
- Chopped coriander
Make instructions in advance
These Chili Baked Potatoes take about 45 minutes to make: the time it takes to cook a pot of chili! You can cook the potatoes while the chili is simmering. But here are some tips for crafting components ahead of time:
- Prepare the chili up to 1 day ahead and refrigerate. Chili gets even better when it sits. Prepare up to 1 day in advance and reheat before serving. (We tested and our vegan chili doesn’t freeze well because of the quinoa, so we’d make a new batch.)
- Potatoes are best roasted daily. We recommend roasting the potatoes just before serving. If you must, you can roast them ahead of time and then reheat them in a 375-degree oven before serving.
Side dish of chili potatoes
What to serve with these Baked Chili Potatoes to make a mind-blowing meal for a crowd? Here’s what we served them for dinner:
This chili roast potato recipe is…
Vegetarian, vegan, plant-based, dairy-free and gluten-free.
The description
This easy chili baked potato recipe is perfect for a weeknight or family dinner for a crowd! You can cook potatoes in half the time with this trick.
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Prepare chili: Try our Ultimate Vegan Chili, Vegetarian Chili, Healthy Chili or Instant Pot Chili. Or you can prepare the chili ahead of time and store it in the fridge. then reheat before serving.
- Meanwhile, wash and halve the potatoes. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Place the potatoes on top and rub them with olive oil, just enough to cover them. Sprinkle them with kosher salt.
- Turn the potatoes cut-side down and prick the top several times with a fork.
- Bake until potatoes are tender and lightly browned around the edges, about 25 to 35 minutes depending on the exact size of the potatoes. Prick with a fork to assess doneness. Taste and add an extra pinch of salt if needed.
- Lightly mash the tops of the potatoes with a fork. Serve immediately with toppings of your choice (see above).
- Category: main course
- Method: Cooked
- Kitchen: American
Keywords: Chili baked potato
