Cheddar and Garlic-Stuffed Potatoes

Submitted by TasteTester

"YUM - baked potatoes with lots of garlic paste, butter and gooey Cheddar. In our house, this recipe is a favorite with the kids. It uses a whole head of garlic, not cloves."

 

• Ready In: 1hr 15mins
• Ingredients: 8
• Serves: 4

ingredients

• 1 head garlic (medium or large, depending on how much garlic flavor you want)
• olive oil
• 4 medium russet baking potatoes (about 2 pounds total)
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 1⁄3 cup sour cream
• 1 1⁄2 cups coarsely grated cheddar cheese (about 6 ounces)
• salt & freshly ground black pepper
• sour cream and chopped green onion, to taste, as topping

directions

1. Put a rack in the middle of oven and preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Cut off and discard top quarter of garlic head. Place in a piece of foil and drizzle with just a tiny amount of olive oil (about 1/8 teaspoon). Bring up all sides of foil and twist tightly at the top to wrap the garlic tightly in the foil. Scrub potatoes and prick with a fork. Bake potatoes and garlic on oven rack for 45 minutes.
3. Remove garlic and let cool. If crispy skin is desired, rub potatoes with olive oil and cover with foil; continue baking potatoes until tender, about 20 minutes more. Take potatoes out of oven, but leave the oven on.
4. Squeeze pulp from garlic cloves into a medium bowl and discard skin. Stir in butter, sour cream, and 1 cup Cheddar. Cutting lengthwise, slice off top quarter of each potato and discard. Leaving 1/4-inch-thick shells, scoop flesh out of potatoes and add to cheese mixture. Mash with fork to combine. Season with salt and pepper and divide among shells.
5. Arrange potatoes in a small baking pan and sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup Cheddar. Bake until heated through, 15-20 minutes. Add a dollop of sour cream and a generous sprinkling of chopped green onions on top before serving.

Reviews

[MelvinsWifey]

Hubby was very very happy about these potatoes! I have made "twice baked potatoes" before, but the garlic in these were the best! You may think I'm crazy, but I only made 2 potatoes and still used the full head of garlic, as we are garlic fanatics :) I also topped these with sliced green onions, and a small dollop of fresh sour cream. Such a great side dish! Also, something that worked great was before I put the potato in the oven, I rubbed olive oil all over it and sprinkled it with salt and pepper, then foil. Once the potato cooled down, the skin was perfectly crispy and this helped so much in digging out the potatoes insides as the skin didn't break at all and it was really easy to get the stuff out without breaking it. Tasted great and this is a side dish I will make again and again. Would be great alone for lunch too! Prepared and Reviewed for Every Day is a Holiday Cooking game.

 

[Jen In The Kitchen]

I agree with the others, these are awesome!

 

[happynana]

Great Potato! I rubbed our potatoes with olive oil and sprinkled with sea salt and then wrapped in foil and made as directed except that I added diced red onion to the potato mixture. Next time I think I will add some red pepper flakes also. Thanks Tastetester for a great recipe. Made for Az/Nz Contest.

 

[Lavender Lynn]

These potatoes were delicious. I followed all the ingredients per recipe. These were very easy to make. I used 4 large baking potatoes so I 2x the other ingredients. I completely forgot the sour cream and green onion on top. It would have made the picture so much better. Made for AZ/NZ tag.