Chicken Bacon Ranch Stuffed Twice Baked Potatoes
These Chicken Bacon Ranch Stuffed Twice Baked Potatoes are tasty, filling and make a perfect lunch or dinner! Chicken, bacon, and ranch is such a great flavor combo, and stuffing it into a baked potato turns it into a full meal. You’ll just hollow out a baked potato and mash the insides, stirring it together with seasoned ground chicken, sour cream, ranch dressing, bacon, and cheddar cheese. Then you’ll fill the empty potato skins and pile them high with the loaded mashed potatoes and top them with a bit more cheese and bacon. Once you bake them again, you’ll finish them off with one more drizzle of ranch dressing and dig in! Why choose one type of potato when you could eat a baked potato stuffed full of loaded mashed potatoes? Treat yourself.
This recipe makes four stuffed potatoes, but it’s easy to halve or double to make the amount you need. If you’ll be eating them for a few days, you can stuff them all and then just do the second bake with the ones you’re currently serving. Save the other stuffed potatoes to bake again when needed the next day. Not only are these Chicken Bacon Ranch Stuffed Twice Baked Potatoes tasty and filling, but each one is just 373 calories or 5 WW Points each on the current Weight Watchers program (or 9 Points if following the diabetic WW plan)! To view your current WW Points for this recipe and track it in the WW app, click here!
Air Fryer Instructions
If you’d like to try making these Chicken Bacon Ranch Stuffed Twice Baked Potatoes in your air fryer rather than in the oven, I’ve got you covered! When you place your potatoes in the air fryer basket make sure they aren’t crowded and have space surrounding them for the air to circulate. To “bake” the potatoes the first time you’ll want to put them in at 400 degrees for 35-40 minutes. After they’re completely stuffed and ready for their second bake they can go back in at 400 for another 5-10 minutes until the cheese is melted and the tops are golden.
Recipe Tips
- Ground Chicken: This recipe calls for lean ground chicken (around 92% lean), though if it’s easier for you to find ground turkey, that will work fine as a replacement. I chose to use ground chicken rather than chopped up chicken because I think the texture of ground meat works better in the mashed potato stuffing!
- Bacon: I love using center cut bacon because it’s just a leaner cut of regular bacon, so it tastes fantastic and gives great salty, smoky bacon flavor. I pretty much always use Oscar Mayer brand center cut bacon because I find it tasty and consistent. If you don’t eat pork or just prefer poultry, feel free to substitute turkey bacon.
- Ranch Seasoning: You can find Hidden Valley powdered Ranch Seasoning Mix sold in packets or in a shaker that looks similar to a Parmesan cheese shaker. You can use either, but the shaker is handy for measuring out different amounts for recipes or just sprinkling it on top of meat, veggies, or potatoes.
- Ranch Dressing: I used the traditional Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing in this recipe, because that’s what we always have on hand. If you prefer another brand, feel free to substitute whatever you like best.
- Make Ahead: You can definitely prepare and stuff these ahead of time and then do the final (second) baking step when you’re ready to serve them. You’ll likely need a bit more time in the oven if you’re cooking them from refrigerated rather than warm, so you may want to put them in at 375 for 20-30 minutes until they are heated through. Feel free to prepare them a day or two in advance so dinner can be on the table quickly!
- To Freeze: If you plan to freeze some of your stuffed potatoes, I suggest baking them the first time, stuffing them with all the filling, and then holding off on topping them with the extra cheese or baking them the second time. Let them cool off completely and then wrap each one in plastic wrap and place them in an airtight freezer bag or container and freeze. When you’re ready to use one, allow it to thaw in the fridge for 24 hours, top it with cheese, and use the make ahead baking instructions.
More Tasty Lightened Up Potato Recipes
Looking for more tasty, lightened up recipes featuring potatoes? Check out my Taco Stuffed Twice Baked Potatoes, Bacon Cheeseburger Stuffed Twice Baked Potatoes, Loaded BBQ Stuffed Twice Baked Potatoes, Broccoli Cheddar Twice Baked Potatoes, Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Sweet Potatoes, Skillet Breakfast Potatoes, Loaded Potato Salad, Air Fryer Cajun Potatoes, Chili Cheese Stuffed Sweet Potatoes, Roasted Fingerling Potatoes, Classic Mashed Potatoes, Greek Roasted Potatoes with Feta, Roasted Smashed Garlic Potatoes, Cheesy Potluck Potatoes, and more in the Potatoes category of my recipe index.
Chicken Bacon Ranch Stuffed Twice Baked Potatoes
Ingredients
- 4 (7 oz each) raw russet potatoes, scrubbed clean and dried
- 2 slices center cut bacon
- 8 oz uncooked ground chicken, 92-93% lean
- 4 teaspoon dry ranch seasoning, divided (I use Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing and Seasoning Mix)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ cup fat free sour cream
- 2 ⅔ tablespoons ranch dressing, divided (I used Hidden Valley Original Ranch Dressing)
- 2 tablespoons skim milk
- 3 oz shredded 50% reduced fat sharp cheddar cheese, divided (such as Cabot)
Instructions
- Arrange the racks in your oven so that one is in the middle and one is underneath in the bottom half. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and line a sheet pan with aluminum foil. Use a fork to poke holes around the surface of your potatoes, about 6-8 times each. Place the sheet pan on the bottom rack and position the potatoes directly on the rack above it (this way if there are any drippings they will fall on the lined sheet pan and not your oven). Bake for 45 minutes or until cooked through. Remove the potatoes from the oven and set aside to cool. Remove the lined sheet pan from the oven as well for later use. Keep the oven on at 400 degrees.
- While the potatoes are baking, cook the two slices of bacon to crisp according to package instructions. Drain the bacon on a stack of paper towels and then crumble of chop into small pieces. Set aside.
- Mist a large skillet with cooking spray and bring to med-high heat. Add the ground chicken and cook, breaking into small chunks with a spatula or cooking spoon. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes or until the meat is cooked through. Add one tablespoon of the powdered ranch seasoning to the meat and stir to coat. Remove from heat and set aside.
- When the potatoes are cooled enough to easily handle (about the time it takes to cook the meat), slice a wide slit into the top of each one. Peel the skin off of the part in the slit. Use a spoon to scoop out the insides of each potato into a mixing bowl, leaving a ¼” border around the outside of each potato shell. Line the potato shells up on the reserved sheet pan from step one.
- Add the salt, pepper, the remaining teaspoon of powdered ranch seasoning, the sour cream, two tablespoons of the ranch dressing, and the milk to the potato flesh in the mixing bowl. Use a potato masher or a fork to mash together. Add 2 ounces of the shredded cheddar cheese and stir the cheese into the mashed potatoes. Add the cooked ground chicken and most of the crumbled bacon and stir to combine.
- Spoon the loaded mashed potato filling evenly into the slit of the potato shells and pile it high on top. Sprinkle the remaining ounce of cheddar cheese over the filling along with any reserved bacon crumbles. Place the sheet pan back into the 400 degree oven and bake for 10-15 minutes until the cheese is melted and the tops are golden. Remove from the oven and drizzle about ½ teaspoon of ranch dressing over the top of each finished potato before serving.
Notes
373 calories, 42 g carbs, 2 g sugars, 14 g fat, 4 g saturated fat, 24 g protein, 3 g fiber, 624 mg sodium (from myfitnesspal.com) Weight Watchers Points Plus:
10 per (stuffed potato) serving (PP calculated using a Weight Watchers PointsPlus calculator and the nutrition info
