Loaded Cheesy Jacket Potatoes

After having my first ever Jacket Potato (yup you read that right, I never had one before) from Sahara Mall, Dubai, I just had to make one on my own! So, the one I had was this enormous halved baked potato stuffed with chunks of Chicken Fajita and loaded with cheese. The potato itself was so soft and with the cheese and chicken it was just so delicious!

Back from Dubai and after much procrastinating I decided to make these jacket potatoes but without any recipe I felt quite lost but that's where Pinterest came to help; scrolling through gazillions recipes I just settled onto the guide to bake a potato and decided to do the rest on my own.

Now the guide called for the potatoes (washed and dried) to be poked with a fork all over (to let out the steam) before being baked for an hour. Here's what actually happened when I followed the guide: my potato -I actually started out with just one, I was so scared it'll explode or something in the oven, was still not baked through even after an hour and a half so I cut it up in half and baked it again for half an hour. Guess what? It still did not bake through!! It was so frustrating. My mum then told me to boil the potatoes before I bake them which actually gave great result! Crispy skin outside with soft potato inside! So without further ado, I'll start with my recipe for Loaded Cheesy Jacket Potatoes. As I was making them myself for the very first time, I kept everything straight and simple.

Loaded Cheesy Jacket Potatoes:

Ingredients:

1. Potatoes : 3 (washed thoroughly)
2. Carrots : 2 medium
3. Spring Onions : 3 medium
4. Chicken : 1 cup (cooked & shredded -use any leftover cooked chicken like I did)
5. Cheese : 1/2 bar of Mozzarella and 1/2 of Cheddar (you may use a full bar of           Mozzarella if not using cheddar) 

Diced Vegetables

Shredded Chicken

Grated Cheese 

Method:

Baking the Potatoes:

• After washing and cleaning the potatoes, boil them until a skewer or a toothpick goes through them smoothly.
• Take the potatoes out of the boiling water, cool them slightly on a wire rack and dry the skin completely with tissue papers.
• Using the tines of a fork poke all over the potatoes and put them in a preheated oven (at 200 Degrees) and bake until the skin is crispy to touch (and not burnt), for about 20 to 30 minutes.
• Now take them out and cool them completely on a wire rack.
• Split the baked potatoes in half and scoop out most of the fluffy flesh with a fork into a bowl.
• Set aside while we work on the topping.

[If you have a more straight forward (and tried and tested) way of baking the potatoes, please let me know down below! I'd highly appreciate it!]

The Stuffing/Filling/Topping:

• Dice the carrots and spring onions and put them in the bowl which already has the potatoes flesh.
• Grate the cheese and add 3/4th of it to the bowl.
• Add the shredded chicken to the bowl.
• Add salt and pepper to taste and mix it all up.
• Now scoop this mixture back into the potato skins.
• Top with the rest of grated cheese.
• Put them carefully on the baking tray and bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until the cheese melts.
• Instead of putting the potatoes straight on the baking tray I put them in the muffin tray first, you know so they're held upright.

Thereeeee! Delicious, cheesy soft and crispy jacket potatoes are ready!! It's all real quick and easy after you've baked your potatoes right! That is, with their flesh soft and skin crispy. Mine were just LOADED with cheese, I mean look at how it's all pouring out of the potatoes :D

Everyone at home LOVED them and I actually gave myself a little pat on the head after tasting them haha!
I encourage you guys to tweak up the ingredients and try other toppings too! Like you can add BBQ or Pizza Sauce or different flavored chicken, different vegetables, there's so much to try and oh yes do NOT forget to share the toppings you tried (in the comment section). Feel free to ask anything about this post. I'd love your constructive feedback and suggestions too! Also let me know which recipe to share next? Savory or sweet?

Until then, Ciao and Good Luck! (: