These loaded baked potatoes are stuffed with caramelized onions, gruyere cheese, and toasted breadcrumbs for a filling, comforting dish!
Baked potatoes are one of my favorite comfort foods. These French Onion Soup Loaded Baked Potatoes are the perfect combination of fluffy baked potatoes and delicious caramelized onions!
Top it all with melted gruyere cheese, and there’s nothing better.
We’re not big beef eaters but on occasion, we do love a really good steak. Do I really need to tell you how good a loaded baked potato is with steak? It’s seriously one of my very favorite meals of all time!
So these potatoes are naturally right up my alley, whether I make them for a light lunch with a salad on the side or as a side dish to a protein for dinner. They’re super simple to make and include one of the best foods on Earth: caramelized onions.
Ingredients
Here’s the basic shopping list for this loaded baked potato recipe, but the full recipe card below has all the measurements and steps you’ll need to make these potatoes.
- Baked potatoes
- Crusty bread
- Butter – I use both salted and unsalted
- Thyme
- Salt
- Pepper
- Caramelized onions
- Gruyere cheese – If you can’t find gruyere, Jarlsburg Swiss or Comte cheeses work great too.
I also like to garnish this stuffed baked potato recipe with parsley or more thyme.
How to Make Loaded Baked Potatoes
Here are some basic tips and tricks to making this loaded baked potato recipe the first or 15th time. For the full instructions, check out the recipe card below!
STEP 1: First, preheat the broiler setting on your oven. Set a rack in the second position from the top. You’ll want the potatoes already baked to your preference, and the onions already caramelized.
STEP 2: Then, pulse the bread into crumbs with a food processor while you heat butter in a small skillet. Add the breadcrumbs to the melted butter pan with the thyme, salt, and pepper. Stir everything together and cook until the bread is toasted.
STEP 3: Time to assemble! Put the baked potatoes on a baking sheet and slice each potato open lengthwise on the top and then a short cut horizontally through the first cut. This helps the potatoes open wider for all the toppings! Push the ends together to open the potato up to make room for all the toppings.
STEP 4: Now, scoop out a few tablespoons of the potato and set it aside. You can use the spare potato filling to make loaded garlic mashed potatoes or gnocchi!
STEP 5: Add a pat of butter and a pinch of salt and pepper to each potato, then a few tablespoons of caramelized onions. Sprinkle the breadcrumbs over the onions and top it all with shredded gruyere.
Broil the loaded baked potatoes for a few minutes until the cheese is melted.
Do Potatoes Bake Faster in Foil?
I see a lot of people bake potatoes for their loaded baked potatoes in foil, but there’s no need! It all depends on preference for your baked potato recipe.
The crispy potato skin is my favorite, so I always wash my potatoes thoroughly and rub the outside with a little oil and salt. Baking them unwrapped helps the skin get crispy instead of steamed.
Since the aluminum foil also needs to be warmed, it technically slows the baking process slowly. Save the foil and skip the wrapping!
In a pinch, you can always soften a potato in the microwave before baking. This will help it cook a little faster, but note that the potatoes also cook very unevenly this way.
More Loaded Baked Potato Recipes
When potatoes are your ultimate comfort food, you learn to eat them a million different ways. There’s almost nothing you can’t stuff into a potato!
If you want a stuffed baked potato that’s truly a meal, try my Chorizo Roasted Broccoli Cheddar Loaded Baked Potato. Meat, veggies, and a creamy cheese sauce, all stuffed inside a potato for one amazing meal!
Change up Mexican night next week with these Beef Taco Loaded Baked Potatoes or my favorite Chicken Taco Loaded Baked Potatoes!
If you love twice baked potatoes, try these Bacon and Caramelized Onion Twice Baked Potatoes! You can use the same caramelized onions as you need for this recipe plus a little bacon. And of course, some cheese too!
Or, go for these Bacon Cheddar Ranch Twice Baked Potatoes! They’re like eating your favorite potato chip in hot, fluffy potato form!
What to Serve with French Onion Soup Loaded Baked Potatoes
I love this creamy Caramelized Onion and Thyme Risotto because it perfectly matches the flavors of these French onion soup stuffed baked potatoes and you can make a double batch of caramelized onions to play double duty in both recipes.
Roast chicken anyone? My Dutch Oven Roast Chicken recipe is a full meal in one pot since carrots and onions cook underneath the chicken but you can certainly add this loaded potato to your menu to really round out a cozy weekend meal.
Herb Crusted Salmon is a super quick protein-rich seafood dish to make that would also be great with this stuffed potato on the side along with some roasted veggies like broccoli or cauliflower.
French Onion Soup Loaded Baked Potatoes
French onion soup loaded baked potatoes are a carb lover's dream! All the flavors of your favorite warm, cozy, and cheese French onion soup are packed into a piping hot baked potato to make a delicious side dish or hearty winter lunch.
Ingredients
- 4 baked potatoes (see Note below)
For the bread crumb topping:
- 2 slices leftover crusty bread or hearty sandwich bread
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter
- 2 tsp fresh thyme leaves
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the filling:
- Salted butter
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- ½ cup caramelized onions
- 4 oz Gruyere cheese, shredded (about 1 cup)
For garnish:
- Fresh chopped parsley or thyme leaves
Instructions
- Preheat the broiler with the top rack in the second position below the unit.
- To make the breadcrumb topping: Pulse the bread to the bowl of a food processor until large crumbs form. Heat the butter in a small skillet over medium heat and add the fresh bread crumbs, thyme, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Stir the crumbs up to coat them in the butter. Cook, stirring, until the bread is toasted, about 5 to 7 minutes.
- To assemble: Place the potatoes on a baking sheet and slice each one open on the top lengthwise with a long cut and horizontally with a short cut. Push the ends together to open up the potatoes. Scoop out a few tablespoons of each potato into a bowl. Use the extra potato to make a small portion of loaded mashed potatoes with some of the filling ingredients or gnocchi.
- Add a pat of butter and a sprinkle of salt and pepper to the inside of each potato. Divide the caramelized onions between the potatoes (about 2 tablespoons for each) and then sprinkle on the bread crumbs. Top with the shredded cheese. Slip the baking sheet under the broiler for just a couple of minutes, until the cheese is melted and browned. Sprinkle with some parsley or extra fresh thyme. Serve while the potatoes are still hot and melty.
Notes
Feel free to bake your potatoes using your preferred method. However, if you're tired of your plain ol' baked potatoes and want crispy skins and fluffy insides every single time you make them, or you need to know how to make baked potatoes, you must try my tried and true oven baked potato recipe that I linked to above in the Ingredients list.
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