Making Mealtime Meaningful: Discover how we're giving back with the 12T Cares program →

Cheesy Blooming Potato

Not having to fry it makes this bloomin’ veg a breeze!

hearts
When you share or print a 12 Tomatoes recipe,
you're making mealtime meaningful.
100% of the Share to Care sponsor fees fund meals for families in need. Learn More
CLICK ANY LINK BELOW TO JOIN OUR CAUSE!

If you’ve ever been to Outback or Chili’s, you’ll know that the beloved Blooming Onion is one of the tastiest, most addictive dishes you can order (yum!), but we never thought to apply that same “blooming” concept to other foods. We had some potatoes lying around the pantry and, though we’d walked by them hundreds of times and only ever thought to bake them for an easy dinner, we realized we could do something way more interesting to really make our meal special.

Instead of doing any of the typical things with these potatoes, we decided to make blooming potatoes! Now, you need to be careful with how you cut them, since you don’t want to cut all the way to the bottom, or you’ll risk having your tot fall apart on you, but other than that, this recipe’s a breeze! Bake the potatoes, then stuff them with cheese and top ‘em with bacon and you’re in business…seriously, you won’t believe how good they are!

Serves 2

45 minutes

hearts
When you share or print a 12 Tomatoes recipe,
you're making mealtime meaningful.
100% of the Share to Care sponsor fees fund meals for families in need. Learn More
CLICK ANY LINK BELOW TO JOIN OUR CAUSE!
Ingredients
  • 2 potatoes
  • 6 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • cheddar cheese, to taste
  • kosher salt, to taste
Preparation
  1. Preheat oven to 425º F and line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
  2. Cut 1/4 inch off the side of potato. This will be the top. Resting potato so it’s facing cut side up, use a paring knife to make a series of concentric cuts reaching the center of the potato. (Make sure not to cut through to the bottom of potato.)
  3. Flip potato over so it’s resting cut side down and make small, vertical cuts that go all the down the potato, starting halfway out from the center of potato (which is the base holding everything together.)
  4. Flip potato over again and drizzle with olive oil, then season generously with salt (and pepper, if desired).
  5. Place potatoes on baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes.
  6. Remove potatoes from oven and top with cheddar cheese, pressing cheese gently into crevices of potato.
  7. Return to oven and bake for 5 minutes, or until melted. Then, remove potatoes from oven and top with crumbled bacon.
  8. Enjoy!