This spud’s for you! Make good on those leftover baked potatoes with these 20 easy recipes to help you avoid wasting food.
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Who doesn’t love a baked potato? Split when hot and slathered with a pat of butter, seasoned with salt and pepper, and topped with some shredded cheese, sour cream, and chopped chives, a loaded baked potato is pretty stellar.
But what do you do with the leftovers? How do you make sure that you don’t let the time, money, and spud go to waste?
Let’s tackle that question today so you can save money and enjoy your leftovers.
What are baked potatoes?
The hallmark of a steakhouse side dish, the baked potato is simply that: an unpeeled potato baked until the flesh is soft and tender and the skin crisp.
Whether you bake them in the oven or make slow cooker baked potatoes, potatoes in their jackets are a fun potato side dish. They can be topped in any number of ways and are delicious served alongside Grilled Dijon Basil Chicken or a few slices of Grilled Pork Tenderloin.
Is it okay to eat a baked potato the next day?
If you properly store your baked potatoes, that is, place them in an airtight container in the refrigerator within 2 hours of cooking them, they will be good to eat for the next 4 days.
You can freeze potatoes for longer storage, but for best texture after freezing, it’s best to make mashed potatoes or stuffed potatoes before tucking them in cold storage.
What to do with the leftovers?
Since food waste is a huge waste of money as well, it’s in your best interests to make sure you stop wasting food, particularly those tasty baked potatoes.
If you don’t want to reheat and eat your baked potatoes, here’s what to do with them:
20 Recipes to Make with Leftover Baked Potatoes
Ultimate Cheesy Stuffed Potatoes
These Cheesy Stuffed Potatoes are the bomb. They freeze and reheat beautifully so there's no reason not to bake extra potatoes on purpose just to make these.
Homemade Loaded Potato Skins
These potato skins from Blessed Beyond Crazy are simple to make and loaded with good things. Skip to step 4 since the potatoes are already baked.
Skillet Home Fries Recipe
The perfect home fries recipe, developed with leftovers in mind. Your folks will wake up to a very happy breakfast with these on the menu.
Chunky Potato Soup with Bacon & Tarragon
This potato soup will come together lickety-split since the potatoes are already cooked. Saute the onion and bacon, stir together the other ingredients, add your chopped cooked potatoes and heat until hot. Serve and enjoy!
Sausage Potato Soup
This Sausage Potato Soup is loaded with flavor. Prepare the soup and reduce the cooking time to 10 minutes, just to reheat the potatoes.
Slow Cooker Beef Stew with Mushrooms and Olives
This stew is super easy to pull together in the crockpot. I normally serve it over mashed potatoes, but you can add your baked potatoes to the stew itself. Once it's done, add your chopped baked potatoes. They'll reheat in the hot stew and add just the right heartiness.
Black Bean and Sweet Potato Quesadilla
This Black Bean Quesadilla calls for cooked sweet potatoes, but you can easily swap in white potatoes if that's what you have leftover. Chop them small and layer them with the beans and cheese.
Taco Fillings You Can Make in the Slow Cooker
Adding potato to taco fillings is a classic way to stretch your protein. Choose any of these taco fillings to spud up prior to serving.
Classic Potato Salad
Skip the boiling step and simply chop your baked potatoes and stir into the dressing. Yum!
Rebel with a Cause Smashed Potatoes
For smooth mashed potatoes, you want to mash hot potatoes. Leftover baked potatoes won't give you the same texture. That's where smashed potatoes are in order.
Sausage Vegetable Frittata
This egg bake is packed with flavor! The recipe calls for cooking a potato, but you can skip that part and just add your leftover baked potato to the mix, sliced thinly.
These Cheesy Potatoes are Ultimate Comfort Food
Cheesy potatoes are ultimate comfort. Cube or shred your leftover baked potatoes and stir them into the sauce. Super yum!
Jace's Breakfast Burritos
Replace the tots in this recipe with cubed leftover baked potatoes. Easy-peasy.
Eggs and Sweet Potato Hash with Brussels Sprouts and Mushrooms
This hash will cook up even more quickly with the potatoes already cooked. Saute the sprouts, mushrooms, and leeks and then add the cubed potatoes to reheat.
Sausage and Potatoes Recipe with Sour Cream Sauce
Sausages and an herbed cream sauce will take your leftover baked potatoes to new heights.
Catalan Meatballs: Boules de Picolat
Normally served over boiled potatoes, these Catalan Meatballs are just as delicious served over leftover baked potatoes, either sliced or split.
Potato Nachos
Chop and reheat your potatoes before loading them with your favorite nacho toppings. So good, you'll wonder why you never did this before.
Homemade Chicken Pot Pie Recipe (Freezer-Friendly)
Pot pie is simplified with leftovers! Chop your leftover baked potatoes and add them to this delicious filling for a tasty shortcut.
Jalapeno Popper Potatoes
Leftover baked potatoes are perfect for this easy casserole topped with jalapeno poppers. Heck! If you've got those leftover from a party too, you're set!
Stuffed Breakfast Potatoes
Reheat your baked potatoes the next morning and top them with scrambled eggs and some fun toppings. Who says stuffed potatoes are only for dinner?
What’s your favorite way to use a leftover baked potato?
Pat
I think leftover baked potatoes are one of my favorite leftovers that you can do so many things with.
In addition to your recipes I make hash browns, and fried potatoes and onions. Once they are chilled I slice, dice, cube or grate and freezer them for future use.
Amber
Thank you for this post. It is timely for me as I have some baked potatoes I need to use up in my fridge. If I cubed them, would it work to flash freeze them for a future recipe?
Pat
Amber I freeze leftover potatoes all the time. I cube, slice, grate, or dice them and then freeze them for future use.
Amber
Thanks, Pat. Do you use them from frozen in recipes? If not, do you find the texture changes upon thawing and reheating? Any tips and tricks would be helpful.
Jessica Fisher
I haven’t had good experience with that; I had to fry them in a lot of oil to get the texture right. Others have had different experiences. You could always test it with a small amount and see if you like it.
Amber
Thanks, Jessica. I just found and read your freezing potatoes post which was helpful.
Pat
I usually thaw my frozen potatoes before using them and will blot them with paper towels if they seem wet. I haven’t had good luck starting with frozen.