Loaded baked potatoes are a great side dish or a meal in itself! For this recipe I wanted to change up “surf and turf”. Usually surf and turf involves a land animal the ‘turf” paired well with seafood with “surf”. Instead of just throwing everything together on a plate in a pool of garlic butter I decided to just load up the potatoes! For this recipe I went with shrimp but it would actually do well with scallops and crab as well. If you’re not making this for steak night and just want to have some fun loading potatoes try out some other fun combinations like ham and cheese, broccoli and cheese. Or make it a sweet potato throw in candied nuts and dried fruits, or keep it savory with black bean, corn and quinoa. Whatever crazy combination you choose make sure to check out my tips and tricks below. Try this recipe out and let me know what you think.

TIPS & TRICKS FOR THE BEST SHRIMP STUFFED LOADED BAKED POTATO:

start in the microwave: i don’t know about anyone else but i don’t have time to wait 3 hours for potatoes to bake. So i generally shortcut all my potatoes that aren’t initially being boiled and i pop them in the microwave. I like to poke them with a fork all over then wrap them in plastic wrap. 4-6 minutes depending on the size. Then i brush them in oil and season the skin generously and roast them for about 20 minutes. nobody can even tell the difference! and you have perfectly cooked potatoes every time.

fluff your potato: fluffing the potato is sometimes forgotten. fluffing the potato does a few things. its a great way to make sure your potato is cooked throughout and it helps the seasoning get all the way in.

time everything: this dish is not a stressful dish by any means, but you don’t want to overdo the shrimp. They can overcook! So have the potatoes ready to receive the shrimp so that they don’t keep cooking and cooling. That’s how you get rubbery shrimp.

Shrimp Baked Potatoes

Ingredients 

• 6 large Idaho potatoes

• Vegetable oil, for coating

• 1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, at room temperature

• 1 cup sour cream

• Salt and ground black pepper

• 1 pound sauteed shrimp, peeled

• 8 ounces grated Cheddar, plus more for sprinkling

• Paprika, for sprinkling

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Cover a baking sheet or pan with aluminum foil.
2. Begin by washing the potatoes, drying them and gently pricking them with a fork on the sides. Coat each potato with vegetable oil, place on the prepared baking sheet and bake for about 1 hour.
3. Remove the potatoes from the oven and slice the top third off of each potato. Gently scoop out the potato and place in a large bowl. Place the butter in the bowl. Using a mixer on high, mix together, and then add the sour cream and salt and pepper to taste.
4. Chop the shrimp into large pieces. Fold in the shrimp and cheese into the mixture. Gently stuff the mixture back into the potato shells, making sure not to break them. Pile the mixture as high as you can on top of the potato shells. Sprinkle each potato with more cheese and some paprika for color. Bake in the oven until browned on top, 20 to 25 minutes.

Enjoy!!