The Leftover Ingredient That Makes Baked Potatoes Shine
Baked potatoes are like a fresh blueprint upon which an amateur kitchen architect may begin to draw a carbohydrate masterpiece. The humble spuds are excellent with little more than salt, pepper, and a bit of butter. But baked potatoes are also primed for all manner of excellent upgrades. Things like sour cream, shredded cheese, and maybe some chopped chives are a decent start. And another versatile weeknight dinner staple can turn what's typically a side into a main event: Stuff baked potatoes with taco filling.
Like the blank baked potato, taco ingredients can combine in virtually infinite ways. And, whether your most recent taco night featured chicken adobado, birria, seafood, ground beef, or roast vegetables, it can top your baked potato just as successfully as it can stuff your tortillas. The trick is to keep your flavors more or less aligned atop the spud as you would inside your tacos for the tastiest finish.
How to repurpose taco filling for baked potatoes
Taco filling, whether meat or plant-based, can be challenging to repurpose if you run out of tortillas. That's where the potato comes in. The tuber is conducive to taco filling because of its own wonderfully neutral quality and tender texture that can turn practically anything into a comfort meal.
Since you already have the filling, you'll first want to make your baked potato the right way. Give it a good scrub and a thorough dry, a few fork piercings, a brush with oil and a few shakes of salt and pepper before baking it at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for about 45 minutes. You can reheat your taco filling toward the end of that cook time so it doesn't leave the potato cool. Then you just need to split the top of the potato and arrange your ingredients for an excellent use of leftovers.
Ground beef taco filling will obviously be terrific with the addition of cheddar and pico de gallo, just like you'd do in the shell. Something like fried fish is also great with thinly sliced radishes and a vibrant cabbage slaw, and jalapeños will brighten virtually any filling you opt for.