Upgrade Baked Potatoes With A Canned Seafood Twist That Delivers 10x The Flavor

Baked potatoes are a side dish staple, and as long as you have the patience to let them get nice and tender in the oven or fluffy in the air fryer, they're incredibly easy to make. It never hurts to add some butter once cooked, but if you want the potatoes bursting with flavor without the effort of making a from-scratch sauce, try spooning canned clam chowder into the potato before serving.

New England clam chowder offers a creamy, rich flavor profile paired with the salty, tender texture of clams, and using a canned version makes everything easier. It adds a layer of heartiness and comfort to a standard baked potato, and the only prep work required is just heating the clam chowder prior to serving it. The best way to prepare this few-ingredient side dish is to place the baked potato in a bowl once it's cooked, slice it open and add some butter, then spoon a generous amount of clam chowder right over the center. The bowl prevents the clam chowder from going all over, and this is best eaten with a spoon so you can get all of that tasty soup.

It's important to use a good-quality store-bought clam chowder for this — we recommend Great Value Hearty Clam Chowder Soup, which we ranked the best of seven brands we tried. From there, you can build on this dish even further with a few different garnishes and add-ons. One idea: get cheese involved. Once the potato is cooked and sliced, add it to a ceramic or oven-safe bowl. Add the clam chowder, then add shredded Gruyére or another mild cheese on top. Place it under the broiler until the cheese is melted and the soup is hot and bubbly, and you have a dish hearty enough to eat as its own meal.

To balance the rich flavors, drizzle some lemon juice — an ingredient that commonly adds brightness to seafood — over the cheesy baked potato. And for a little acidity, garnish with finely chopped chives or green onions. The baked potatoes can also be sliced thinly with a mandoline, then lined around a ceramic dish and topped with clam chowder, cheese, and breadcrumbs. Once baked, it turns into a delicious potato clam chowder casserole that can feed a crowd, but you've still kept the prep work and cost to a minimum.