These Smoked Cheesy Potatoes hit all the best flavor notes. They are creamy, salty, and smokey. Cheesy smoked potatoes perfectly seasoned and stuffed with 6 different types of cheese were the best potato I have ever eaten.
I love making smoked side dishes, because you can get your smoker going for the protein, and then with figuring out the timing of the sides, cook them as you go so that when the main course is done, all your sides are ready at the same time.
I find it is easy to do this when I use my Traeger pellet grill, but any other smoker, propane, or a stick burner will get this done as long as you can maintain a low constant temperature. If you don't want to get so fancy as smoked cheesy potatoes, you could always just do a baked potato on the smoker and keep it simple and just serve with sour cream and chives.
Ingredients Needed
Potatoes - in order for this recipe to work you will need to cook the potatoes first. I cook them in my instant pot but you can also bake them or even microwave them.
Cream Cheese - you need a soft creamy cheese and the binder for this. Other good alternatives are goat cheese, mascarpone, or ricotta.
Cheddar, Monterey Jack, Gouda, and Mozzarella Cheese - I just used what I had in the fridge. As long as you have a nice assortment of shredded cheeses in a total of 6 ounces you can use any that you desire.
Parmesan - I do recommend using a hard salty cheese such as parmesan or romano.
Parsley - I used dried parsley but fresh would also work. Alternatively, you can use rosemary or thyme.
Garlic Salt - this is a standard in our kitchen. It is a great basic seasoned salt to always keep on hand.
How to Make Smoked Cheesy Potatoes
Step One: Half the cooked potatoes and hollow out the insides. Sprinkle the hollowed potatoes with garlic salt. Save the inside for another use. We typically make it into home fries or hash browns for breakfast.
Step Two: Mix together the cheese filling and divide it between the potato skins. Sprinkle with the additional shredded cheese.
Step Three: Add the potatoes to the smoker. We chose to cook them on a disposable aluminum tray for easier cleanup.
Step Four: Turn up the heat so the cheese on top of the potatoes browns.
What Type of Cheese Should I Use?
We used a blend of cheeses but if all you have is sharp cheddar cheese, go for that. Using shredded cheese makes for an easy application to each potato. If you have slices of cheese, I would break them in half so that the excess doesn't drip all over your smoker. You could also opt for using foil or a disposable tray like I did to avoid cheese drippings on the smoker.
If you are going to use a softer cheese like brie instead of our combination of cheeses, I would recommend adding the cheese ten minutes prior to the end of cooking so that it doesn't all completely melt off and away.
How to Bake Potatoes in an Instant Pot
I love this method of cooking potatoes. It has been my go-to anytime we want potatoes for dinner. Simply add 1 cup of water and the rack to the instant pot. Then add cleaned potatoes. I do poke my potatoes with a fork so they can release steam and not split. Set for manual high pressure for 15 minutes. Let the pressure naturally release. In about 40 minutes total you have perfect baked potatoes without heating up the kitchen.
Variations on Smoked Cheesy Potatoes
Bacon - Mix some crumbled bacon into the cream cheese and crumble some more on top. Everything is better with bacon including these smoked potatoes.
Green Onions - Finely slice some scallions and mix them into the cream cheese filling before adding it to the potatoes.
Sweet Potatoes - If you want to make this with sweet potatoes I recommend using just cream cheese to fill them and then sprinkling with cinnamon when they are done. They are amazing like this!
Toppings - Top with sour cream, chives, and bacon before serving. The tang of sour cream is always a nice contract to the other ingredients.
What to Serve with Smoked Potatoes
When you look at the list of ingredients, it looks deliciously close to ingredients for a cheesy potato casserole. But as an accompaniment to a bbq meal, having the ability to pick up and eat it like a rib or a chicken wing, makes service and presentation easy.
We served our smoked cheesy potatoes with pellet grill ribs. I would also serve them with anything else you are planning to smoke or grill. Using these potatoes as your replacement for fries to accompany wings, burgers, or even a hot dog. They travel well for tailgating and still taste great at room temperature.
These are honestly so good and delicious you could even get away with bringing these to Thanksgiving dinner or any other family holiday feast.
Ingredients
- 8 baked potatoes halved and hollowed (reserve insides for another use)
- 8 oz cream cheese
- 2 oz shredded gouda
- 2 oz shredded mozzarella
- 2 oz monterey jack cheddar blend
- 1 oz parmesan
- 1 tablespoon parsley
- 1 teaspoon garlic salt
Instructions
- Combine all the ingredients for the filling (reserve ¼ cup of shredded cheese for the topping) and mix well.
- Add the filling to the halved potatoes and top with the remaining cheese.
- Cook in a preheated smoker for 2 hours on 225.
- Optional: increase the heat to 425 for the last 5 minutes so the cheese on top of the potatoes browns.
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