Bacon Cheddar Horseradish Potato Bites
December 29, 2018 by Nicole Collins
Can you guys believe it's almost 2019?!?
I'm still trying to wrap my mind around how quickly this year has gone by. But, only in some aspects. Does anyone else feel like this year has been a giant blur but yet the longest year ever all at the same time?
I don't know about you guys, but I feel like Christmas was over in the blink of an eye. Months and months of prep for a few hours of family, food, and fun that ends in total exhaustion. It's totally worth it, though. I had a pretty great Christmas this year.
What about you guys? How's your holiday season going so far? I hope it's been filled with joy and love!
So the past couple of days, I've been seeing a ton of Buzzfeed articles about “the best of 2018” to remind us that 2018 wasn't a total dud. It's been a pretty rough year for our country and our world, overall; but these articles bring a little levity by highlighting “the best things kids said” or “the best boyfriends who tried” or “the best moments to remind us that 2018 wasn't all that bad”...fun articles like that. I even saw one about “things we didn't remember happened in 2018”, because Jan 2018 seems like decades ago.
But on the same token, I'm feeling like summer came and went so fast, I didn't even get to enjoy it. And, I feel like it was just my birthday, but that was really 2 ½ months ago. Double and...how have I been home from Italy for almost 2 months already?!?
It's like we're on the slowest tazmanian devil whirlwind ever. And, I know that doesn't make any sense. But, it's true all at the same time!
But, it's almost time to start fresh. On to bigger and better things in 2019...the last year of this decade. And of course, we have to celebrate this milestone with a party!
Just when you thought I'd given you all of my good appetizers, I have to admit that I've been saving this one to help us ring in the New Year.
Today, we're making Bacon Cheddar Horseradish Potato Bites!
First of all, can we take a second to talk about how adorable these bites are? And, they're so easy to just pop in your mouth and keep it moving while you mingle throughout your party or celebration. Why are tiny foods so darn cute?!?
Ok, now that we've gotten that out of the way, let's talk about how to make these bites. They're fairly simple to assemble. They just take a little time and patience.
We start with some petite red potatoes. I got these potatoes in little tiny size, because I wanted them to be an easy grab and go option. You could use a slightly larger baby potato if you'd like and either cut them in half or just serve a bigger bite. Just keep in mind bigger potatoes take longer to cook, so you'd just need a little extra cook time if you decide to go that route when you're roasting them in the oven until they're fork tender.
After the potatoes finish roasting, we're going to cut the tips off of the potatoes, and scoop out the flesh. This is the part that takes the most time...partially because these potatoes are small and delicate and partially because there's a lot of these little potatoes.
The flesh we scoop out gets mixed with some creamy things like cream cheese and sour cream, some shredded cheddar, some crumbled bacon, and a little touch of horseradish. That mixture gets stuffed back in the potato shells, topped with a little more crumbled bacon and shredded cheese, and placed back in the oven until the filling is heated and the cheese is nice and melty. That's it! They're all done after that!
See...not hard, just takes a little time to make these babies adorably delicious.
These little potato poppers are perfectly salty, perfectly creamy, and finished with the subtle bite of sharp horseradish in the background. Bacon, cheddar, and horseradish is probably one of my favorite savory combos. Anyone remember this schmear? And, I don't think I've ever met a potato I didn't like.
Except a sweet potato. Yuck! But, that's not what I meant...
Alright guys, I hope you guys finish out this holiday season by having a fantastic new year's celebration with your loved ones. Or, at least, with these potato bites! ;-)
Happy New Year! Stay safe! And, I'll see you in 2019!
Let's eat!
Bacon Cheddar Horseradish Potato Bites
Serves: about 30 bites Print
Ingredients:
1.5 lbs petite red potatoes
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt, divided
2 tbsp (1 oz) cream cheese, softened
2 tbsp sour cream
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, divided
1 tbsp prepared horseradish
5 strips bacon, cooked til crispy
¼ tsp pepper
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with aluminum foil. Toss potatoes with olive oil and ½ tsp salt. Spread in a single layer on the baking sheet. Bake for 25 mins until the potatoes are fork tender. Remove from oven and set aside until cool enough to handle.
When potatoes are cool enough to handle, cut the tops off of the potatoes (only about an 1/8 of an inch). Discard the tops. Carefully use a knife or small teaspoon to scoop out the flesh of the potato, leaving a thin border against the skin. In a mixing bowl, combine the potato flesh, cream cheese, sour cream, ½ cup cheddar cheese, horseradish, ½ tsp salt, and pepper. Mix well with a fork. Stir in 3 strips of crumbled bacon.
Use a small spoon to scoop potato mixture in to the potato cups. Top each bite with a shard of bacon (from the remaining two pieces) and a pinch of remaining cheddar cheese. Place back in the oven for 5-7 mins until cheese has melted. Serve warm.
Recipe notes:
*I got tiny, petite potatoes. You could also use a slightly larger baby potato, if you want. You'll have to adjust the initial cooking time til the potatoes are cooked through, and you'll have a few less bites. But, the rest of the ingredients will be the same.
*I find that since these potatoes are so small, it was a little faster to use a sharp, skinny steak knife to cut out the potato flesh than it was to use a really small spoon.
*We want crispy bacon for this so it holds up in the potato mix and so it's easy to break up for garnish.
*These could be served warm or at room temp, but I prefer them warm.
