Double Cheesy Chicken and Broccoli Stuffed Potatoes
Double Cheesy Chicken and Broccoli Stuffed Potatoes- A full meal of rotisserie chicken and broccoli stuffed into a twice baked potato and topped with a luxurious cheddar cheese sauce.
November 4, 2020 by Nicole Collins
Is it summer yet?
For real though...I've had enough of this doom and gloom and cold already. I'm ready to move on to something else.
K? K...
I know, I know. It's only been cold weather season for like 5 mins. But, I am already OVER IT.
And bonus, I made it to my Nov 1 goal without turning on the heat! But, the moment I turned it on, I had an issue with the furnace and had to call a repair man. Ugh...
My A/C unit doesn't do this to me!
I know I need to just get over it already, because we have a solid 6 months of cold weather ahead. And, there's not a darn thing that I can do about it (until I finally relocate to somewhere with warmer climates). So buckle up, I guess.
Since we have to be in full on comfort mode 24/7; crank up the oven, and let the comfort food recipes roll!
So today, we're making Double Cheesy Chicken and Broccoli Stuffed Potatoes!
Side note...did you know that broccoli is one word that I need help spelling 100% of the time? I don't know why I can't get it right? I've won a spelling bee or two in my day, but broccoli gets me every darn time.
But, I digress.
I may not be able to spell broccoli, but I can sure cook with it. So, let's get to it.
Let's start with the potato. We're going to take some russet potatoes; rub them in some olive oil, salt, and pepper; and pop them in the oven to bake for 1 whole hour. Could we cheat and “bake” our potatoes in the microwave in about 5 minutes? Sure. And, that's an absolute option here if you need to get dinner on the table quickly. But, there's nothing that beats the crispy skin and fluffy inside of an oven baked potato.
After our potatoes finish baking, we're going to slice a little opening in the top of our potatoes, give the sides a squeeze to pop open the potato, and scoop out the flesh. We're going to twice bake these potatoes; but first, we're going to mix lots of goodies into our potato flesh.
To the potato, we're going to add some butter, some sour cream, some shredded cheddar, a little chopped broccoli, some diced rotisserie chicken, and a pinch of garlic powder. We're going to use frozen chopped broccoli that's been thawed instead of fresh broccoli, because the frozen is already par-cooked for us. So, we don't need to do any pre-cooking before we can use it. And, since we're taking our time to roast our potatoes in the oven, we can stand to sneak in some shortcuts like the broccoli and store bought chicken.
After we mix all of the delicious add ins with our potatoes, we're going to stuff the mix right back into the shells of our potato skins. Now keep in mind, we're stuffing a lot more back in than what we took out. So, be gentle when stuffing your shells. We don't want to break the skins. I actually like to use my hands to help press the filling back into the potato skins. And, having the potato mix overflowing out of the top of the potato skin is not only ok, but recommended! After the skins are filled, pop them back in the oven for their second bake.
Now, this recipe is a double cheesy recipe. So, while our potatoes work on their second bake in the oven, we're going to make a quick cheese sauce to drizzle all over our potatoes. All we need is a little butter, 2 types of cheddar, some cream cheese, and some heavy cream. Let it melt together in a small saucepan, give it a pinch of salt and pepper for seasoning, and that's it! I'll will feel a little thin at first, but it thickens up as it cools. And, it's the perfect cheesy accompaniment for our chicken and broccoli potatoes.
When we're finished, we have a full meal tucked into one humble potato. We have our protein. We have our veggie. We have our carb. We have our dairy. We have everything we need! The potato stays perfectly crisp on the outside. The inside is a creamy and flavorful potato mash situation. And, the cheese sauce poured over the top adds another layer of luxurious richness. Chicken, broccoli, and cheese is a classic pairing; and you really can't go wrong when a potato is involved!
Ok, everyone. That should keep our bellies nice and warm for a while. Are there any comfort food recipes that you'd love to see here? Let me know!
For now, enjoy! And, let's eat!
Double Cheesy Chicken and Broccoli Stuffed Potatoes
Serves: 4 Print
Ingredients:
For the Potatoes:
4 medium russet potatoes, washed and dried
1 tbsp olive oil
½ tsp + ½ salt, divided
¼ tsp + ¼ tsp pepper, divided
2 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
¼ cup sour cream
1 cup frozen chopped broccoli, thawed
½ cup diced rotisserie chicken
¼ tsp garlic powder
For the Cheese Sauce:
½ tbsp unsalted butter
2 oz medium cheddar cheese, shredded and divided
2 oz extra sharp white cheddar cheese, shredded and divided
1 oz cream cheese, softened
½ cup heavy cream
salt and pepper, to taste
Directions:
Bake the Potatoes: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Poke potatoes all over with a sharp knife or fork. Drizzle olive oil over the potatoes, and use your hands to rub the oil over the potatoes to completely coat them. Season all sides of the potatoes with ½ tsp and ¼ tsp pepper total. Place potatoes on the baking sheet, and bake for 1 hour until fork tender.
When the potatoes have cooled enough to touch, use a sharp knife to make a cut in the top of the potato across the length of the potato. Use your hands to hold the potato by both ends, and gently push inward to open up the potato. Scoop out the flesh, leaving a slight border inside the skin, and transfer to a mixing bowl. Mash the potato flesh slightly with a fork.
To the potato flesh, add 2 tbsp butter, sour cream, broccoli, chicken, garlic powder, ½ tsp salt, ¼ tsp pepper, and 1/3 cup of the shredded cheese listed for cheese sauce (half white, half yellow cheddar). Mix well until everything is combined. Stuff the mixture back into the shell of the potato. Bake at 375 degrees for an additional 15 minutes until the potatoes start to become golden on top.
Meanwhile, make the Cheese Sauce: Melt ½ tbsp butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. When the butter starts to bubble, add heavy cream, cream cheese, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Whisk well until the cream cheese has melted. Bring to a low simmer, and simmer for 1 minute until slightly thickened. Remove from heat, and whisk in remaining cheese until melted.
To serve, drizzle cheese sauce over stuffed potatoes. Enjoy!
Recipe notes:
*You could also substitute roasted or cooked chicken in place of the rotisserie chicken.
*Start the cheese sauce after you place the potatoes back in the oven for the second time. That way, the sauce will have a few minutes to thicken up and will be ready just in time to top the potatoes when they come out of the oven.
*I do not recommend using pre-shredded bagged cheese for this recipe. The cheese will melt much better if you buy a block and shred it yourself. Bagged cheeses have anti-clumping agents added which impacts meltability.
*If you don't want to wait an hour for the potatoes to bake, here's a shortcut: poke the potatoes and rub them in evoo/salt/pepper as stated above. Place them on a microwave safe plate, and microwave for 6-7 minutes until fork tender. The skin won't be quite as crispy as if it roasted for an hour in the oven, but the flavors are still there.
*We're stuffing a lot more into the potatoes than we scooped out, so don't be shy about using your hands to really pack the potato mixture (gently) into the shell. No bite left behind!
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