Twice baked potato is always the favorite side dish to go at potlucks and barbecue, but also for large dinner parties. It can also be prepared to be a perfect meal for a vegan or a vegetarian in a family/group of omnivores. There are some stores that sell already prepared twice baked potatoes, but they usually contain outrageous amounts of fat and calories.
However, if you prepare twice baked potatoes on your own from scratch, you can control the nutrients included in the meals. While it is difficult to make such a meal light, you can make it without animal fat and make it more balanced than the conventional recipe. In this article, we’ll try to find the most ideal vegan recipe for the twice baked potato that is at the same time filling and healthy.
Choosing Vegan-Friendly Ingredients
Vegetables
Some of the ingredients that usually go in twice baked potatoes are bacon, sour cream, butter and cheddar cheese. In this case, you will need to replace them with the ones that don’t contain animal fat or any other animal product or bi-product. If you want to stay as true as possible to the original, you can only replace these ingredients with their closest vegan alternatives, such as coconut bacon, non-dairy milk, vegan margarine and vegan cheese (e.g., dairy-free cheddar, tofu, etc.).
On the other side, you have ingredients such as onion, scallions, black beans, sweet corn and other vegetable products are something you can add according to your taste. If you like spicy dishes, you can also use hot sauce, and if you prefer exotic and salty flavor you can use soy sauce instead.
Vegan Twice Baked Potatoes Recipe
Baked Potatoes
Now that you know how to choose ingredients, here is one amazing method for a vegan alternative to this famous recipe. Of course, you can choose not to use some of the ingredients in the recipe or replace them with some other ones.
Ingredients:
● 2 medium-sized potatoes
● ½ cup non-dairy milk of choice (unsweetened)
● 2 tbsp. vegan margarine (melted)
● ¼ cup nutritional yeast
● ½ tsp. salt
● Black pepper (to taste)
● ½ cup coconut bacon
● 2 scallions (chopped)
● 1 cup black beans (cooked or canned)
● Hot sauce to taste (optional)
Instructions:
1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Peel/scrub the potatoes and puncture a few times with a fork or knife to make the baking more evenly.
3. Put the potatoes on the baking sheet and insert in the oven.
4. Bake for about one hour and fifteen minutes; that is until they are easily pierced with a knife. You want the inside of the potatoes to be nice and soft so that it is mashed easily.
5. Remove the potatoes from the oven. Cut them in half, lengthwise.
6. Scoop the insides of the potatoes with a spoon and put them into a medium bowl.
7. Mash the insides with a potato masher.
8. Add milk, margarine, yeast, pepper, salt and hot sauce if you have decided to use it. Mash until you get a consistent mix.
9. Then add the scallions and black beans.
10. If the mash isn’t creamy enough, add some more milk and mash it for a few minutes more.
11. Divide the mixture into four parts and spoon back into the potato skins.
12. Return the filled skins into the oven, and bake for about twenty minutes more, or until you notice the top layer begins to get the golden-brown color.
13. Remove the potatoes from the oven and top with coconut bacon.
Tips For Getting It Perfect Each Time
Following this recipe seems natural. However, there are some culinary secrets that are not known to everyone, and that can make this endeavor even easier. Here are some of them:
● Before the baking, wash the potatoes and wipe them dry with towel wipes.
● There are many different types of potatoes, and some of them turn out to be better twice baked potatoes, while other ruin the recipe completely. One of the best types for this purpose is Yukon Gold, but you can use all types of starchy potatoes.
● When you are removing the insides of the potatoes, leave them to cool off for ten minutes or so, so that you can hold the potatoes in your hands while you are scraping the insides. Also, you should use a spoon with not too blunt of an edge.
● You can also hold the hot potatoes by making a little cradle out of dish towel and using it to protect your hand.
● Leave about 1/8′ to 1/4′ of potatoes flesh on the inside of the skin to prevent falling apart.
● For a crispier skin, you can put them back in the oven while you are preparing the filling for about 15 minutes more, and stuff them only then.
● One of the best things about twice baked potatoes is that they can be frozen and then reheated whenever you need them. However, if you are planning on freezing this meal, make sure you don’t use green onion because freezing them chemically alters their flavor and consequently ruins the taste of baked potatoes.
What To Serve With Twice Baked Potatoes?
Although they can be eaten independently, twice baked potatoes are usually viewed as a side dish, so if you are preparing a full-blown vegan dinner, you will need to know what else to serve with this delicious meal.
The typical non-vegetarian meal where twice baked potatoes are a side dish would contain fried chicken or steak, but since that is not an option here, you can go for a salad, such as a vegan alternative to Caesar salad. Also, you can serve grilled vegetables, such as broccoli or asparagus alongside the potatoes.
Another way to make your twice baked potatoes more interesting is by pouring sauce over them. Mushroom Marsala sauce that is usually used for steaks can be an exciting choice when you replace all the non-vegan ingredients with the vegan ones. Some other fantastic flavors to add to your filling veggie meal are green pesto, baked beans, green peppercorn, vegan cheese sauce and broccoli sauce.
Being a vegan doesn’t mean you need to deprive yourself of some of the most beautiful recipes available to everyone. In fact, once you learn to prepare your vegan twice baked potatoes, we are sure that even the most dedicated carnivores will compete to get to these delicious treats first.
Remember that the most fantastic thing about twice baked potatoes is that you can mix and match the ingredients according to your taste. Additionally, precise measurements aren’t as important as in some other recipes, as long as you get the texture right.
