Loaded Baked Potato Bread
You’ve heard of loaded baked potatoes and baked potato soup, but have you ever had Loaded Baked Potato Bread? It has all of the flavors of a loaded baked potato, but on pillowy French bread!
Topped with cheesy, bacon-y goodness and crispy potato chips for added crunch and potato vibes, this crowd-pleasing appetizer or side dish is definitely the star of your next potluck or family dinner. Make this recipe and watch how it gets gobbled up!
Why We Love This Loaded Baked Potato Bread
We’re suckers for any kind of cheese bread. Cheddar melted on bread, shredded parmesan and cracked black pepper on sourdough, and of course, Cheesy Pesto Bread, etc. We also love the flavors of loaded baked potatoes, and thought that combining these two types of carbs could make for a fantastic snack. Spoiler alert: we were right!
For this bread, we mix up the normal ingredients you might find in a loaded baked potato–cheddar cheese, sour cream, bacon, and chives–plus some cream cheese for added richness, and slather it all on top of soft French bread. It all gets baked until the toppings are bubbly and the bread is golden brown.
All of that tastes delicious on its own, but this is baked POTATO bread, so we top the baked cheesy bread with crushed up potato chips. These provide the necessary potato flavor, plus some fun crispy textures. A dollop of sour cream and some chives on top add just the right finishing touches.
Ingredients in This Loaded Baked Potato Bread
There aren’t a ton, which is another reason why we love this recipe!
You’ll need:
- French bread – we find that this type of bread works the best in this recipe, but you could also use an Italian loaf with similar results. If you choose to use a baguette, you’ll likely have leftover cheese mixture.
- Cheddar cheese – we like mild or medium with this. Using freshly shredded cheddar is more labor intensive than pre-shredded, but it’ll melt better.
- Cream cheese – while not typically on baked potatoes, this adds some richness and creaminess to the cheese mixture.
- Sour cream – you gotta have sour cream with loaded baked potatoes! It gets mixed in with the cheese and added on top of the cooked bread for garnish.
- Bacon – you can skip this if you don’t eat meat.
- Chives – these get mixed in with the cheese and added on top.
- Potato chips – use your favorite here! We like kettle cooked salted potato chips with this bread.
How to Make This Bread
First, preheat the oven to 350°F.
Next, combine all of the cream cheese, sour cream, cheddar cheese, bacon, and 2 ½ tbsp chives in a bowl.
Prepare the bread by slicing the loaf in half lengthwise.
Spread a thick layer of the cheese mixture onto each bread half. It may be easiest to do this with a rigid rubber spatula or the back of a large spoon.
Bake the bread for 15 to 20 minutes until the cheese mixture is melted through. For supreme toasty cheesiness, broil for an extra 1 to 2 minutes, then remove the bread from the oven.
While the bread is still hot, crush some potato chips over the top. Some may bounce off, but most should stick to the warm cheese.
Slice the bread into thick slices and top each with a dollop of sour cream and the rest of the chives.
Loaded Baked Potato Soup
Ingredients
- 1 loaf French bread
- 1 ½ cup medium cheddar cheese, shredded
- 8 oz cream cheese, softened
- ½ cup sour cream, plus more for garnish
- 4 strips bacon, cooked and diced
- 3 tbsp chives, diced, plus more for garnish
- Handful Kettle cooked potato chips, crushed
Instructions
- Combine the 8 oz cream cheese, 1/2 cup sour cream, 1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese, 4 strips of chopped bacon, and 2 ½ tbsp chives in a bowl.
- Slice bread loaf in half lengthwise.
- Spread a thick layer of the cheese mixture onto each bread half. (It may be easiest to do this with a rigid rubber spatula or the back of a large spoon.)
- Bake at 350F for 15-20 minutes until the cheese mixture is melted through. For extra toasty cheesiness, broil for 1-2 minutes, then remove from the oven.
- While the bread is still hot, crush some potato chips over the top. Some may bounce off, but most should stick to the warm cheese.
- Slice the bread into thick slices and top each with a dollop of extra sour cream and the rest of the chives.
