Baked Potato Bar ($10 Family Dinner)
A baked potato bar is such a fun, tasty and simple meal that can be easily customized based on your family’s preferences.
Ingredients
- 6 large potatoes about 5 lbs (Aldi – $3.49 for 10 lbs) — $1.75
- 4 Tablespoons olive oil Aldi — $7.25 for 33 Tablespoons — $0.88
- 1 lb bacon or any meat of your choice (Publix) — $3.25
- salt
- 1/3 bag green onions Aldi — $0.95 for 1 bag — $0.32
- 6 Tablespoons butter Aldi — $0.85 per stick — $0.68
- 1-2 cups shredded cheese Aldi — $2.79 for 12 ounces — $1.40
- 1 lb Fresh broccoli Harris Teeter — $2
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
- Thoroughly wash the potatoes and pat them dry. Prick them with a fork.
- Put them on a cookie sheet and rub them all over with olive oil. Sprinkle liberally with salt.
- Bake potatoes in the oven for 55-60 minutes, or until the skins are crisp, and you can easily pierce the potatoes with a fork.
- While the potatoes are baking, cook the bacon using your preferred method. (I cook it in the oven on a cookie sheet on a different rack than the potatoes.) Break the bacon into pieces.
- Wash and dry the broccoli and cut it into pieces. On a new cookie sheet, spread the broccoli in a single layer. (If you have parchment paper, you can line the pan with it for easily cleanup, but it works fine without it.) Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt.
- Roast in the oven at 425 degrees for 20-25 minutes, or until tender and starting to brown. (I do this once I’ve taken the bacon out of the oven.)
- Wash and chop the green onions.
- Put each ingredient in a separate bowl (shredded cheese, roasted broccoli, crumbled bacon, butter, chopped green onions). Serve the baked potatoes buffet-style alongside the various toppings and let each person top their potato as desired!
Notes
We usually use bacon, but sometimes I mix it up and do seasoned ground meat (beef, turkey, or venison) and go with tex-mex toppings instead (corn, beans, cilantro, salsa, etc). We love roasted broccoli, but once again — almost any vegetable can work here (although I do recommend roasting the veggies). The sky is the limit, and the frugal baked potato is the inspiration behind it all!
Nutrition
Calories: 864kcal | Carbohydrates: 71g | Protein: 23g | Fat: 55g | Saturated Fat: 21g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 7g | Monounsaturated Fat: 24g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 95mg | Sodium: 755mg | Potassium: 1960mg | Fiber: 10g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 983IU | Vitamin C: 140mg | Calcium: 181mg | Iron: 4mg
Find it online: https://moneysavingmom.com/baked-potato-bar-10-family-dinner-idea/