Tuna Baked Potatoes (aka Tuna Stuffed Potatoes) are potato skins stuffed with a light and fluffy potato and tuna filling topped with melty shredded cheddar cheese. It's like a tuna melt got married to a twice-baked potato.
My grandma made these famous in our family and my two boys squeal with happiness when they see these hit the dinner table at our house.
This is one of those divisive recipes. When I tell people about it, some folks go, "ooooh, that sounds right up my alley." Where others give me that stricken look that says, "no thank you."
My take is, don't knock it till ya tried it. If you dig a tuna noodle casserole, chances are you'll go for this, too.
How to Make Tuna Baked Potatoes
This recipe isn't at all difficult, but some parts of it take a little more effort than a quick and easy weeknight meal.
You start by roasting plain russet potatoes in the oven on a sheet tray with a wire rack at 400F for an hour until they're nice and soft. Be sure to prick the outside with a knife or a fork so that as they bake the steam has somewhere to escape.
After they're baked and have about 10 minutes to cool, slice them in half and scoop out the inside of the potato so that you're left with a bunch of skins.
Then you mix together the insides of the potato with canned tuna, celery salt, salt, cream cheese and hot milk. The hot milk is important because if it's cold milk, it will cause the potatoes to seize and you'll end up with gummy taters.
Finally you put the filling into the skins, top them with shredded cheddar cheese, and bake them for 15 to 20 minutes at 400F until the cheese gets nice and melty and the filling is piping hot.
Shred Your Own Cheese
I highly recommend shredding your own cheese for this recipe so that you get the best melty factor. Pre-shredded cheese is treated with potato starch to help it from clumping in the package and will result in less than stellar results in your final potatoes.
What Kind of Tuna is Best for Tuna Baked Potatoes?
Not all canned tuna is created equal. I personally like a quality white albacore packed in water for this recipe and when I make tuna salad. My go to is from Wild Planet.
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Tuna Baked Potatoes
- Prep Time: 40 min
- Cook Time: 80 min
- Total Time: 2 hours
- Yield: 12 halves
- Category: entree
- Method: baked
- Cuisine: American
Description
Tuna Baked Potatoes are stuffed with a creamy potato and tuna filling topped with melty shredded cheddar cheese.
Ingredients
- 6 large russet potatoes
- 6 oz full-fat cream cheese, softened
- 10 oz (2 - 5 oz cans) tuna packed in water, drained *see note
- ¼ tsp celery salt
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 cup hot milk *see note
- 6 oz cheddar cheese, shredded
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400F and wash 6 large russet potatoes, scrubbing the skins well and pricking the tops with a knife or a fork.
- Place the clean potatoes on a baking sheet with a wire cooling rack set inside it so that the potatoes aren't resting on the bottom of the pan (helps with even cooking) and roast the potatoes in the oven for 1 hour. After an hour use a knife to test to see if the potatoes are cooked by poking one of the potatoes. If the knife goes in easily, your potatoes are done. If the potato still seems rather firm, continue to roast for another 10 minutes or until the potatoes are fully cooked.
- While the potatoes are roasting, take the cream cheese out of the refrigerator and allow it to come to room temperature.
- Once the potatoes are cooked, remove them from the oven and allow them to cool for 10 minutes.
- Once the potatoes are cooled, slice them in half along the long edge of the potato and hollow out the interior of the potato, adding the scooped-out potato to a large mixing bowl. Repeat until all of your potatoes are halved and hollowed out, putting all the skins on a baking sheet.
- In the bowl with the scooped-out potato, add 6 oz softened cream cheese, 10 oz tuna that's been drained, ¼ teaspoon celery salt, 1 teaspoon salt and 1 cup hot milk for the filling.
- Using a spatula or a hand-mixer, mix together the filling until fairly smooth and all the ingredients are incorporated.
- Spoon the filling equally into all of your potato skins, then top them all with shredded cheddar cheese.
- Put the prepared tuna stuffed potatoes into the 400F oven for 15 to 20 minutes until the cheese is melty and the filling is cooked through.
- Serve right away.
Notes
If using Kirkland brand tuna, that comes in slightly larger cans. Feel free to add in the extra tuna to the filling or enjoy the extra 2 oz of leftover tuna as a snack.
Heating the milk is essential! Adding cold milk will make your filling gummy and paste-like. Hot milk interacts with the potato starches to make a light and fluffy filling. I microwave the milk in a heat-safe glass for 45 seconds so that it has steam rising off it, but it's not boiling. You're aiming for around 135F (57C).
Keep leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Reheat in the microwave on high for 2 minutes.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 filled potato skin
- Calories: 290
- Sugar: 2.8 g
- Sodium: 437.8 mg
- Fat: 10.5 g
- Carbohydrates: 35.6 g
- Fiber: 2.4 g
- Protein: 14.3 g
- Cholesterol: 38.7 mg
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