Twice-Baked Potato Skillet
Instant potatoes rebuilt with cheese powder, bacon bits, and dried chives. The casserole without the oven.
- calories
- 720
- weight
- 5 oz
- cal / oz
- 144
- protein
- 22 g
- serves
- 2, scales
- prep
- 2 min
- cook
- 7 min
- total time
- 9 min
- water
- 400 ml boiled
- cost
- $
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Canister stove
- Liquid fuel
- Campfire coals
- Car camping
- Backpacking
- Basecamp
- Winter / snow
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Instant mashed potato flakes | 1 1/2 cups | |
|---|---|---|
| Powdered whole milk | 1/4 cup | |
| Cheddar cheese powder | 1/4 cup | |
| Sour cream powder | 3 tbsp | sold with the dehydrated dips; skip it and add more milk powder |
| Butter powder or ghee | 2 tbsp | |
| Real bacon bits | 1/2 cup | the shelf-stable pouch, not the fridge tub |
| Dried chives | 2 tbsp | |
| Granulated garlic | 1 tsp | |
| Salt | 1/2 tsp | |
| Black pepper | 1/2 tsp |
Method
- Boil 400 ml of water. Pull the pot off the heat before anything goes in.
- Stir in half the bacon and all the dry mix except the potato flakes. Whisk until the powders dissolve and no lumps remain.
- Add the potato flakes in two additions, stirring between them. Stop while it still moves under the spoon.
- Cover and let it sit three minutes. It thickens on its own.
- Scatter the rest of the bacon over the top and eat from the pot.
The original is twelve baked potatoes scraped out of their skins and enriched with sour cream, cream cheese, heavy cream, milk, butter, and an egg, then baked again under cheese and bacon. None of that survives a pack. Potato flakes replace the hour in the oven, and the whole dairy list collapses into three powders: milk, sour cream, and cheddar. Butter powder covers the fat. The egg was there to set the casserole in a dish, and nothing in a pot needs setting, so it is gone.
Order matters more than technique here. Dissolve the powders in hot water first, because cheese powder dropped onto already-thickened potato turns into gritty specks that never go away. Hold back some bacon for the top: the source browned its casserole under a broiler, and the only crunch available on a stove is the crunch you save.
Packing
Everything dry goes in one bag at home, except the bacon bits, which get their own small bag so half stays crisp for the top. Ghee rides in a screw-top jar if you use it instead of butter powder.
Variations
- A handful of dried onion flakes soaked in the water for a minute first gets you closer to a loaded baked potato.
- Crushed potato chips on top do the same job as the casserole's browned crust.
- Stir in a foil packet of chicken to push it past 35 g of protein.
https://www.lodgecastiron.com/blogs/recipe/twice-baked-potato-casserole