These French Onion Twice Baked Potatoes are the ultimate comfort food recipe. Creamy baked potatoes are mashed with caramelized onions, sour cream , Grand Cru Cheese (aka Wisconsin Gruyere), and fresh thyme. On top, even more cheese is added and baked until bubbly and delicious!
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French Onion Twice Baked Potatoes
Every holiday, my dad requests twice baked potatoes.
We normally make my Uncle's recipe which is quite simple except for a little added twist!
He always threw one sweet potato in the mix which added the perfect pop of unexpected sweetness.
But this year, I got a partnership with Roth Cheese and developed a new twice baked potato recipe for a sponsored instagram post.
And guess what?! My family liked them so much that I knew I had to share the recipe!
Unlike my Uncle Bro's version, this one gets its added pop of sweetness from slow cooked caramelized onions.
To balance out the sweetness, tangy sour cream and nutty Roth Grand Cru are combined with fresh thyme leaves.
The end result tastes like french onion soup meets twice baked potatoes and it's sooo good!
And although the recipe takes a little bit of time to make, I've also shared instructions on how to make them ahead of time. You can find that below.
And if you'd like to pair these with something tasty, why not try my Grandma's corn pudding, my MIL's cheesy green bean casserole or these bacon and parmesan smashsed brussel sprouts!
If you'd like more carb-loaded side dishes, try this smoked mac and cheese, these sweet potato empanadas, or this baked feta and butternut squash pasta!
How to make French Onion Twice Baked Potatoes
Bake Potatoes
Making these french onion inspired twice baked potatoes is much simpler than you might think!
To begin, first preheat your oven to 400F degrees.
Now wash and scrub four potatoes and dry them off. Take a fork and poke some holes all throughout them.
Rub them down with olive oil and kosher salt and place them on a baking sheet. Bake for about an hour or until they're cooked through and soft when pierced with a fork.
Caramelize the Onions
Meanwhile, it's time to caramelize the onions!
Heat some olive oil in a pot and add 3 lbs of chopped onions and some salt. It may seem like too much onions but they'll reduce a lot as you caramelize them.
Cook the onions over medium heat, stirring more often than you think you should. It should take about an hour for them to caramelize completely.
If you notice that the onions begin to stick to the pan, you can use a little bit of water to deglaze it. Just continue stirring and cooking until the onions are a deep brown and look like the picture below.
Once the onions are done, remove them from the heat and set 8 tablespoon of them aside.
Make the French Onion Potato Mixture
Now that both the potatoes and the onions are done, it's time to scoop out the potatoes.
Carefully cut the potatoes open, scoop out the insides and place the skins back on the baking sheet.
Add the insides to a bowl and mash with sour cream and salt.
Now stir in the caramelized onions (the 8 tablespoon that are set aside will still be used for later - so don't use those!), half the Roth Grand Cru Cheese (You can use regular Gruyere or Swiss Cheese if you can't find this!) and fresh thyme leaves.
Stuff the Potatoes
Evenly distribute the french onion potato mixture back into all 8 of the potato skins using a big spoon.
Don't be afraid to pile it high!
Once the potato mixture is back in the skins, top each skin with 1 tablespoon of the reserved caramelized onions and 1 tablespoon of the remaining Roth Grand Cru Cheese.
Top with a sprig of thyme for garnish.
Bake the Twice Baked Potatoes
Now place the baking sheet back in the oven and bake for 20 minutes.
Once the cheese is hot and bubbly and starting to get golden brown, it's time to remove them from the oven.
Let them rest for about 10 minutes before diving in!
How to Make These Ahead of Time
Making these ahead of time is a great way to save some time!
Simply make the twice baked potatoes as the recipe states but leave off the reserved 8 tablespoon of caramelized onions, the remaining half of the cheese, and the thyme sprigs.
Wrap the potatoes and refrigerate up to 2 nights.
When you're ready to serve them, simply preheat the oven to 375 F and place the potatoes back on the baking sheet.
Bake for 20-30 minutes then remove the potatoes from the oven and top with the 8 tablespoon of caramelized onions, the cheese and the thyme leaves.
Now crank the heat up to 400F degrees and bake the potatoes for 20 minutes more or until the cheese is hot and bubbly and slightly browned.
Remove from the oven, let rest for 10 minutes then serve!
And if you'd like to save this recipe for later, pin it below!
Recipe:
Recipe
French Onion Twice Baked Potatoes
Ingredients
FOR THE POTATOES
- 3-4 lbs of potatoes 4 medium sized potatoes
- 3 tablespoon olive oil
- 1.5 teaspoon kosher salt
FOR THE CARAMELIZED ONIONS
- 3 lbs of sweet onion about 7-8 cups thinly diced
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- water
FOR THE TWICE BAKED POTATOES
- 4 baked potatoes split and scooped
- 1.5 cups sour cream
- Caramelized Onions 8 tablespoon divided and reserved
- 6 oz shredded Roth Grand Cru divided (about 1.5 cups packed)
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
- ½ teaspoon salt
- thyme sprigs for garnish
Instructions
FOR THE POTATOES
- Preheat oven to 400F degrees.
- Pierce potatoes with a fork and rub them with olive oil and sea salt.
- Place on a baking sheet and bake for about 1 hour or until tender when pierced with a fork.
- Set aside and let cool for at least 10 minutes.
FOR THE CARAMELIZED ONIONS
- While the potatoes are baking, add olive oil to a heavy bottomed pot and heat to medium.
- Add onions and salt and cook for one hour, stirring often.
- If your onions begin to stick to the pot, add 2 tablespoon of water to deglaze and keep stirring.
- Once the onions are caramelized and dark brown, remove them from the pot and put 8 tablespoon to the side.
FOR THE TWICE BAKED POTATOES
- Once the potatoes are cool, carefully cut them in half and scoop out the insides of the potatoes - being careful not to break the skin.
- Place the skins on a baking sheet and put the potato insides in a bowl and mash them with the sour cream.
- Add the caramelized onions (keeping 8 tablespoon to the side), half of the Roth Grand Cru Cheese, thyme leaves and salt. Stir together and season to taste if needed.
- Distribute the potato mixture evenly back into the 8 potato skins - making sure to pile the mixture high. Add 1 tablespoon of the reserved caramelized onions to the top of each potato skin and top with the remaining Grand Cru cheese - about 1 heaping tablespoon of cheese on each skin. Add a thyme spring or two on top of the cheese for garnish.
- Place the baking sheet back in the oven and bake for another 20 minutes at 400F degrees. Remove from oven and let rest for 10 minutes before serving.
Maria
Hi! Looking forward to making these for Christmas! A few questions, that may be obvious!
- what do you wrap the potatoes in if making ahead? Foil? Saran Wrap?
- are the sprigs of thyme edible or are you expected to pick off before eating?
Thank you so much!
grilledcheesesocial
Hi! I'd do saran wrap if I were making them ahead of time. As for the thyme, depends on how tender your thyme is! I just eat it if they're soft tiny sprigs but if you have woody stalks, best to remove!