Hearty baked potatoes topped with creamy, homemade vegan queso and all of the fixins!
Vegan Loaded Baked Potato Bowls
I'm actually not a baked potato fan. I kind of find them cumbersome and feel like the ratio of potato to goods is a bit off. A whole potato doesn't leave a lot of room for what I consider the main event: the toppings. But turn a vegan loaded baked potato into a diced potato bowl, and you can make room for more toppings!
Instead of a whole potato per person, this bowl dishes up half a potato each, so you can pile on the broccoli, bacon, queso, tomatoes, and green onions, and bacon and still manage to clean your plate. You're welcome!
How to Cook a Potato
I didn't actually bake the potato for these vegan loaded baked potato bowls, and you don't have to either! There are lots of ways to cook a potato, and you can pick your favorite depending on what kitchen tools you have and how long you're willing to wait for supper. Here are your options:
- Bake it Old School - Stab the potato with a fork or knife a few times, and stick it into an oven preheated to 300F. You can drizzle some olive oil on before baking, if you want. Bake for about an hour and a half.
- Boil It - Dice your potato into 1" pieces, then boil in enough water to generously cover for 8-10 minutes, until they're fork tender.
- Microwave - If your microwave has a potato button, this is a no-brainer. Stab with a knife a few times, press potato, and go. It takes 3-4 minutes to fully cook a large red potato depending on the power of your microwave. You can always add time, so I'd start with 3 minutes, then do 30 seconds at a time. If you overcook, you'll end up with hard spots and wrinkly skin. Yuck.
- In a Pressure Cooker - This is my all-time favorite way to cook potatoes now! Dice into 1" pieces, then pour ¾ cups water and ¼ cup soy sauce into your pressure cooker (I used my Instant Pot). Stir in the potatoes, and cook at high pressure for 4 minutes. Quick release, and you're ready to go! The pressure infuses the potatoes with the soy sauce, making them super flavorful.
Choose your potato-cooking method, and let's do this thing!
Vegan Loaded Baked Potato Bowls
Ingredients
- 2 large red potatoes - cut into 1" pieces, cooked (see above for cooking options)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil or vegan margaine
- 8 strips vegan bacon - of your choice, chopped
- 4 cups small broccoli florets
- ½ cup Easy Vegan Queso
- 2 green onions - chopped
- 1 cup diced tomato
Instructions
- While your potatoes cook, prep the broccoli-bacon mixture: Heat the oil in a large frying pan on medium-high heat. Add the broccoli and bacon and cook, stirring, until the broccoli turns bright green, about 5 minutes. You can keep cooking until the broccoli blackens a bit, if you like, or stop right when it’s just done. This is up to your tastes!
- Divide the potato pieces between 4 bowls, then divide the broccoli-bacon mixture between them. Top each bowl with 2 tablespoons of queso, ¼ of the green onions, and ¼ cup diced tomato.
Dianne
I'm not a fan of plain baked potatoes, but I do like to load them up with lots of fixin's too, and I love the look of this bowl! And I agree that there should be an apostrophe! 🙂
Becky Striepe
It's all about the fixin's and a healthy punctuation debate!
Cadry
My usual day includes multiple servings of non-dairy ice cream, but I guess potatoes could do in a pinch instead. 😉 Your potato bowls look super tasty!
Becky Striepe
Haha! I hope this dish helps you readjust to real life!