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These Vegan Potato Skins are my new favorite vegan appetizer! Baked instead of fried, these are a healthier take on the classic. They’re made with vegan cheese sauce and the best tempeh bacon bits.

Growing up, my diet wasn’t the healthiest. My parents got divorced when I was 5, and while we ate healthfully at my mom’s thanks to her great cooking, there were NO rules at my dad’s. He didn’t know anything about nutrition at the time, which meant lots of frozen dinners, Lunchables, mac and cheese, sour straws, Red Vines, and my favorite – frozen TGI Friday’s potato skins.

I could demolish a whole box of them on my own, easy. Loaded up with bacon bits and a creamy cheddar cheese sauce, all piled onto potato skins? YES, please. I always ordered them at restaurants when they were on the menu, too.

Fast forward a few years, and my dad’s girlfriend at the time gave our kitchen an overhaul, much to the dismay of my sister and me. She got rid of most of our packaged food and showed us newer, healthier ways of eating. At the time, we were annoyed, to say the least, and not the biggest fan of the replacements for our sugar and preservative-laden treats.

But now? I see that her kitchen overhaul was the first step towards my sister and I’s interest in healthy living. While it took us a while to get to a place of healthy eating on our own, it has helped to shape both of us and the way we look at food.

I’ve learned enough about my body and the foods that make it feel good to know that eating frozen potato skins wouldn’t make me feel the best…but I still have a nostalgic place in my heart for those delicious, salty foods. Frozen potato skins don’t tend to come to mind when we think “health”. So, what to do but turn them into healthy food, right?!?!

Let’s make Vegan Potato Skins!

Looking at my favorite potato skins, we have three main ingredients: potatoes, cheese sauce, bacon. Only one of those things is inherently vegan, but all of them are able to be recreated in a healthier, vegan way that will be just as delicious. In addition to being vegan, this recipe is also gluten-free, grain-free, refined sugar-free, and can be made nut-free as long as you use a nut-free cheese sauce.

Potatoes: the prep for these vegan potato skins is similar to the way they’re traditionally made, but we’re baking them instead of deep-frying. First, we’ll bake the potatoes until crispy on the outside. Then we’ll let them cool, cut them in half, scoop out most of the fluffy insides, and rebake the skins until crispy before filling!

Cheese Sauce: did you think you could make vegan cheese sauce with mostly vegetables?! You’ll believe it as soon as you try this vegan cheese sauce. It’s easy to make and works perfectly in this recipe. If you want to take a shortcut, you can buy a vegan cheese sauce too. My favorite is the Mac and Cheese Sauce from Nomad Vegan Eats, which is local to San Diego, but Siete Foods and The Honest Stand also make vegan cheese sauces that are more readily available (I haven’t tested them with this recipe, though).

Bacon Bits: these easy tempeh bacon bits are my new favorite thing. To make, we simply crumble the tempeh and marinate it in a combination of tamari, apple cider vinegar, liquid smoke, maple syrup, smoked paprika, and ground cumin. The liquid smoke and smoked paprika really help with that smoked, bacon-y flavor. This is the liquid smoke that I use because the only ingredient is natural smoke concentrate – no funky artificial ingredients!

When layered together and topped off with chives or green onions…you’ve got a perfect vegan potato skin! They are my new favorite vegan appetizer…and those tempeh bacon bits !!! You’ll want to put them on all the things. I hope you adore these as much as I do!

If you love this recipe, you’ll love these too:

If you make these vegan potato skins, please leave a comment below and rate the recipe on the recipe card – I’d love to hear what you think. If you feel so inclined, please share your photos with me on Instagram, tag @bakeritablog and #bakerita. I love seeing your recreations!

Vegan Potato Skins

Author: Rachel
Prep Time: 45 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour 45 minutes
Yield: 12 to 16 potato skins 1x
Diet: Vegan

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Description

Scale

Ingredients

For the potato skins

6 to 8 small to medium-sized Russet potatoes, halved
2 to 3 tablespoons avocado oil
About 2 cups vegan cheese sauce
Chives or green onions, to garnish

For the tempeh bacon

3 tablespoons tamari
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
2 teaspoons liquid smoke
1 teaspoon pure maple syrup
½ teaspoon smoked paprika
⅛ teaspoon ground cumin
1 (8 oz) package tempeh, chopped into small bits or crumbled

Instructions

Rub the potatoes with avocado oil and sprinkle with salt if desired. Bake the potatoes at 400° for 30 minutes to 1 hour or until soft inside. Exact baking time will depend on the size of your potatoes.
In a bowl, whisk together the tamari, ACV, liquid smoke, maple syrup, smoked paprika, and cumin. Stir in the tempeh and let marinate for at least 15 minutes, or up to a few hours.
Once marinated, heat about 2 tablespoons avocado oil in a medium-sized skillet over medium heat. Add the tempeh bits, reserving the marinade in the bowl. Cook until golden and crispy, about 5 to 10 minutes, and then toss in the remainder of the marinade. It should form a sticky glaze on the tempeh. Cook for a few more minutes to caramelize and then remove from the heat.
Once the potatoes are out of the oven and cooled for about 5 minutes (or cool enough to handle), cut each potato open lengthwise. Scoop out the inside, placing it in a separate bowl, leaving a thin layer on the potato skin (see Notes).
Spray or brush the potato skins with avocado or olive oil. Return the hollow potato skins to the oven for 10 to 15 minutes, until crisp and golden.
Fill each potato skin with about 2 to 3 tablespoons of the vegan cheese sauce (or until mostly filled – will depend on potato size again). Top with the sautéed tempeh bacon.
Bake at 400° for about 15 minutes or until the cheese is hot all the way through and the potato skins are golden.
Remove from oven, garnish with chives or green onions, and serve hot. You can store leftovers (if there are any) in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.

Notes

We won’t be using the potato insides for this recipe, so you can use it to make the vegan cheese sauce, mash it up to make a small batch of mashed potatoes, or add it to soup, curry or stew.

Keywords: vegan potato skins, tempeh bacon, vegan bacon, vegan appetizers

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