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Nope, you’re not dreaming. French onion soup potato skins are REAL, and they’re SPECTACULAR. Here’s how to make them for your next party (or — ahem — dinner). It’s easy, promise.
Why we love this recipe
Potato skins? Gooood. French onion soup? Gooood. French onion soup potato skins? Absolute best of all possible worlds.
These easy appetizers (perfect for game day or really any party) combine the comforting, savory sweetness of French onion soup with the crisp on the outside, soft on the inside, three-bite perfection of potato skins.
They’re one part classic, one part unexpected, all parts delightful. You can make the baked potatoes and caramelized onions in advance and have these beauties ready on party day in about 30 minutes.
Plus: they’re baked, not fried — which means they’re better for you, they taste fresher while still feeling totally indulgent, and they’re much easier to make.
What you’ll need
Here’s a glance at the ingredients you’ll need to make this recipe.
- Russet or Idaho potatoes are starchy varieties, and that’s what you want for this recipe. They’ll give you crispy skins, tender, fluffy flesh, and a great shape for filling. Most of them have nice, flat sides for making stable potato skins. Here’s how to bake them to perfection.
- A batch of jammy caramelized onions is a true kitchen hack. They take a hot minute to make but keep for eons and can be frozen, so you can do this part well in advance.
- Gruyere is a classic element of French onion soup, and its umami-forward, nutty, slightly funky flavor works beautifully in this recipe. Note that if it’s important to you that this recipe be vegetarian, you’ll need to find a brand that isn’t made with animal rennet.
How to make them
Here’s an overview of what you’ll do to make a dreamy batch of French onion soup potato skins. You can see the steps in action in the video that accompanies this post, and get all the details in the recipe card below.
- First you’ll bake six small russet or Idaho potatoes with nice, flat sides. You can do this well in advance if you like, or use leftovers. Cut each potato in half such that the flatter sides can become the bottoms of the potato skins. Scoop out most of the flesh and save it for another use.
- Brush the potato skins with butter and sprinkle with salt. Bake them skin-side up on a baking rack set over a baking sheet.
- Flip them over and spoon in plenty of caramelized onions.
- Sprinkle with Gruyere and bake for about five minutes, until melty and delicious. Top with sour cream if you like, minced chives, and flaky salt and freshly ground black pepper. That’s it!
Expert tips and FAQs
Invest in a wire rack. It really makes a difference in helping to crisp the potatoes, and it’s useful for lots of other crispy baked recipes and for cooling baked goods, too.
You can bake the potatoes and make the caramelized onions well in advance. Assemble and bake the potato skins themselves right before serving. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week and reheat in the oven or toaster oven.
More favorite baked appetizers
Putting together a buffet for game day? Don’t miss our fabulous football food menus galore. And here are our favorite baked versions of classic appetizers.
- Classic (or vegetarian) potato skins
- Crispy buffalo wings
- Jalapeño poppers
- Crispy chicken tenders
- Turkey meatballs (& subs)
- Asian-inspired pork meatballs
Hungry for more?
Subscribe to Umami Girl’s email updates, and follow along on Instagram.
French Onion Soup Potato Skins
Ingredients
- 6 small to medium baked potatoes
- 2 tablespoons (28 grams) good salted butter, melted
- Fine sea salt
- 1 recipe caramelized onions
- 4 ounces (113 grams) Gruyere cheese, shredded
- ½ cup (120 grams) sour cream, optional
- ¼ cup minced fresh chives
- Flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450°F with a rack in the center. Place a baking rack on a rimmed half-sheet pan.
- Cut each baked potato in half lengthwise. If there's a side that's flatter (which is often true for russet potatoes), cut so that the flatter sides will be on the bottom and the cut potatoes will be wide, shallow, and stable.
- From each potato half, scoop out some of the flesh, leaving about 1/4 inch of flesh attached to the skins. (Reserve extra flesh for another use, such as Colcannon Cheddar Skillet Cakes or simply mashing up with a little milk and butter.)
- Brush tops and bottoms of potato halves with melted butter and sprinkle with fine sea salt. Place potato halves skin-side up on baking rack.
- Bake for 20 minutes. Skins will be crisp and lightly browned and flesh will be very tender on the inside.
- Flip potato halves right-side up and spoon some caramelized onions into each. Top with Gruyere.
- Return potatoes to oven for 5 minutes or so, until cheese is melted.
- Top each potato skin with a dollop of sour cream if you like, along with some minced chives and a bit of flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Notes
- Russet or Idaho potatoes are starchy varieties, and that's what you want for this recipe. They'll give you crispy skins, tender, fluffy flesh, and a great shape for filling. Most of them have nice, flat sides for making stable potato skins.
- Gruyere is a classic element of French onion soup, and its umami-forward, nutty, slightly funky flavor works beautifully in this recipe. Note that if it's important to you that this recipe be vegetarian, you'll need to find a brand that isn't made with animal rennet.
- You can bake the potatoes and make the caramelized onions well in advance. Assemble and bake the potato skins themselves right before serving.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week and reheat in the oven or toaster oven.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Hungry for more?
Subscribe to Umami Girl’s email updates, and follow along on Instagram.
