My stuffed potatoes with chicken and broccoli sauce turn a classic baked potato into a creamy, cheesy and deliciously cozy complete meal. Prepared with only a handful of simple ingredients, these decadent stuffed baked potatoes are hot and ready in about an hour, and ready to dig into!
Turning a Simple Baked Potato Into a Scrumptious Stuffed Potato
Many of my favorite recipes are those that make use of simple ingredients, transforming them into magically delicious, full-blown meals filled with an abundance of coziness and comfort.
The rustic and humble russet potato is just such a wonderful ingredient, a frequent fixture in my pantry just waiting for me to prepare it in some mouthwatering and unique way.
Typically, I'll add a russet potato into a soup for texture, or even sneak it, smoothly riced, into my cinnamon roll dough—it makes it super tender!
But because russet potatoes are the big, bold beauty of the potato world, they're the ideal contender for baking up whole, then splitting down the middle, fluffing with a fork, and serving with some butter and/or sour cream and chives.
But that's not the only way you can serve a baked russet potato...
My favorite unique way to enjoy a baked potato is to transform it into a stuffed potato, one overflowing with a hot, creamy and cheesy chicken and broccoli filling, turning this little side into a complete meal.
Sprinkled with a touch more cheese and perhaps a little crispy bacon, this is just the kind of comfort food I really like to “dig” into!
How to Make Stuffed Potatoes
My stuffed potato recipe simply begins with baking large, russet potatoes in the oven, then filling them with some hearty, delicious ingredients.
I happen to really enjoy a creamy chicken and broccoli sauce that's kissed with some nice savory cheese, so while my potatoes are baking for roughly 50 to 60 minutes, I whip that sauce up using a few simple ingredients.
To create my creamy sauce, I use a bit of butter, flour, milk, garlic, seasoning and parmesan cheese, and then finish it with diced, cooked chicken breast (I use rotisserie for convenience) and some quickly blanched, chopped broccoli florets.
The result is rich, creamy and hearty stuffed potatoes with a little extra protein and veggie snuck in!
Here's a glance at my stuffed potatoes with chicken and broccoli sauce recipe: (or just jump to the full recipe...)
- To get started, I poke a few holes in the tops of my russet potatoes, lightly oil and season each one, then bake directly on the grates of my oven rack for roughly 50 to 60 minutes, or until easily pierced with a paring knife.
- While the potatoes bake, I prepare my creamy chicken and broccoli sauce by adding some butter to my pot, along with garlic (for flavor)
- When the butter is melted, I sprinkle in flour and blend.
- Next, I pour in some milk, allow things to thicken up, then add some seasoning, parmesan cheese, my cooked and diced chicken, and my blanched broccoli florets to the sauce.
- Once the potatoes are tender, I allow them to cool just slightly so that I can handle them, then split them open, fluff the interior with a fork, spoon my creamy sauce over top abundantly, perhaps sprinkle on some additional cheese and bacon, and serve.
Recipe
Stuffed Potatoes with Chicken and Broccoli Sauce
by Ingrid Beer
Category: Entree
Cuisine: American
Yield: Serves 4
Nutrition Info: 612 calories (per stuffed potato)
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 1 hour
Total time: 1 hour, 20 minutes
Ingredients:
- 4 large russet potatoes, scrubbed
- Olive or avocado oil
- Salt
- Black Pepper
- 1 ounce unsalted butter
- 2 cloves garlic, pressed through garlic press
- 1 ounce all-purpose flour (about 4 tablespoons)
- 2 cups milk (I used 2%)
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- ½ cup grated parmesan cheese
- 2 cups cooked and diced chicken breast (rotisserie is great)
- 1 ½ cups chopped and blanched broccoli florets
- 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
- ¼ cup chopped, crispy bacon (optional)
- Preheat your oven to 400°.
- Place your potatoes into a large bowl, and prick each potato a few times with a fork; drizzle a little oil over them (about 1 tablespoon worth), plus add a sprinkle of salt and pepper, and place the potatoes directly onto the rack in the oven; bake the potatoes for about 50 to 60 minutes, or until tender when pierced with a paring knife.
- While the potatoes bake, place a medium-size sauce pan over medium heat; add in the butter, and once it begins to melt, add in the garlic, and stir to combine.
- Once all of the butter is melted and the garlic is aromatic, sprinkle in the flour and stir, and cook the roux for about 1 minute to cook out the raw flour taste.
- Next, pour the milk into the roux mixture, whisking the whole time to avoid any lumps from forming; allow the milk mixture to come to a gentle simmer, and then simmer for a few minutes, whisking occasionally, until the mixture thickens and becomes creamy and smooth.
- Turn off the heat and add in 1 teaspoon of salt, ¼ teaspoon of black pepper, the Italian seasoning, and the grated parmesan, and whisk to combine and blend until smooth.
- Add in the diced chicken breasts and the chopped broccoli florets, and stir to incorporate.
- Once the potatoes are baked, allow them to cool just enough so you can handle them; slice them length-wise to open them up (do not cut all the way through, just enough to reveal the flesh inside, about ¾ of the way through), and squeeze to bring out some of the potato flesh to the surface; fluff with a fork, and sprinkle in a tiny bit of salt and pepper.
- To serve, ladle or spoon into the cavity of the potato a generous amount of the creamy chicken and broccoli sauce, and top with some of the grated cheese and a sprinkle of the bacon, if desired.
Tips & Tidbits for my Stuffed Potatoes with Chicken and Broccoli Sauce:
- Large russet potatoes: Since we are stuffing these russets after baking them, I always look for potatoes that are on the larger side, as these tend to more easily be split and filled with the creamy sauce.
- How to bake a potato: I crank my oven up to 400°, clean my potatoes and then lightly oil and season them, then poke them a few times with a fork to allow the steam to escape. I'll simply place the potatoes directly on the oven rack grates and bake for about an hour, until easily pierced with a paring knife.
- How to blanch broccoli florets: Bring a small pot of salted water to the boil, then turn off the heat and add in the chopped broccoli florets and allow them sit for 30 seconds to 1 minute, just until tender, yet still a bit crisp. Next, drain the broccoli and proceed with recipe.
- Dairy-free sauce: If you'd like to go the dairy-free route with this sauce, substitute unsweetened almond milk or your favorite non-dairy milk, and you can even use a non-dairy cheese.
- Vegetarian or vegan stuffed potatoes: To make these stuffed potatoes vegetarian, leave out the chicken and only use the broccoli—super delicious! And if you're going completely vegan, sub out oil or non-dairy spread for the butter, and use non-dairy milk and cheese as well.
Feast your eyes on these, or just jump to the recipe:
Craving more scrumptious potato recipes? Check out these Twice Baked Potatoes, these Roasted Potatoes, these Rosemary Potatoes, these Smashed Potatoes with Parmesan Crust, or these Cheesy Potatoes!
Cook's Note: This recipe was originally published in 2015, and has been updates with even more love!
Michelle
Hi there - I just had a quick question!
Would I have to take some of the potato "flesh" out so that there's room for the delicious creaminess to fit inside?
The Cozy Apron
Hi Michelle, you can, but I fluffed the flesh up a bit and just ladled the yummy sauce right in! Whatever would work best for you. Hope you enjoy!
Rachael
Absolutely delicious! Kept to your recipe & happy to say my large family of 6 ate every bite. Including the super picky 6 year old! As my 8 year old son just said, "Two thumbs up Mom! It's a keeper dinner!" Sometimes it's hard to plan a menu for a large family & getting back to basics is a satisfying & budget friendly way to go. Thank you from the 6 of us!
The Cozy Apron
Rachael, your comments are so touching! Thank you for sharing that. I absolutely LOVE it when the kiddos (as well as the adults, of course!) truly enjoy a recipe, so this is truly precious to me, and I'm glad you found success with this comforting recipe. I appreciate you coming by!
Jere'
I'm making this for Superbowl Sunday with shredded BBQ chicken breast and adding a little pepper jack cheese to give it a kick. Thanks so much.
The Cozy Apron
That's great! The BBQ'd chicken breast & pepper jack cheese sound delish! Hope you enjoy.
Steven Begemann
First of all, I am truck driver, not a cook. I treated my significant other with this meal (prepared by me) and I'm here to tell you, we both LOVED it! Incredibly simple for such a big taste. Thank you so much for this recipe! You've got yourself a new fan!
The Cozy Apron
Hi Steven, I am so, so thrilled to read that! Thanks so much for sharing this with me, and I feel so honored to have had my recipe be a part of your special dinner.
Job well done to you—perhaps you have a second career here, lol! 😉
So glad to have you as a new fan. Hope you find many more recipes here that you and your significant other will enjoy together.
Deena
Really loved this! Followed the recipe exactly except instead of rotisserie chicken I just threw a couple frozen breasts in my pressure cooker, with some vegetable broth and seasoning, and shredded them. Also I was lucky to find some HUGE russet potatoes perfect for this. Love simple yet ridiculously delicious and rewarding meals like this. Thanks!
The Cozy Apron
Oh, Deena, that's fantastic! So happy to read that you enjoyed the recipe. Little is more comfy-cozy and warming than a creamy, saucy, stuffed baked potato when the weather turns cooler! 🙂
Jeanne
I served this as written and it was very good. However, I had one serving left and served it with scrambled eggs and it was divine! Will make this filling just to serve with eggs. Yum!
Lurl
From what I have researched, 1 oz equals 2 tablespoons! You have it measuring to 4. That would equal 4 tablespoons! For two cups of milk, wouldn’t one just use 2 tablespoons? 4 would make it very thick!
The Cozy Apron
Lurl, 1 ounce (fluid) does equal 2 tablespoons (of fluid), but it's different when dealing with flour, as that is a dry weight.
1 ounce of flour equals 3.63 tablespoons of flour, to be exact, so I rounded up to 4 tablespoons to make it easy.
Ralph Wagner
I made this and it came out good. But it made way too much filling for the three of us. Any suggestions on what else the filling can be used for? I saw the idea in the comments to use with scrambled eggs.
The Cozy Apron
Hi Ralph, I think this filling would make a terrific sauce over pasta (you could use penne, bow ties or corkscrew pasta), or even serve over rice, for a creamy consistency. You could even make these drop biscuits, and serve very simply with those, like a gravy.
Hope that helps, and I'm glad you enjoyed!
Ralph Wagner
What is the best way for me to reheat what I have frozen to use as you have suggested...sounds like a great idea.
The Cozy Apron
Hi Ralph, I would simply allow what you have frozen to thaw in the fridge for a day or two, then gently reheat stovetop in a skillet or saucepan, and use however you'd like. Check the seasoning on it to see if the flavor got a bit watered down from being frozen and thawed (shouldn't be too bad), and adjust to your taste, as needed.