These Poutine Potato Poppers combine all the flavors of poutine in one delicious bite! Bursting with fresh cheese curds and gravy and topped with crispy bacon and chives, these little poppers are the perfect appetizer or mini meal!
So. We’ve officially entered that part of winter that seemingly never ends. The post-holiday, post Super Bowl, longing-for-warm-weather stretch. The time of year we just have to put our heads down and power through. The time of year that makes us wonder WHY we live in Wisconsin!?
And it’s no surprise, given the time of year we’re in, that I’ve been struck this past week by the overwhelming urge to get away. From the cold, from the monotony, from my kids (haha), and from pretty much everything. I’ll come back when it’s spring, thankyouverymuch!
But alas, no one is swooping in to take my place, to take care of meals and homework and laundry and kids. And even though the groundhog said it’ll be an early spring, it definitely won’t be early enough! Which is why we need to take other measures to make it through the home stretch.
The good news about having lived in Wisconsin my entire life is that I have a stockpile of other measure. Ways to make the monotony seem a little less stifling. Like finding little things to look forward to. Making a celebration out of anything & everything. and livening things up with FOOD!!!!
There are plenty of things to look forward to in the next few months – the Oscars, St. Patrick’s Day, March Madness……and if there’s one thing that all of them have in common, it’s that ALL of them will be so much more fun with some delicious appetizers!
Poutine Potato Poppers – A delicious appetizer
Since February is National Potato Lovers’ Month, I thought it would be fun to do a play on one of my favorite potato dishes ever – POUTINE!!! Have you tried poutine? French fries topped with cheese curds and gravy!? It’s like a Wisconsinite’s dream….and I’m totally obsessed.
So I headed to Pick ‘n Save, where I knew I would find everything I was looking for (including multiple types of cheese curds….yessssss!) And would you believe that my ingredient list was just FOUR basic ingredients, plus the gravy? I opted for a homemade gravy, but you could pick up a pre-made one to save time. Either way, these Poutine Potato Bites are about to become your favorite obsession, too!
Just boil the potatoes, scoop out the insides, stuff them with cheese curds and gravy, bake them for 10 minutes, and finish them off with bacon and chives. Then pop ’em in your mouth…..and the rest is history! You’ll instantly fall in love with the gooey cheese and gravy mixture, and we all know that everything is better with bacon…..!
So tell me – how do YOU beat the winter blahs? I’d love to hear! You can also find more inspiration by visiting Pick ‘n Save on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest!
Poutine Potato Poppers Recipe
Poutine Potato Poppers
Ingredients
- 1 package Roundy's Baby Red Potatoes
- 1 package cheese curds you will not use the whole package
- 1 c. gravy recipe below
- 2 Tbsp. bacon bits
- 2 Tbsp. minced chives
- For gravy:
- 2 Tbsp. butter
- 2 Tbsp. flour
- 2 c. beef broth
- 1/2 Tbsp. cider vinegar
- 1/2 Tbsp. ketchup
- 1/4 tsp. worcestershire sauce
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1/8 tsp. pepper
Instructions
- Place potatoes in a large pot with enough water to cover them by 2-3 inches.
- Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer 20-25 minutes or until tender.
- Drain; set potatoes aside to cool.
- Prepare gravy by combining butter and flour in a medium saucepan.
- Heat over medium heat for 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly.
- Add broth, cider vinegar, ketchup, worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and cook until thickened, stirring often.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Once potatoes are cool enough to handle, cut the top off of each one and place on a rimmed baking sheet. (*It helps to find the natural "bottom" first so the potatoes don't roll!)
- Stuff each potato with cheese curds. You may need to break curds to fit.
- Carefully pour 1-2 tsp. of gravy into each potato. The gravy should fill in the empty spaces.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes or until cheese is melted.
- Top each potato with bacon bits and minced chives.
I partnered with Pick ‘n Save to bring you this delicious recipe. All ideas and opinions are my own!
For another great potato recipe, check out my Garlic Herb Cheesy Potatoes!
I’m absolutely in love with these. I’m a Poutine addict. So these are going to be made asap!! If you don’t already I would love for you to link up with us at Throwback Thursday!
Oh this sounds incredible. My sister is a poutine fool. She would adore these! Pinned 🙂
Yum!! These look amazing!!
This recipe is just awesome! I cannot wait to make it. I think you have all of my favorites in the same place. 🙂
I’m not even ashamed to admit that I’d devour that whole tray (or give it the old college try)! These looks amazing – such few ingredients, but all so perfect. Want!
This is the perfect side to go with a nice steak or BBQ chicken dinner!
I really enjoyed this post! As an Ohioan, I can totally appreciate that feeling of the-winter-never-ends (even though this one hasn’t been too bad at all!), and the need to celebrate anything and everything you can think of, just to keep things interesting! So, National Potato Lovers’ Month? Game on! I’ve only had poutine once or twice, but it really is such a treat, and I just love this super-fun, bite-sized spin on it! Brilliant! And so much prettier than a big platter of gravy-topped fries (or, maybe that’s just because of your awesome photography 🙂 )!
These look perfect! I will definitely need to try these out!
I want these for dinner tonight
its a great try for small party with small number of guest. I understand the effort to scrap the potato and leave the skin, Baked them accordingly. I would recommend parmesan cheese and add tomato sauce to taste
Yes! I’m right there with you – so ready for warm weather. Your potato poppers are definitely calling my name – so creative!!
agree with you, Its a calling for rainy season. I remmber doing it, I usually preheated my over 425 degress, and places my potatoes in the center to make it even cooking. i also use roaster oven as an alternative when I visited a friend with no oven. Tried it.
Looks delicious! Id love to try this recipe! Perfect little potato popper!!!
Gah! These are perfection! LOVE poutine as is but I think I might love it even more in popper form 🙂
I could make dinner out of THAT appetizer! And I wonder if MY Pick ‘N Save in Southern Calif. has cheese curds. I’m going over there to find out!
Cathy, these look addicting! There’s nothing more amazing than cheese and potatoes and I could easily eat a dozen of these little guys!
These are adorable! I know this is probably unheard of being in Winconsin but I didn’t try cheese curds until like 3 years ago. I have some time to make up for and these seem like the perfect way to do that!
I’m so excited to try these! Love the look of them!
This is amazing!!
oh my goodness, these look amazzzzzzing!
These look great! What a cute idea!
I’d pop back all of these!!! POPPERS!
These are such a fun idea!! They are great as an appetizer, snack or a side dish. My family is going to love them, can’t wait to try them!
Seeing as I was born and raised in the home of poutine (Montreal, represent!), I am totally in love with these little bite-sized pieces of potato-gravy-cheese heaven. I’m pretty sure I’d have to make two batches, because the first one wouldn’t even make it out of the kitchen… at least, not outside my belly. 🙂
PS – Hurray for real cheese curds! Poutine made with grated cheese is an abomination.
Want to make these for a party. Could these be made a day ahead then heated before serving?
I would prepare them a day ahead, cover tightly, and bake the day of the party.
These look fantastic and I’m ready to try them but cheese curds are not to be found in San Antonio, TX. Do you think a queso cheese will work (maybe one with Hatch Pepper??
Or what cheese would you recommend?
Hi
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving for us Canadians, these will be the appetiser for a variation on Thanksgiving dinner (in Singapore, it’s warm, I try to use the oven as little as possible; what I do is turkey burgers with sage pesto and dried cranberry salsa). I’m glad I read the post in-depth, the recipe doesn’t say to scoop out the potatoes. There are NO curds to be found here, so I’ll use mozzarella. I’m looking forward to this, my guests will never have had poutine before.