Hasselback Cajun Baked Potatoes {Portion Fix/21 Day Fix}

My Hasselback is back! This time in the form of a Hasselback Cajun Baked Potatoes!

I have done the Hassleback method with chicken before with my Caprese Hassleback Chicken. Cutting multiple slits across the chicken breast and inserting the ingredients between the slits.  That is exactly what you do to this potato! Chicken recipe HERE. 

How to proceed with the potatoes

I often prep baked potatoes for fast and easy meals in the evenings. And I am going to be using a pre-baked potato for this recipe because I am using sausage. It won’t have to cook as long as a baked potato normally does. So this is a kind of “twice baked potato”. 

Normally I just bake a whole potato. But you Hasselback the raw potato before you bake it. That way the heat will help the slices separate so they are easier to stuff.

Place 2 things the same size beside the potato and slice down to them. This will make all the slits the same depth. 

I always give them a little shove apart while they are still warm (but be sure not to break the bottom). 

You can proceed with the stuffing on a hot potato straight out of the oven if you want to. But if you do use them out of the fridge, make sure to warm them to at least room temperature before you stuff them or they might be cold in the middle.

The ingredients used to stuff this Hasselback Cajun Baked Potatoes

Because I want this to be a SUPER quick meal for us, my ingredients are few and simple. 

• baked potato
• chicken sausage
• shredded cheese
• seasonings

 

I keep different flavors of chicken sausages in my freezer. My hubby eats the fatty pork ones usually but if I can find a recipe where my chicken ones taste better he will eat them. 

One sausage link counts as 1 Red container for the Portion Fix/21 Day Fix so I put them away individually.

For this recipe, I use an Andouille flavored one that I can buy at Aldi. You could use a regular flavored one and just use more spices to make it “cajun”. 

I tend to grab whatever flavors they have when I get to shop there. Information about the things I buy at Aldi’s HERE.

I use pepper jack cheese for the extra heat but you could certainly use cheddar if you wanted to. 

My favorite Creole/Cajun seasoning is approved and easy to find anywhere. You can adjust the heat level by using more or less of this! 

I wait to add any salt or pepper till time to eat because the sausage, cheese, and spices all have some sodium in them already. 

Putting it all together

It is a pretty easy concept from here out. Season the inside of your warm/room-temperature potatoes.  Then slice the sausage as thick as you want and stuff it between the potato slices. I take the chill off of the sausage slices by microwaving it for about 30 seconds so that it will get hot all the way thru.  Tuck cheese in with it and pack the rest on the top. Bake until everything it is hot and the cheese is all melty. Probably 15-20 minutes.  

My potato is equal to 2 Yellow containers. The sausage equals 1 Red container and I used 1 Blue container of cheese. 

Getting the cheese just the right shade of brown is important to me. I will sometimes slide them onto a broiler-safe pan and broil them for a few minutes. 

What do I serve with Hasselback Cajun Baked Potatoes?

Well because I have used 2 Yellows for the potato, I want to make sure I get some kind of a Green to go with them. A fresh veggie would be great with it so I used homegrown yellow cherry tomatoes for my plate. I also made a pan of Kung Pao Cauliflower to go with it this day! Recipe HERE. 

I think a creamy slaw would pair great with the spiciness of the Cajun flavors. It will cool the heat down in between bites if you need it. (I like mine SPICY!) Recipe HERE.