These Paleo Pizza Potato Skins have all the flavor of pizza, but packed into a scooped out potato! Perfect as an appetizer or a meal. Whole30, gluten free, and so delicious!
I've always loved potato skins, so why not make them better and stuff them with pizza toppings? Using Italian Sausage really gives them that pizza flavor and is highly reccommened not to skip!
Making pizza potato skins
Here are pictures of the steps. Pizza sauce, sausage and mushrooms, then garlic and olives. Then I sprinkled a little pizza seasoning on them, which is optional but adds that additional pizza flavor, then topped them with pepperoni.
I packed these taters with all the good stuff! Italian sausage, roasted garlic, mushrooms, black olives, and topped with pepperoni that gets crispy. Each bite is so good! The great thing about these is that you can use your favorite pizza toppings. Maybe you love green peppers, or ham, or bacon- add it.
Best way to scoop
One super helpful tip is to use a cookie scoop to scoop the potato out. I tried just using a big spoon and it was a mess and uneven. Using the scoop makes it easy, removes the insides evenly and makes it perfect for filling.
Ranch for dipping if you want
They are delicious on their own, but of course good dipped in ranch as well. I was always a lover of pizza dipped in ranch and this is reminiscent of that. I have a great Whole30 Ranch or you can use Tessemae's, which is what is pictured here. It's also Whole30 and convenient when I don't have time to make it from scratch.
If you haven't noticed- I love making pizza-inspired dishes. You guys love them, too! There's my Pizza Soup, Pizza Chicken, and Pizza Quiche, that are all Paleo and Whole30.
If you love pizza then you will absolutely love these potato skins!
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Pizza Potato Skins
Ingredients
- 4 russet potatoes
- 8 tablespoons pizza sauce
- 1 pound ground Italian sausage, cooked
- 30 slices pepperoni
- Black olives optional
- 8 oz sautéed mushrooms optional
- Roasted garlic optional
- Pizza seasoning like Frontier Co-op or Oregano
- any other favorite pizza topping
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400° and line a sheet tray with parchment paper.
- Wash and poke holes in the potatoes, brush with coconut oil and bake for about 40 minutes or until tender.
- Let cool for about 10 minutes, then cut the potatoes in half and scoop out most of the inside. A cookie scoop works best for this. It removes the filling without ruining the skin.
- Brush both sides with coconut oil again and bake face down on the sheet tray for 7 minutes.
- Turn over and bake 5 minutes.
- Fill with sauce, sausage, mushrooms, olives, garlic, and pepperoni. Sprinkle some pizza seasoning or oregano on before the pepperoni if desired.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until pepperoni is crispy. Serve hot.
Lyn C says
So glad to have run across this recipe to give me an alternative to Pizza Night in our house. We just had these for dinner tonight and they were AMAZING!! YUM! Hubby approved and we will be making them again in the future. The possibilities are endless with the toppings and making them perfect for each persons serving.
Jessica DeMay says
Thank you for trying my recipe and for the great feedback, Lyn! I'm so glad everyone enjoyed them! Yes- so customizable 🙂
Lea says
They turned out so good! Perfect game day appetizer. I added green peppers and onions when I cooked my sausage and it was delicious, like a supreme pizza inside a potatoe! 🙂 thank you for the recipe. Btw the ice cream scooper worked perfectly.
Jessica DeMay says
Thanks for trying my recipe, Lea! I'm so glad you liked them and that the ice cream scooper worked 🙂 I love your version- it sounds delicious!
Jamie says
Hi Jessica,
So I tried making these, and I couldn't get my potatoes right. I cooked them for 40 minutes with poked holes, but when I went to scoop out the insides, it was super hard. So I thought maybe I should cook them longer, and I still couldn't scoop out the middle.
Thanks,
Jamie
Jessica DeMay says
Hi Jamie- I'm so sorry these didn't turn out for you. It sounds like they were undercooked (like you suspected) and maybe you just needed to cook them longer. Potatoes can vary in size so I would recommend cooking them until you can easily stick a fork in them with no resistance. Hope that helps.
Jamie Sandy says
Hi Jessica,
Thank you so much for the help, they definitely came out better the second time I baked the potatoes (minus some flimsy skin.) I think the pizza seasoning would make them even better. I really appreciate your recipe, it was very good.
Thanks,
Jamie
Jessica DeMay says
You're welcome, Jamie! Thank you for trying my recipe and for the great feedback! I'm glad they came out better the second time 🙂
kate says
These are going on my Superbowl menu! Can you tell me where you get pizza sauce? Or do you have a recipe to share?
Jessica DeMay says
Yay! I'm so glad to hear that, Kate! I use Muir Glen pizza sauce. It's Whole30 approved with clean ingredients. Here's a picture of it so you know what to look for:https://www.amazon.com/Muir-Glen-Organic-Pizza-Sauce/dp/B000LKZ9JG?th=1
Hope you love the potato skins 🙂
Megan says
Thank you so much for making a pizza option!!! I have been craving pizza so bad and I wouldn't even classify myself as a pizza person!
Jessica DeMay says
You're welcome, Megan! I hope you love them and it satisfies your craving 🙂
Martina says
Making these tonight! What do you do with the potato filling you remove?
Jessica DeMay says
Awesome! I hope you love them! I just mashed it up and ate it as a side to some meat. Hope you enjoy, Martina!
Melissa says
Hi. Any reccomendations on what to dip them in?
Jessica DeMay says
Hi Melissa- I have a homemade ranch that is linked right under the picture of it being dipped and also a store bought one. They don't need a dip with the pizza sauce in them, but it is good. Hope you try them!
Melissa Becker says
Great! Thanks! I can't wait to make them. They look so good!
Jessica DeMay says
Thanks, Melissa! Hope you enjoy!
Mary Ann | The Beach House Kitchen says
I'm thinking this would be a perfect dinner for us Jessica! I bet they're nice and filling! Another great recipe for Casey to add to his list while at school. I think he could definitely manage these!
Jessica DeMay says
Thanks, Mary Ann! Yes, super easy and he can fill them with what he likes 🙂
Mary says
I don't understand why you call this Paleo. White Potatoes are not Paleo!!
Jessica DeMay says
Hi Mary- actually, white potatoes are widely accepted as paleo as long as you can tolerate them and most people can. Here is more on that:http://paleoleap.com/are-white-potatoes-paleo/ If you have an issue with white potatoes, feel free to try one of my many other recipes that don't include them.
Dominique | Perchance to Cook says
Love that you use white potato! I've been starting to incorporate white potato back into my diet, as I noticed my body could tolerate it. For me, if it's from the ground, isn't processed, and my body is happy with it, then it's ok in moderation. I want to make this this week!
Jessica DeMay says
Thanks, Dominique! I love that I'm able to tolerate them because they are just so tasty! I feel the same way- they are REAL food. Thanks for the kind comment. Hope you enjoy! 🙂
Mary says
Thank you for your wonderful recipies! I would like to know where you get whole 30 pepperoni?
Jessica DeMay says
You're welcome, Mary! Ok- well this is something for you to decide. I use Applegate pepperoni and dextrose is listed on the ingredients which is technically a sugar. I've spent lots of time on Whole30 forums trying to find a clear answer and couldn't come up with one. One person said that Melissa said that it's considered compliant and the way I look at it is- it's not sweet, it doesn't make me crave sweets, so it works for me. If you're very concerned or not comfortable with that- then leave it off. I hope that helps and let me know if you have any other questions.
Aubrey says
Just FYI, dextrose is definitely sugar and definitely not allowed on the Whole30 (see this post : http://whole9life.com/2010/06/sugar-sugar-sugar/)
You might want to either make a truly compliant version of this, or at least include a disclaimer (prosciutto is probably the easiest to find compliant deli meat, so that might make a good substitute!)
Jessica DeMay says
Thank you, Aubrey. I appreciate the link. I also notice they list juice and I've seen many Whole30 recipes with lots of juice added for sweetness. I feel like that is worse than the small amount that is found in the pepperoni. I like the idea of prosciutto- thanks for the suggestion.