Low-Calorie Potato Skins Recipes

Who doesn’t crave loaded potato skins? We all love to snack on potato skins at casual restaurants, Super Bowl parties or simply at home in front of the TV. The problem with potato skins is that they are usually full of saturated fat and calories. 

At TGIFridays, for example, the Loaded Potato Skins on their menu have a whopping 1430 calories and 78 grams of fat. Of course, you can stay home and make your own potato skins, but many recipes are also very high in calories and fat.

So do healthy eaters need to scratch potato skins off their favorite snack list? Absolutely not! Use this low-calorie potato skins recipe instead.  

• Italian Potato Skins. If you love Italian food, you will adore these pizza-fied potato skins by Lisa Lillien, a.k.a. Hungry Girl.  Each serving contains only 189 calories and 3.5 grams of fat.

This is my favorite way to prepare potato skins: heaped with creamy spinach dip and cheese.  They taste like are they are fried, but they’re not. And because they are so big, a single serving is a meal all by itself.  Each loaded potato skin contains 150 calories and just 3 grams of fat.

To make these low-fat potato skins, gather these ingredients:

• 1 bag of spinach
• 2 ounces low-fat cream cheese (Neufchatel cheese)
• Shredded Parmesan cheese
• ½ chopped onion
• 3 cloves chopped garlic
• Chicken stock
• 3 medium russet potatoes, baked
• 1/3 cup egg whites, slightly beaten

Make the spinach filling:  Sauté the onion and garlic in a skillet. Use a non-stick pan and chicken stock instead of oil.  Once the onion is soft, add the entire bag of spinach and cook until soft.  Remove from heat, then add the cream cheese and a handful of Parmesan cheese to the mixture and stir until creamy.

Prepare the potatoes.  Scoop out the middle of the baked potatoes and put the shells aside. Put the potato middles in a bowl with a few tablespoons of stock and mash until creamy. Add salt to taste.  

“Faux-fry” the potato skins.  Dip each skin into a bowl of egg whites until both sides are coated. Then place the skins cut side down on a baking sheet. Bake for about 10 minutes in a preheated 425-degree oven until the skin side becomes crispy. Then flip them over and bake until the potato side gets crispy as well.

Load your potato skins. Into each potato skin, place a scoop of skinny mashed potatoes and spread evenly. Then layer a big scoop of creamy spinach dip on top and finally sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Bake in the 425-degree oven until the cheese on top is melted.

If you love low-fat potato skins, make a batch and freeze them in single serve containers for a quick lunch, dinner or after-school snack for your kids.