These meal prep BBQ Bacon Burger Loaded Potatoes are an incredibly satisfying and delicious meal made even easier if you’ve got the Cook Once, Eat All Week meal components already prepped!
Welcome to the first official recipe of our Cook Once, Eat All Week series!! If you’re brand new here and have no idea what I’m talking about, worry not. This Cook Once Eat All Week post explains it all in detail. If you’d prefer a Reader’s Digest version, here’s a quick summary:
- Each week during January (of 2018), we’re giving you an entire week of truly efficient meal prep via 3 “base recipes” on Monday that cover a protein, a starch, and a veggie. Then, on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday of that week, we’re sharing a recipe that makes use of those already-prepped components.
- These meals are all “squeaky clean” Paleo (as in, likely compliant with ANY Paleo-type program you’re following), were designed by a team of Nutrition Consultants and Nutrition Therapy Consultants, and will result in a grand total of between 10 and 15 servings for the full week of meals.
- They’re budget-friendly, time-friendly, EASY, and (dare I say) darn tasty.
- You can get all of the recipes, meal prep instructions, and grocery lists in an eBook FOR FREE by clicking HERE.
Now, back to this week…
This week’s base recipes (which you can snag HERE) included ground beef, baked potatoes, and some sautéed kale. If you prepped those components you may be thinking “my GOODNESS this is a lot of food …will we really use it?” My answer is “YES.” That prepped nourishment is about to go to great use and, if you do have any leftovers, this post has some freezer storage tips.
Today’s recipe is as easy as easy gets, especially if you’ve already meal prepped your ground beef, potatoes, and kale. If you HAVEN’T, worry not! The recipe card below was written with you in mind also. We walk you through how to create this dish from scratch OR from your prepared components.
If you’ve got everything meal prepped, it’s really just a matter of re-heating! Reheat as you like (oven, stove, or microwave, your choice!) and then top with the BBQ Bacon Burger-style toppings you enjoy most. These BBQ Bacon burger Loaded Potatoes are incredibly satisfying and, believe it or not, make great freezer meals even when they’re full “dressed” (or loaded with toppings).
I hope you enjoy!
Note: if you’ve enjoyed the Cook Once, Eat All Week series, we’ve created an entire book with 26 week’s worth of healthy meal prep recipes. You can click here to purchase your copy today!
BBQ Bacon Burger Loaded Potatoes
Ingredients
For the Stuffed Potatoes:
- 4 medium white potatoes
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 head kale destemmed and chopped
- 1 tablespoon butter omit for dairy free/Whole 30
- 1/4-1/2 cup Paleo BBQ sauce to your preference
- 6 slices bacon cooked and crumbled
- 1/4 cup ranch dressing
- Green onion for garnish
- Pickled jalapenos for garnish
For the Semi-Homemade Ranch Dressing:
- 3/4 cup avocado oil mayo
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1/2 tablespoon dried dill
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450 F. Place potatoes on rimmed baking sheet and bake for 45 minutes, or until they give when squeezed with your hand, protected by an oven mitt or kitchen towel. When the potatoes are finished baking, set them aside to cool slightly.
- In a medium-sized pan, medium heat, add the ground beef, salt, and pepper and cook for 10-12 minutes, or until fully browned and crumbled.
- Remove the ground beef from the pan and add the butter. Once butter is melted add the kale and toss in the butter. Cover the pan and let the kale steam for about 5 minutes, until wilted. Season with a pinch of salt and set aside.
- In a medium-sized bowl, stir together the ingredients for the ranch dressing, then set aside.
- Cut potatoes down the middle and load with kale, ground beef, desired amount of BBQ sauce and ranch, and then top with bacon. Garnish with pickled jalapenos and green onions, if desired, and serve!
Recipe Notes
- 4 pre-baked potatoes
- 4 cups ground beef
- 1 cup cooked kale
- ¼-1/2 cup BBQ sauce, depending on preference
- 6 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
- Reheat potatoes and ground beef.
- Combine ground beef and BBQ sauce in the same bowl or pan.
- Cut potatoes down the middle and load with kale, BBQ beef (about 1 cup per potato), ranch dressing, and top with bacon. Garnish with pickled jalapenos and green onions, if desired.
Nutrition
Oh my goodness. This was way better than I expected it to be. Don’t skip the extras like the pickled jalapeños! Every little ingredient added something different and we loved it! I substituted sweet potatoes and liked the sweet and salty contrast.
We love a good topping/garnish around here, especially atop a potato! Sweet potatoes sound delicious. So glad that you were pleasantly surprised! Thank you for sharing with us. -Team F&F
I wasn’t sure about how I’d like these ingredients together, but I decided to try the recipe because my son likes potatoes. OH, MY GOODNESS! We both loved this so much. It made two nights of dinner for us, and we’re planning to make it again next week.
Wahoo! That’s so great to hear, Christina! We’re so glad!
Good, but that’s a LOT of meat per serving. I think it easily could have used half as much.
Also, as it relates to the Meal Prep plan, it seems that 3 bunches of Kale (which is a very subjective measurement, given the vast range of sizes of bunches you can find) turned out to be nowhere near enough for the week’s meals. In fact, I think it turned out to only be about half as much as the individual recipes called for; we only had about 3 cups of kale once it was cooked/steamed, but the 3 recipes for the week call for about 5-6 cups of cooked/steamed kale. I’d like to see weight measurements with things like that in the future, to ensure a more accurate purchase of the amount of ingredients needed.
Thanks, TJ! We appreciate the feedback.
LOVED IT! I used red potatoes and added onions to my ground beef and it was delish! Thanks!
We’re so happy to hear that, Carrie!
Whats the best way to find nutrition information on these recipes? Are they listed somewhere? Thanks!
Just looking at this one recipe and week 1 sent me straight over to Amazon to pre-order your book. Putting all this together in a simple format is invaluable and so hard for my brain foggy brain to do on its own. Thank you! I’m looking forward to trying this out, and I especially appreciate the squeaky clean, paleo recipes.
I made this tonight and REALLY enjoyed it. my favorite part of your book is the section with loaded potatoes (especially the pizza one) and this really satisfies and is also a break from burger salads!
So glad you enjoyed it, it is one of our favorites!
If I was using kale from a bag, how many cups would I need for this recipe?
It will be 1 cup cooked kale so I’d say 2-3 cups uncooked should do!
This recipe is SO delicious! My boyfriend has already asked for it to become a repeat dish, and I’m thrilled because it could not be any easier to put together. I used the Steve’s Paleo Goods Peach BBQ sauce, and it added just the right hint of sweetness to tie the recipe together. Thank you, Cassy!
I’m so glad you liked it, Annie!
Had this for dinner tonight and it was YUMMY! Have the rest in the freezer for work lunches and I’m looking forward to eating them!
Awesome, Kayla!
This DEFINITELY looks like a meal I’m going to want to dive headfirst into! YUM! Looking forward to this January series 🙂
I hope you love it, Jessica!