🥩 California Tri-Tip & Gruyère Loaded Potato Skins

Juicy grilled tri-tip, smoky red, orange and yellow peppers, sweet grilled onions and melted Gruyère are piled into crispy oversized potato skins, then finished with sour cream, scallions and a drizzle of Korean BBQ sauce. These gourmet loaded potato skins from The Nomad Kitchen at tretaylor.com turn California barbecue leftovers into an irresistible appetizer, handheld meal, picnic or game-day favorite.

Grilled Peppers, Sweet Onions, Beef Jus & Sour Cream

The Nomad Kitchen • Gourmet Handheld Series

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Category: Appetizers • Handheld Meals • Make-Ahead Picnic Food
Style: California Steakhouse
Prep: 20 minutes
Bake: 20–25 minutes
Serves: 2 as a meal or 4 as an appetizer
Make Ahead: Yes

🌞 The Story

This one was born from a beautiful California barbecue afternoon: juicy sliced tri-tip, sweet onions and peppers coming off an old-school backyard grill while summer carried on around the garden.

A day or two later, those leftovers became something even better.

Instead of treating a giant baked potato as a side dish, I hollowed it out, crisped the shell and turned the whole thing into an edible little casserole dish.

A layer of nutty Gruyère melts into the potato first. Then comes juicy sliced tri-tip, grilled peppers and onions, a little of those precious beef juices, another blanket of Gruyère and finally sour cream.

This isn't really a potato skin anymore.

It's steak-and-potatoes you can pick up with your hands.

🛒 Ingredients

🥔 1 enormous baking potato — a large red or thin-skinned potato is wonderful
🫒 Olive oil or olive-oil spray
🧂 Salt and freshly cracked pepper
🧈 1 tablespoon butter, optional
🧀 ¾–1 cup shredded Gruyère cheese
🥩 6–8 ounces cooked tri-tip, thinly sliced
🫑 ½ cup grilled bell peppers, sliced or chopped
🧅 ½ cup grilled red and/or sweet onions
🥩 1–2 tablespoons reserved tri-tip jus or beef juices
🥛 Sour cream
🌿 Sliced green onions or chives
🔥 Barbecue sauce, steak sauce or Korean BBQ sauce, optional

🔥 1. Cook the Giant Potato

Pierce the potato several times with a fork.

Microwave for about 5 minutes, turning halfway through, until it has softened enough to scoop but is still sturdy.

For an especially gigantic potato, add another minute or two as necessary.

Cut lengthwise and allow it to cool slightly.

🥄 2. Hollow It Out

Scoop out most of the center, leaving approximately ½ inch of potato around the bottom and sides.

That substantial layer is important. These aren't flimsy little restaurant potato skins—they need enough backbone to carry dinner.

Save the scooped potato for another recipe.

🫒 3. Crisp the Shell

Heat oven to 375°F.

Brush or spray the potato inside and out with olive oil. Sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper.

Bake cut-side up for 10–15 minutes, until the edges are lightly browned and the shell begins to crisp.

A little butter brushed into the hot potato at this point is magnificent.

🧀 4. Build the Layers

Start with a generous layer of Gruyère directly against the potato.

Then add:

Tri-tip → grilled onions → grilled peppers → a spoonful of beef jus → more Gruyère.

Those beef juices are a tiny detail that make an enormous difference. They soak into the potato rather than letting the meat dry out during reheating.

🔥 5. Bake Until Gorgeous

Return to the 375°F oven for 8–10 minutes.

Then broil briefly—about 1–3 minutes—until the Gruyère is bubbling and beautifully browned.

🥛 6. Finish

Top with a generous spoonful of sour cream and fresh sliced green onions.

Add just a drizzle of Korean BBQ or your favorite steak sauce if you want sweetness and tang.

✨ Nomad Kitchen Note

Don't drown this version in barbecue sauce.

The star is the combination of beef + Gruyère + grilled onion + potato. A little sauce is wonderful; a swimming pool of sauce starts hiding all the expensive actors.