Wing night at my house used to mean a sheet pan of drumettes and a stack of napkins.

Then my wife asked whether we could get the same flavor without the mess.

The flesh comes all the way out of the skin, gets mashed with shredded chicken, hot sauce, butter and cream cheese, and goes back into the empty shell to bake a second time.

So the buffalo flavor lives inside the potato instead of sitting on top of it.

That is the whole difference between twice-baked and stuffed, and it matters more than it sounds.

The sweet potato part is what surprises people.

The flesh is sweet and a little earthy, the hot sauce is sharp and vinegary, and together they taste better than either one ever does with a plain russet.

I make a tray most Sundays now.

Half get eaten that night and half go into the freezer for the week ahead.

Ninety minutes start to finish, and almost all of that is the oven working while you do something else.

The tops brown, the edges of the skins go crisp, and that first forkful is one of my favorite things to eat all winter.

Make them once and wing night changes for good!

Table of Contents

Twice-Baked, Not Stuffed

These two dishes get mixed up constantly, and they are not the same thing. Worth two lines to sort out before you start.

Twice-baked. The flesh is scooped completely OUT of the skin, mashed with the filling, then piled back into the shell and baked a second time. Potato and filling become one thing.
Stuffed. The potato is split open, the flesh stays in the skin, and the filling is spooned into the opening. Two separate layers.

This recipe is the first one.

The reason it matters here is the hot sauce.

When the buffalo sauce goes into the mash, every bite is seasoned all the way through instead of a sweet bottom half and a spicy top half.

Why You'll Love These

One bowl of filling. Everything gets mashed together in the same bowl the flesh lands in.
Rotisserie chicken does all the work. Two cups of pulled meat and you have skipped the longest step.
That browned top. Two minutes under the broiler and the cheese goes spotty and golden.
They freeze beautifully. Fill them, freeze them, bake them straight from the freezer on a weeknight.
The heat is yours to set. Same recipe works mild for the kids or genuinely hot for a game.

Ingredients You Need

Nine things, and most of them are already in your fridge door.

Sweet potatoes (4, about 12 ounces each). Pick ones that are roughly the same size and shape so they finish together. Four gives you 8 halves.
Cooked shredded chicken (2 cups). A rotisserie bird is perfect here. Pull it in strands, don't chop it into cubes.
Buffalo wing sauce (⅓ cup, plus 1 tablespoon reserved). Frank's RedHot style, the vinegary kind. Hold that last tablespoon back, I'll explain why below.
Unsalted butter (3 tablespoons). Goes into the mash while it's hot. Sweet potato without fat tastes thin.
Cream cheese (3 ounces, softened). The body of the filling. Softened is not optional.
Plain whole milk Greek yogurt (⅓ cup). Tang without more fat. Sour cream works if that's what you have.
Garlic powder and onion powder (½ teaspoon each). Cheap depth in a filling that is otherwise sauce and dairy.
Monterey Jack (¾ cup shredded). Melts smoother over a mash than cheddar does.
Blue cheese (⅓ cup crumbled, optional). Skip it and add another ¼ cup of Jack. Nobody will feel cheated.
Scallions (2) and celery (1 stalk). Both sliced thin and added at the end, where the celery stays crunchy.

Bake the Potatoes First

This part is simple and I'm not going to make it complicated.

Heat the oven to 400°F.

Scrub the potatoes, dry them, rub them with olive oil and coarse salt, and pierce each one three or four times with a fork.

Straight onto a foil-lined sheet pan, 45 to 55 minutes.

They're done when a knife slides into the middle with no resistance at all.

Don't microwave them. A microwaved sweet potato holds water, and a watery mash never firms back up in the second bake.

Let them sit until you can handle them, about 10 minutes.

Scoop, Mash, Refill

This is the part that makes or breaks the dish, and it takes about six minutes.

Leave a ¼ Inch Wall

Halve each potato lengthwise and scoop the flesh into a bowl with a spoon.

Stop when the shell still has a ¼ inch layer of flesh clinging to the skin.

Go any thinner and the shell buckles the moment you fill it, which is how you end up with eight sad boats on a sheet pan.

Mash While It's Hot

Add the butter, the cream cheese and the Greek yogurt to the hot flesh and mash it right away.

Hot flesh melts the dairy into an even orange mash.

Cold flesh gives you white streaks of cream cheese that never blend in, no matter how hard you work at it.

Fold the Chicken in Last

Stir the buffalo sauce, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper into the mash first.

Then fold in the shredded chicken with a spatula, gently, about five turns.

Overmix and the strands break down into paste, and the whole point is that you can see the chicken.

Refill Without Packing

Spoon the filling back into the shells and level it just below the edge of the skin.

Don't press it down.

A packed filling bakes dense, and a loose one bakes light with a top that catches the heat.

How to Make Buffalo Chicken Twice-Baked Sweet Potatoes

Step 1: Bake the Sweet Potatoes

Oiled, salted, pierced, 400°F for 45 to 55 minutes, until a knife meets no resistance.

Step 2: Halve and Scoop

Cut each one lengthwise and scoop the flesh into a large bowl, leaving that ¼ inch wall behind.

Step 3: Mash the Filling

Butter, cream cheese and yogurt into the hot flesh, mash smooth, then stir in the buffalo sauce and the seasonings.

Step 4: Fold and Fill

Fold in the chicken, spoon the mixture back into the shells, and set them on the sheet pan.

Step 5: Second Bake, Then Broil

Cheese over the tops, 375°F for 15 to 20 minutes, then 2 minutes under the broiler.

Scallions, celery and the reserved hot sauce go on after they come out.

The Second Bake Is Where the Top Browns

Everything up to now was assembly. This is cooking.

Scatter the Monterey Jack and the blue cheese over the filled halves and slide them back in at 375°F for 15 to 20 minutes.

You're waiting for the filling to be hot through and the cheese to be fully melted.

Then 2 minutes under the broiler, and watch them the whole time.

The top should go spotty gold with a few darker freckles.

Never cover them. Foil traps steam, the top goes pale and soft, and you have made a casserole instead.

Worth the extra two minutes? Every time.

Tips for the Best Twice-Baked Sweet Potatoes

Loose filling. Usually an underbaked potato or too much yogurt. Add 2 tablespoons of the shredded cheese to the mash and it tightens up.
Torn skins. Cut with a sharp knife in one stroke and scoop with a spoon, not a fork. A fork drags and rips.
Turning the heat down. Cut the sauce to ¼ cup and add another tablespoon of yogurt. The flavor stays, the burn doesn't.
Turning the heat up. A teaspoon of cayenne in the mash, plus the cold drizzle at the end.
Save that last tablespoon of sauce. Baked buffalo sauce goes soft and sweet. A cold drizzle after they come out puts the vinegar bite right back.
Air fryer first bake. 380°F for about 35 minutes, turning once. The skins come out even better.
Shred your own cheese. Pre-shredded Jack is coated in starch and it melts grainy over a mash.

Variations

Buffalo ranch. Swap the yogurt for ⅓ cup of ranch dressing. This is the version my wife requests.
No blue cheese. Leave it out, add another ¼ cup of Jack, and finish with extra scallion.
More vegetables in the mash. A third of a cup of finely diced carrot and celery, folded in with the chicken.
Ground turkey. Brown a pound with the seasonings, then treat it exactly like the shredded chicken.
Extra crunch. Crushed kettle chips over the cheese before the broiler.

Make Ahead, Storage and Freezing

Assembled and refrigerated. Fill them, cover, and hold up to 24 hours. Add 5 minutes to the second bake.
Frozen halves. Freeze filled halves uncovered on the pan, then bag them. Up to 3 months.
Freeze before the second bake. That way the browning happens once, on the day you eat them.
From frozen. 375°F for 35 to 40 minutes, cheese added for the last 15.
Leftovers. 4 days in the fridge. Reheat in the oven, not the microwave, or the skin goes limp.

What to Serve With Them

Celery and carrot sticks. Cold, raw, and exactly right next to something this rich.
A sharp slaw. Vinegar and cabbage, no mayo. It cuts the dairy.
A simple green salad. Lemon and olive oil, nothing fancy.
Cold beer. A crisp lager. This is wing food, after all.

Give these a try the next time somebody in your house says the word wings.

Nobody has ever asked me for the drumettes back!

Recipe

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Buffalo Chicken Twice-Baked Sweet Potatoes

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 1 15

Total Time 1 30

Servings servings

Ingredients

For the Potatoes

4 sweet potatoes about 12 ounces each, similar size
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon coarse salt for the skins

For the Buffalo Chicken Filling

2 cups cooked shredded chicken rotisserie works well, pulled in strands
⅓ cup buffalo wing sauce plus 1 tablespoon reserved for finishing
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 ounces cream cheese softened
⅓ cup plain whole milk Greek yogurt or sour cream
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper

For the Top

¾ cup shredded Monterey Jack shredded from a block
⅓ cup crumbled blue cheese optional
2 scallions thinly sliced
1 stalk celery thinly sliced

Instructions

Bake and Scoop

Heat the oven to 400F. Scrub and dry the sweet potatoes, rub them with the olive oil and coarse salt, and pierce each one three or four times with a fork.
Bake on a foil-lined sheet pan for 45 to 55 minutes, until a knife slides into the center with no resistance. Do not microwave them, the flesh holds water and the filling will not set. Cool 10 minutes.
Halve each potato lengthwise and scoop the flesh into a large bowl, leaving a ¼ inch wall of flesh clinging to each skin so the shells hold their shape.

Mash, Fill and Bake Again

Add the butter, softened cream cheese and Greek yogurt to the hot flesh and mash until smooth. Mashing while the flesh is hot melts the dairy in evenly.
Stir in the buffalo sauce, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper, then fold in the shredded chicken with about five gentle turns so the strands stay whole.
Spoon the filling back into the eight shells, leveling it just below the edge of the skin without packing it down. Set them on the sheet pan.
Scatter the Monterey Jack and blue cheese over the tops and bake at 375F for 15 to 20 minutes, uncovered, until hot through and fully melted.
Broil 2 minutes, watching closely, until the tops are spotty gold. Finish with the sliced scallions, celery and the reserved tablespoon of buffalo sauce.

Notes

Twice-baked, not stuffed: the flesh is scooped out, mashed with the filling and returned to the skin, so the buffalo seasoning runs all the way through.
Leave a ¼ inch wall: thinner shells buckle when you refill them.
Mash while hot: cold flesh leaves white streaks of cream cheese in the filling.
Reserve a tablespoon of sauce: baked buffalo sauce goes soft and sweet, a cold drizzle at the end restores the vinegar bite.
Never cover them: foil traps steam and the top will not brown.
Freezing: freeze filled halves before the second bake, up to 3 months, then bake at 375F for 35 to 40 minutes from frozen.