5 Mexican-Style Toppings That Upgrade Baked Potatoes

At its most basic, a baked potato is a comforting, hearty side dish. By adding veggies, protein, and other savory toppings, you can transform it from a supporting character to the star of your dinner. One of the most versatile and fun ways to do that is to add Mexican-style toppings. A Mexican-style baked potato is also called a papa loca, or crazy potato, as well as a papa asada norteña. 

It's a staple dish of northern Mexican steakhouses and taco trucks, and can be enjoyed on its own or served with tortillas or chips. This comfort food starts with a large, buttered baked potato that is cut up or smashed and then loaded with toppings like salsa, avocado, crema, and seasoned meats. These add-ins upgrade a plain side dish into a rich, complete meal that feels wholly satisfying. Adding protein like seasoned beef, chicken, or even shrimp to a baked potato amps up its nutritional value. 

The fluffy interior absorbs the flavors of bold spices, crisp veggies, and peppers, making each bite a contrast in texture and taste. Dairy toppings like sour cream, crema, and queso offer a tangy creaminess that balances the heavy starch. On the other hand, zesty salsas, lime juice, and pickled jalapeños add a bright acidity that cuts through the richness of the meat. If your mouth is watering at the thought, you don't necessarily have to search out the closest taco truck in your area. You can make your own at home using these five Mexican-style baked potato toppings.

If you're already a fan of loaded baked potatoes, you're going to love this savory add-on. Birria is a simple baked potato upgrade that will give the dish rich flavor and a bit of a spicy kick. A birria baked potato combines a fluffy, buttery, seasoned baked potato with slow-braised, spicy birria, rich chile consommé, and melted cheese.

These potatoes have become so popular you can even find them at Disneyland's Refreshment Corner. However, this modern culinary mashup originated as a love story between American-style loaded baked potatoes and savory Mexican birria. It is inspired by classic Mexican comfort food flavors that have been used in cooking since birria was introduced to western Mexico and evolved into a delicacy.

You can make your version of this dish as simple or complex as you like depending on your cooking skills, how much time you have, and your personal tastes. If you don't have time to make your own beef birria from scratch, buy some from your local herradero, carniceria, or Mexican market or restaurant. Bake a potato in foil, then cut it open and dice and fluff the interior. Add butter, salt, and pepper to taste. Top the potato with the birria and chile consommé along with shredded cheese and any other toppings you want. Sour cream, diced onion, cilantro, and avocado slices work well with this dish.

Al pastor is a cooking method that was brought to Mexico by Lebanese immigrants, who used it to prepare lamb shawarma. Mexicans adapted it, spit-roasting thinly sliced pork shoulder that had been seasoned and marinated in a blend of dried chiles, achiote, and pineapple. This results in a smoky, savory, and slightly spicy meat with a tangy sweetness from the pineapple. This combination of flavors and textures make pork al pastor the perfect topping for a Mexican-style baked potato. 

You get a fluffy, buttery baked potato base that is contrasted by the sweet, smoky, and savory flavors of slow-roasted meat. As with birria baked potatoes, you don't need to use homemade pork al pastor, though you can if you want. You can also buy it from a store or restaurant. Before baking your potato, rub the skin with oil, salt, and pepper. Once it's out of the oven, slice it open and cut up or mash the interior. 

Add butter, garlic powder, parsley, and shredded cheese. Layer on the warm pork al pastor along with any other popular baked potato toppings you desire, such as pico de gallo, sour cream or crema, diced pineapple, sliced jalapeños, guacamole, and more shredded cheese. Finish the potato off with your choice of sauces. An easy, five-minute crema sauce combined with salsa verde, hot sauce, and chipotle sauce will truly take the dish to the next level. You can eat the potato on its own, or use chips or tortillas to scoop out the filling.

This baked potato is for everyone who likes Mexican-style pizza. It combines the same flavors, but uses them to top a baked potato rather than a pizza. Also known as taco-style baked potatoes, this dish can be customized to your heart's desire. Its foundation, of course, is a simple baked potato. Rub the skin with olive oil, season it with salt, and bake it directly on the oven rack for a crispy exterior. 

Cook ground beef, chopped onions, garlic, and diced tomatoes in a skillet. Then drain the grease and add a taco seasoning packet or cumin, salt, pepper, paprika, and garlic, onion, and chili powder. If you want the meat to be saucier, stir in some beef broth and tomato paste. Slice the potato lengthwise and fluff its interior up, then fill the interior with the ground beef mixture. 

Then spice up your baked potato with your favorite taco toppings. Shredded cheese, sour cream, salsa, guacamole, hot sauce, and green chiles will finish the dish perfectly. These potatoes are delightfully messy, and best eaten with grilled tortillas. Heat tortillas in a dry skillet to enhance their texture and flavor. You can also warm your tortillas in butter for 30 seconds or so for maximum flavor.

Elotes or grilled Mexican street corn has a smoky, sweet taste. You can infuse your baked potatoes with that flavor by grilling sweet corn over an open flame or in a hot skillet until it becomes charred and develops a caramelized flavor. Put your potato in the oven to bake, and heat a cast iron skillet with a bit of olive oil or butter and garlic salt. Add some drained sweet corn and let it brown. Once it has started browning, sprinkle it with chili powder, salt, Tajín, and fresh lime juice and stir it a few times. 

Remove it from the skillet when it starts to blacken. When your potato is ready, cut it open and add butter, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. For a vegan loaded baked potato, top it with the corn, sliced jalapeños, and diced onion and bell peppers. If you're vegetarian, add guacamole and cotija. For a hearty, meat-based dish, add ground beef, shredded chicken, or shrimp.

Elevate it further by making the signature creamy sauce that is drizzled on elotes. Mix cotija, mayonnaise, crema, lime juice, chili powder, and smoked paprika together and transfer it to a squeeze bottle. Once you've added all your toppings to the baked potato, drizzle it with a healthy amount of sauce and garnish it with cilantro or parsley.

Carne asada is a classic Mexican dish made by slicing skirt, flank, or flap steak into thin pieces, seasoning and marinating it, and then charring it over high heat. The meat is usually seasoned with fresh lime juice, orange juice, vinegar, garlic, cumin, chili powder, and Mexican oregano. It's a popular taco and burrito filling, but it's also used to make papa asada and papa rellena. These carne asada loaded baked potatoes are common menu items at northern Mexican restaurants, as well as taco trucks and taquerias in California and the Southwest.

To make one at home, coat a large potato with olive oil or butter and salt. You can also use beef tallow for a crispier, more flavorful baked potato skin. Make the carne asada yourself from scratch, buy pre-seasoned meat from a grocery store and grill it, or just get a side of it from a Mexican restaurant. When your potato is ready, slice it open, fluff the inside, and mix in butter, salt, pepper, and shredded cheese.

Return it to the oven to get the cheese melted and crispy, then layer on the carne asada. The best toppings for this loaded baked potato are ones you'd use for carne asada tacos. Start by adding sour cream, guacamole, crema, and pico de gallo, then add cilantro, onions, diced green chiles, and cotija. Finish it off with a drizzle of lime juice and hot sauce, and eat it with chips or tortillas.