You barely need a recipe to make the perfect baked potato, and yet — especially if its your first time — you kind of do need a baked potato recipe. So here it is! This perfect baked potato recipe is healthy, easy, yummy, and extremely budget-friendly. Adorned with just a little butter and salt, they’re a filling and crowd-pleasing side dish — no one can resist that perfectly crispy skin and those creamy, fluffy insides. If you know how to make a baked potato, you’ve always got an quick meal at your fingertips. For more potato perfection, try our Potato Wedges with Ranch, our Twice Baked Potatoes, Baked Sweet Potatoes or our 30 Best Potato Recipes.
How To Bake A Potato
Clean your potatoes! You’re going to eat that crispy skin, or you might, so get it nice and clean. Use a scrubber brush or a kitchen towel to really scrub any dirt off the skin before baking.
Poke the potatoes with a fork. Yes, you really need to do this! Otherwise your potatoes might explode in the oven. Wild, right? Stab those potatoes all over so that steam can escape (not make the potato explode) as they bake in the oven.
Oil your potatoes so the skin gets crispy. OK, so some folks achieve a crispy skin with a salt crust, but we favor an oiled skin. It works just as well and it allows you to control the saltiness of the final baked potato.
Bake the potatoes! 350°F is our preferred temp and yeah, it takes a while — sadly, if you want to dig into a perfect baked potato, you’ve got to be patient. There are microwave methods, but baked in the oven is the path to perfection.
Eat up! Split the skin right down the middle and squeeze the insides out just a bit to make them look all inviting and fluffy. Top with butter or whatever toppings you love and enjoy.
Tips For Making The Perfect Baked Potato
Should baked potatoes be wrapped in foil? Nope! No need for foil. The potato skin naturally does the job just fine. Waste not, etc.
What’s the best temperature to bake a potato at? We’re opting for a temp that is lower than some baked potato recipes, but the upside is that you don’t risk burning, and the inside of the potato gets really lovely and steamy.
Baked Potato Toppings & Ideas For Serving
Most of the time, we’re baked potato purists. We love to eat ours fresh and steamy-hot from the oven, that creamy inside topped a slab of butter and a sprinkle of salt.
Regular Pesto is a delicious baked potato topping as is our rich and healthy Walnut-Kale Vegan Pesto.
Load your baked potato with cheddar cheese, Salsa, sour cream and Guacamole to take it easily into main dish territory.
For a fun spin on a classic steakhouse dinner, whip up this Creamy Mushroom Sauce and use it to top both your steaks AND the baked potatoes that you serve with them.
For more out-of-the-box vegan baked potato topping ideas, try making a creamy, lemony Tahini-Garlic Sauce or this Vegan Cashew Cheese Sauce to drizzle generously over the top of the potato. These are extra yummy on our Baked Sweet Potatoes, too.
You can never go wrong burying a piping hot baked potato under a scoop of our Award Winning Chili.
More Delicious Potato Recipes
Easy As Can Be!
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