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Perfect Baked Potato Recipe

July 19, 2024

A perfect baked potato has creamy, fluffy insides and a crispy outside. It’s great with toppings, but it doesn’t need them. Here’s how to make one!

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perfect baked potatoes cut open and topped with butter, salt and pepper
Photography by Gayle McLeod

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 or our 30 Best Potato Recipes.

4 russet potatoes scrubbed clean

How To Bake A Potato

  1. 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.

  2. 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.

  3. 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.

  4. Bake the potatoes! 400°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.

  5. 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.

4 russet potatoes being brushed with olive oil on a rimmed baking sheet

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.

4 baked potatoes on a rimmed baking sheet

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.

perfect baked potatoes cut open and topped with butter, salt and pepper

Easy As Can Be!

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Perfect Baked Potato Recipe

  • Serves: 4
  • Prep Time:  5 min
  • Cook Time:  1 hr
  • Calories: 239

Ingredients

  • 4 large russet potatoes
  • 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
  • 4 tablespoons salted butter
  • sea salt, to taste
  • freshly cracked black pepper, to taste

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F with a rack in the middle and lower position. Wash potatoes with a stiff brush, removing any excess dirt and pat dry. Using a fork poke the potatoes 8-12 times going 1-inch deep all over the potato. Brush potatoes lightly all over with the oil.

    4 russet potatoes scrubbed clean
  2. Place the potatoes directly on the middle oven rack. Place a sheet pan on the lower rack to catch any liquid that drips out of the potatoes.

    4 russet potatoes being brushed with olive oil on a rimmed baking sheet
  3. Bake for 1 hour or until potatoes are tender when pierced with a knife. Transfer to a cutting board and cool for 5 minutes.

    4 baked potatoes on a rimmed baking sheet
  4. To serve, cut from end to end and then squeeze one end towards the other. Top with butter, salt and pepper.

    perfect baked potatoes cut open and topped with butter, salt and pepper

Notes

The more potatoes you use the more cook time you’ll need. If using more than 4 potatoes, you may need to increase the cook time by 10 minutes.

Nutrition Info

  • Per Serving
  • Amount
  • Calories239
  • Protein3 g
  • Carbohydrates26 g
  • Total Fat14 g
  • Dietary Fiber2 g
  • Cholesterol30 mg
  • sodium0 mg
  • Total Sugars1 g

Perfect Baked Potato Recipe

Questions & Reviews

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  • Kayla

    I've never done the olive oil on the outside, it was far superior.

    Thanks Kayla, so glad you loved it!

  • Jenn

    These turned out perfect!

    Yay, great job!