How To Bake a Potato: 3 No-Fail Methods

I’ve become somewhat of a baked potato pro. For me, there’s nothing quite like a properly cooked, creamy, fluffy baked potato. And they’re so versatile! A simple salt + pepper + butter topping and you’ve got a perfect match for classic Garlic Chicken. Or, go crazy with toppings and make a meal of it. I’ve got the no-fail method to baked potato bliss, plus two super-awesome shortcuts.

First things first: the potato. I tend to go with a classic Idaho—sometimes called Russet or white potato. You can also use sweet potatoes with killer results. I’ve found there isn’t a potato I don’t like baked. You mainly need to make sure they’re all about the same size so you have similar bake times. That’s the other great thing about baked potatoes: It’s easy to make one or a bunch; the method doesn’t change.

You’ll also need:

• a scrubbing brush
• a fork
• aluminum foil (for Method #3)

To get started you’ll have to clean your potatoes. No one wants dirt on their potato skin. Yes, I eat my potato skin! Just like other fruits and vegetables, the skin is where all the vitamins and minerals are. If you cook it correctly, it’s delicious too.

A simple wash in warm water does the trick—no soap needed. Use a stiff bristle brush to remove any caked-on dirt. Make sure it’s a brush you use exclusively for cleaning veggies. If you’ve got a few buds or sprouts use your brush or fingers to break ‘em off. Small bruises and cuts are OK, but try to avoid mangled potatoes. Those are best for Homemade Mashed Potatoes or other uses—when you can cut away the bad parts.

Then, use a fork to poke a few holes in your potatoes. I like to do a few on each side, all the way around. This is an important step! It allows the steam to escape.

Now, here’s where you pick your own potato adventure. I’ll start with the purist method.

Heat oven to 400°F. Place potatoes directly on oven rack. Bake 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes or until potatoes are tender when pierced in center with fork or bamboo skewer.

Total time will vary based on oven type and potato size, but not quantity. If you’re using a convection oven, you should bake at 350°F for about 30 minutes before testing for doneness.

Pro tip: No need to wrap your potatoes in foil in this method. It will actually prevent you from getting a nice crisp skin.

Here’s the reality: I don’t usually have 45 minutes to bake a side dish, and I doubt you do either. So, I like to jumpstart the cooking process with the microwave. Clean and poke your potatoes as described above. Pop them into a microwave on high power (100%) for 5 minutes to par cook them.

Then finish in your 400°F oven directly on the oven rack. A few minutes in the microwave cuts the oven baking time by more than half. Start checking for doneness at 30 minutes. You could also skip the oven all together and toss your potatoes on grill for an oven-off dinner.

My final trick for baked potato bliss is using the slow cooker. Again, clean and poke your potatoes. Wrap ‘em in aluminum foil and place in the slow cooker. Depending on the size of your ceramic insert, you could cook up to 10 potatoes this way!

Set your slow cooker to low and let cook between 6 and 10 hours. Take note: This is the perfect amount of time for a weekday slow-cooker recipe.

No matter how you got here, you’ve made it to the best part: eating! Be sure to use your oven mitt to place your hot potatoes on the plate. There are many ways to slice or dice them, but I like to make one big long cut lengthwise, then pinch the potato to open it up. Then, the toppings. If you’ve done it right, all you really need is butter. But, there’s nothing wrong with a loaded potato. In fact, there are a lot of things right about it. For a loaded baked potato, add sour cream (crème fraiche if you’re feeling fancy), shredded cheese, chopped bacon, and diced green onion.

Here are a few of my favorite topping combos:

• Go all-in on veggies and top with steamed broccoli + cheese.
• Flavored butters are pretty amazing. Start simple with equal parts blue cheese + butter, but the sky’s the limit.
• Go sweet with a sweet potato, brown sugar, butter, and chopped fresh sage as a garnish.
• Kick up a spicy version with cilantro, jalapeños, plain Greek yogurt, and sriracha.
• You can even make it the star of your dinner and top it with an easy chili.