How to Bake a Potato

Name: How to Bake a Potato
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 25 min
Yield: 2
Ingredients: 2 Potatoes; Sea Salt to Taste; 3 Tbsp Olive Oil; Sour Cream for Garnishing; Bacon Bits for Garnishing; Chives for Garnishing

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This easy recipe will show you how to get the best-baked potato experience every time. Made with just a few ingredients in your oven, these potatoes are a simple side dish, snack, or meal option for any occasion.

There’s nothing more comforting or easy than making a simple and basic baked potato. Once you know how to bake a potato you’re pretty much golden.

The crispy skin, fluffy insides, and endless possibilities are always great. Make a loaded baked potato with all the fixings or keep it simple with just a pad of butter. You can’t go wrong either way.

Baked Potato Recipe

We’re taking a step back from the detailed recipes and multiple-step baked goods to show off and showcase a great but underappreciated recipe- baked potatoes.

These potatoes are always a fun addition to a meal because one- they’re affordable and two- they’re very filling and versatile. Meaning you can dress them up or dress them down and they still taste great either way.

No matter how you may dress your potato once it’s been baked, the baking process is the same either way and this is the BEST way by far.

We love the wonderful textures developed through this baking process far better than the other cooking methods. With this one, the skin is crisp and flavorful, which just aids in the perfect potato eating experience.

Ingredients:

Potatoes
Sea salt
Olive oil

For the exact measurements needed, please see the recipe card below.

How to Make a Baked Potato: Step by Step Guide

First, wash your potatoes thoroughly to remove any dirt.

Then, poke your potatoes several times using the prongs of a fork. This allows for the steam to escape as the potato bakes.

Drizzle the olive oil over the potatoes and rub it around well so that the entire potato is well covered.

Now sprinkle on some sea salt before placing the potatoes onto a baking sheet.

Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes at 375 degrees F.

Once the potato is soft enough to be poked with a fork, you’re good to go.

Top with sour cream, bacon bits, and chives as desired.

Enjoy!

Garnishes and Potato Toppings

You can add just about anything to a potato but some of the most common and more popular ingredients to add include:

Sour cream
Bacon bits
Chopped chives or green onion
Butter
Shredded cheddar cheese
Chili
Broccoli
Diced onions
Plain Greek yogurt (for a healthier option instead of sour cream)

With so many possibilities you really can’t go wrong with mixing and matching or choosing your favorites.

Recipe Tips

You can use any potato desired but make sure that it is on the smaller side so that it cooks a little faster. Larger potatoes will take longer to cook and sometimes big russet potatoes can take upwards of an hour to cook in the oven.
If using a larger potato you can precook it for a few minutes (about 5) in the microwave after washing it and piercing it with your fork. This will help to get the cooking process started so that the oven is just finishing it off and giving it a wonderful texture in the process.
You will know that your potato is ready to be removed from the oven when you can easily insert a fork through the skin and into the “meat” of the potato. If there’s any resistance, give the potato a few more minutes before checking on it again.

FAQs

What temperature should a baked potato be cooked at?

If you want to check on the internal temperature of your potato you can use an instant-read thermometer. Your potato will be perfectly cooked once it reaches about 210 degrees F.

Are baked potatoes better cooked in foil?

A lot of people will choose to wrap their potatoes in foil before cooking because they think that it helps to trap in the heat and cook them more quickly and while this might be true, it also helps to steam cook them which means the skin is softer when finished instead of nice and crisp. We like our potatoes to have crispy skin, so we opt to not use foil. If you like a softer potato skin, go ahead and use the foil.

Why do you poke holes in potatoes before baking?

The holes help the steam to leave the potato as it cooks so that it doesn’t build up unwanted pressure inside of the skin. If you do not poke holes in your potato before baking it, the potato can and may explode. So one extra step of poking the potato can save you a lot of cleanups and make sure that your delicious meal doesn’t end up wasted in the oven and instead ends up on your plate.