There aren’t many things better than a perfect Baked Potato, especially when it’s a salt-crusted potato. This is my go-to method for baking potatoes with a crisp, salty skin and a tender, fluffy center.
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Perfect Baked Potatoes
My family loves baked potatoes and the cooking method depends on how many people I’m serving. When I need a quick, small batch for my family of 4, I make Air Fryer Baked Potatoes or Instant Pot Baked Potatoes. When I’m serving a bigger crowd, or am building a potato bar, the best way to make baked potatoes is in the oven because you can cook a bunch of them at once.
My simple method for baking a potato in the oven never fails. These salt-crusted baked potatoes have crisp and flavorful skins and hot and fluffy centers. I love serving these as a side dish with plenty of salted butter and a generous dollop of sour cream or loaded up with hearty toppings like Slow Cooker Chili to make it a meal.
Ingredients for Baked Potatoes
Below are the ingredients you’ll need to make the perfect baked potatoes. You’ll find the full recipe details in the recipe card below.
- Potatoes – Russet potatoes are best because they have a high starch and low moisture content so they bake up light, fluffy and tender. If you’re looking for an alternative, I’d recommend a Baked Sweet Potato. Use potatoes that are roughly the same size so they bake evenly.
- Olive Oil – Extra virgin olive oil gets the outsides of the potatoes extra crispy in high heat.
- Salt – You’ll sprinkle the outside of your potatoes with kosher salt or flaky sea salt prior to baking. You’ll also need additional salt and pepper for seasoning to taste.
- Butter – Butter makes everything better! You can use salted or unsalted butter.
How to Bake Potatoes in the Oven
Here’s how easy it is to make a hot, crispy, and fluffy oven-baked potato:
- Prep – Give the potatoes a good rinse and a scrub before you start, then dry them well so they crisp up nicely in the oven. Use a fork to pierce the potato all over, about 6 times.
- Rub the outside of the potatoes with a bit of olive oil and coat them generously with salt (the oil helps the salt stick).
- Bake directly on a rack for the crispiest skins or use a baking sheet at 425ºF for 45-60 minutes, depending on the size of your potatoes.
- Serve – Cut the potatoes and fluff the centers then add a pat of butter and for extra flavor, I like to season the potato flesh with salt and pepper then add my favorite toppings (see my list of favorite toppings below).
Natasha’s Pro Tip:
To avoid exploding potatoes, remember to pierce the potatoes all over with the tines of a fork so that the steam can escape. If you don’t, pressure will build up and cause them to burst. I poke them evenly all around, about 6 time.
Should baked potatoes be wrapped in foil?
Unless you’re cooking potatoes over a camp fire, you should not wrap baked potatoes in foil. Wrapping in foil will make the skins soft and soggy instead of crisp. The best way to get crispy skins is to bake potatoes evenly spaced on a baking sheet or rack (without foil), to allow for airflow.
How do I know when a baked potato is done?
Your potatoes are baked when they can be easily pierced with a fork, and the internal temperature reaches 210ºF on an instant-read thermometer.
How to Cut a Baked Potato
- Using a sharp paring knife, cut a slit down the middle of the potato (but not all the way through)
- Gently press the ends of the potato to open it up. Use a fork to fluff the center. This lets steam escape and keeps the potatoes fluffy.
Classic Baked Potato Toppings
These potatoes are delicious as is, and you can never go wrong with a little butter on a hot-from-the-oven baked potato. If you’d like to kick the toppings up a notch, try these easy ideas:
- Sour Cream – Along with butter, sour cream is another favorite potato topping.
- Cheese – My favorites are shredded Mexican cheese or grated cheddar cheese.
- Bacon – Either cooked and crumbled Air Fryer Bacon or Baked Bacon.
- Chives – Or green onions, to garnish.
- Chili – Topping with my Chili Recipe is a comforting combination.
Serve Baked Potatoes With
If you’re serving baked potatoes on the side, they pair well with nearly any protein or veggies. These are some of our favorites:
- Beef – try Pan-Seared Steak, or Grilled Steak. Meatloaf is also a family favorite!
- Chicken – pair with Spatchcock Chicken or juicy Baked Chicken Breast.
- Vegetables – Serve as a side with Roasted Broccoli or Roasted Brussels Sprouts.
- Fresh Salads – Caesar Salad, Maroulosalata and Coleslaw
Make-Ahead Tips
Baked potatoes are always at their best when enjoyed right away, but if you need to, storing and reheating is a breeze. Here’s how to do it right!
- To keep your potatoes warm: place baked potatoes on the oven racks in a 200˚F hot oven to keep them hot and crisp for up to 1 hour. You can also set them in a slow cooker on the lowest heat or ‘keep warm’ setting.
- To Store: Allow potatoes to cool completely, and then cover and refrigerate up to 4 days.
- Reheating: Reheat baked potatoes uncovered in the oven at 350ºF for 15-20 minutes to crisp the skins up again. You can also reheat potatoes in the air fryer until warmed through. I don’t recommend the microwave because it messes up their texture.
Ways to Use Leftover Baked Potatoes
One more thing I love about potatoes is that they’re the best for leftovers – we never run out of ways to use up leftover baked potatoes in our house:
- Twice-Baked – mash the centers then bake them again, this time topped with cheese and bacon.
- Potato Wedges – Cut potatoes into wedges, brush with oil or melted butter, season with salt and pepper, and air fry at 400ºF for 10-15 minutes, or until crisp and golden brown.
- Potato Salad – Scoop out the flesh from the potato skins and dice for a Creamy Potato Salad or Smashed Potato Salad.
- Gnocchi – grate peeled potatoes or use a potato ricer to make homemade gnocchi.
Once you’ve tried this method for baking a potato in the oven, you’ll discover the difference between a good baked potato and a GREAT one. You’ll love the salty, crispy skins, and how the creamy centers of these potatoes just melt in your mouth. I can’t wait to hear what you think!
Perfect Baked Potato
Ingredients
- 8 medium russet baking potatoes
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Kosher salt
- 8 Tbsp unsalted butter, to serve
- Freshly ground black pepper, to serve, optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 ̊F. If you have a wire rack, set it over a baking sheet to promote even cooking all around the potato.
- Scrub the potatoes clean under running water then dry thoroughly with a towel. Poke holes in the potato all over, about 5-6 times with a fork.
- Rub the potato skins with a little olive oil and sprinkle generously all over with kosher salt.
- Set the potatoes on a rack or baking sheet, keeping the potatoes at least an inch apart, and bake for 45-60 minutes depending on the size of your potatoes, or until easily pierced with a fork. They should reach 210 ̊F in the center on an instant-read thermometer).
- To serve, use a knife to cut a slit down the center of your potato (don’t cut all the way through) and push in the sides of the potato to open up the potato and fluff the center. Add a tablespoon of butter to melt into the center of the hot potato and season the potato flesh with salt and pepper, then add your desired toppings.
Nutrition Per Serving
Filed Under
My Favorite Potato Recipes
- Roasted Potatoes
- Potato Pancakes
- Smashed Potatoes
- Boiled Potatoes
- Creamy Mashed Potatoes
- Au Gratin Potatoes
- Loaded Potato Soup
So good. Made these tonight. My husband and I love them. Thank you
You’d think baking a potato would be pretty easy but lo and behold, I never had the correct technique. These were absolutely perfect and I’ll never bake a potato any other way ever again. I appreciate the tip on checking the temperature of the potatoes which made sure they were cooked. So good. I know. I know. It’s a potato. But seriously, so delicious! Thanks Natasha!!
Came out gr8
Thx Natasha
Keep up the gr8 work ❤️
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed it, Sherry!
Ive done this several times with great results.
Used to wash the potatoes, oil them, wrap in foil and bake.
Natasha, your method is so much better.
Thank you.
That’s great to hear, Terri!
Can these be baked in a toaster oven? I would much rather use this in the warmer months. Thanks.
Hello Susan, I haven’t really tested that to advise. If you happen to do an experiment, we’d love to know how it goes!
They worked perfectly well in my toaster oven. One large potato, 425 degrees. I didn’t hear the timer, so it may have idled in the toaster oven another 5 – 10. It was 195 – 200 degrees and just the same as what results in the oven: delicious.
Hi Natasha,
I bake 400 potatoes every Friday and they come out perfect with out splitting and my skins are crisp. We never pierce a potato. What we do is very similar to what you do with a slight variation since I bake them and they are kept in serving warmers for up to 5 hours.
Scrub every potato well and air dry for an hour. Every potato is well oiled with olive oil while it sits on a foil square. Sea Salt generously each one and with a spray bottle one light spray of water onto the potato. Wrap tight and place on baking sheet with folds up so the oil does not drip out. We bake them at 350 in a convection oven for one hour and remove them and they go into our coolers stacked on top of each other at 2:00 pm. until we plate them from 4:00 to 8:00. We get about 80 in each cooler.
Our baked potatoes requests to fries are 65 to 35 since we started doing this four years ago.
Try it and let me know what you think.
Chef George CEC
Thanks a lot for sharing! It is so helpful for us all here.
I have always used a fork to cut open the potato, makes a fluffy cut.
One of my favorite dish! ❤️
Thank you for the recipe Natasha!
I love watching your cooking! More power to you & more new recipes!
I’m so glad you love it, Sarah! You’re very welcome.
I usually wrap each potato in foil do you think it is better to not wrap while cooking?
Hi Cathy, I addressed that in the recipe post under the “Common Questions -Should baked potatoes be wrapped in foil?” section! I hope that helps!
Hi Cathy, I don’t wrap the potatoes because it prevents them from getting crispy skin. Wrapping is a good idea after they are baked if you want to store them and keep them warm for a bit before serving.
These are great for parties. Bake them. Put them in a insulated cooler. I line it first with aluminum foil. And put a piece of foil over the top of the potatoes. They stay hot and moist and delish for hours!
Hi Carol! Thank you for that wonderful feedback. 🙂
Baked potatoes are my favorite!! This makes the perfect potato! Baked potato bars are fun to do, also! Everyone loves them!
So glad you loved this recipe! 🙂
This was the perfect tutorial for a potato! I hadn’t made any in so long, I wasn’t sure where to start. Thank you!
You’re very welcome, Jessica! I’m glad it was helpful.
That temperature check hack is genius. I never did that before and I could clearly see the difference when I did. These had the best texture ever!
That’s wonderful! I’m glad it was helpful. Thank you for sharing.
I’ve always cut the baked potato with a fork because it keeps it fluffy.