Oven Baked Potatoes
There’s never been a more classic side than amazing Baked Potatoes! With so many yummy ways to top it, it can even be the star of the meal!
Why We Love Baked Potatoes
- Baked potatoes take only minutes to prep for the oven and while they’re cooking, the rest of dinner can easily be made!
- Potatoes are such a versatile dish and make an incredible side so they complement a variety of different main dishes.
- You can keep your baked potato simple, with just butter, or really load it up with sour cream and bacon, chili, taco meat, or other hearty toppings to turn your potato into a full meal.
- Baking the potatoes in the oven gives them that great, irresistible crispy skin that makes the entire potato delicious!
Ingredients You’ll Need to Make Baked Potatoes
POTATOES: There are different potatoes you can choose from but when it comes to great baked potatoes the best choice is Russet potatoes. These will give you the best size and flavor.
SEASONING: To make the potato skin extra tasty you will need salt and pepper. Coarse salt and fresh cracked pepper would be great, otherwise stick with what you have on hand.
OLIVE OIL: You will need olive oil to coat the potatoes.
TOPPINGS: For a simply topped potato you will need butter and thinly sliced scallions or chives.
How to Bake a Potato
Jump to RecipeSTEP 1 Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F and line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Wash each potato, pat dry, and then pierce each potato with a fork over the entire surface. Cover the potatoes with olive oil and then a generous sprinkling of salt and pepper. Place the potatoes on the baking sheet and bake them for 45-55 minutes, or until they’re fork-tender.
STEP 2 Remove the potatoes from the oven and let them cool for about 10 minutes. Slice the potatoes lengthwise before adding your favorite toppings.
Tips & Tricks
- There’s no need to wrap each potato with foil. Doing so will trap the moisture in and make the skins turn out soft instead of crispy. (But if you want that, go ahead and wrap the potatoes instead of lining the baking sheet.)
- Coarse salt is great to use on the outside of the potatoes because it sticks well and doesn’t get “lost” like table salt.
- Russet is the preferred potato when making baked potatoes to use because of the wonderful potato flavor and the thicker potato skin.
- The topping possibilities are seriously endless when it comes to baked potatoes! Grab some butter, sour cream, shredded cheese, crumbled bacon, chili, taco fixings, steamed veggies (cheese and broccoli FTW!), gravy, corned beef, and more for a completely different potato experience every time you make one!
- You don’t have to use your oven to make baked potatoes. Shocking, I know. You can also make them in a slow cooker, Instant Pot, air fryer, or microwave, but making them in the oven always has the best flavor… in my opinion.
Baked Potatoes FAQ
Should baked potatoes be wrapped in foil?
The thinking used to be that if you wrapped potatoes in foil that it would speed up the cooking time (potatoes do take a long time to cook!). However, we need to spread it far and wide so that wrapping potatoes for cooking does not speed up cooking and does not make the potato taste as great as it should!
By coating a potato with oil or butter, you are not only seasoning it but also preventing the potato from drying out while crisping the skin, and we all know how delicious crispy potato skins are.
Do you need to poke holes in a potato before baking it?
Potatoes need to have holes to vent the steam from cooking or there is a chance they will explode. Some people don’t poke holes in their potatoes and have no problems so typically there will not be an explosion every time but there is a possibility. It is pretty disappointing to have to clean a popped potato in your oven when you were really looking forward to an amazing baked potato feast so to be on the safe side, poke holes in your potatoes.
How long does a potato take to bake?
The cooking time will depend on the temperature you use you cook the potatoes and the size of your potatoes. Large potatoes will take longer to cook all the way through than medium-sized potatoes, but the times below are generally what you can expect.
- Baked potatoes at 400 degrees F take about 50-65 minutes.
- Baked potatoes at 350 degrees F take 60-75 minutes.
The rule of thumb is that the potatoes need to be fork-tender. You can test this by inserting a paring knife into a potato (even through the foil). You should be met with no resistance when the potato is ready.
Other Recipes You May like
- Scalloped Potatoes
- Garlic Parmesan Roasted Red Potatoes
- Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes and Ham
- Loaded Bacon Ranch Potato Salad
- Irish Potato Bites
Oven Baked Potatoes
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 russet potatoes
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 teaspoons salt
- 2 teaspoons black pepper
Toppings
- Butter
- Sour cream
- Shredded cheddar cheese
- Bacon cooked and crumbled
- Green onions thinly sliced
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 425 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and set it aside.
- Rinse and dry the potatoes. Using a fork, poke holes all over each potato.
- Rub the potatoes all over with olive oil and then season generously with salt and pepper. Place the potatoes onto the line baking sheet (so they're not touching each other).
- Bake fore 45-55 minutes or until the potatoes give no resistance when pierced with a fork.
- Let the potatoes cool on a wire rack for 10-15 minutes. Then slice the potatoes lengthwise down the center and add your favorite toppings.
Notes
Nutrition
All nutritional information is based on third party calculations and is only an estimate. Each recipe and nutritional value will vary depending on the brands you use, measuring methods and portion sizes per household.