The best way to bake a potato in the oven
If you’ve been guilty of wrapping your potatoes in foil and baking them (as I have) it’s time to learn the right way to bake a potato. Learn how to get crispy, fluffy, delicious baked potatoes every time.
Use russet potatoes
First step is to use russet potatoes. Russets have the highest amount of starch and the more starch in a potato means it will be more fluffy.
You might be surprised to hear this, but potatoes have a lot of nutrients in them. According to the New York Times, a plain, 7oz baked potato eaten with the skins on, contains half of your daily vitamin C and vitamin B6.
Choose organic potatoes if you can
Potatoes are one of the dirty dozen foods (the foods with the highest amounts of pesticides) so it’s best to choose organic potatoes.
Since most of the pesticides are found in the skin, and the skin is where most of the nutrients are, it’s best to buy organic potatoes so you can eat your baked potatoes with the skin on without worry.
This recipe is going to show you exactly how to get crispy, delicious potato skins, so you don’t want to miss out on that.
Don’t wrap in foil
Wrapping baked potatoes in foil traps all of the moisture in, resulting in gummy, watery, tasteless potatoes. Just don’t do it.
Here’s what to do instead
Don’t rub oil over the potatoes too early. Use saltwater instead
Mixing some salt with some water and then dipping the potatoes in for a few seconds will ensure that the salt sticks to the skin.
You don’t want to cover the baked potato in oil at this stage because the oil will trap in the moisture and make for a gummy, leathery potato skin.
We will coat the potato in oil after it’s been baking for a while.
How to bake the absolute best potato in the oven
How to make the perfect baked potato
Ingredients
- 4 Russet potatoes
- ½ cup water
- 2 tbsp salt
- 2 tbsp Vegetable oil
Instructions
- First, pre heat your oven to 450 degrees
- Next, with a fork, pierce the potato skin about 4-5 times evenly all over the potato.
- Make a salt water brine by mixing ½ cup of water with 2 TBL of salt.
- Dip the potatoes in the salt water brine for a few seconds so that it’s coated all over.
- Place potatoes directly on a wire rack on a baking sheet. This will ensure that the potato gets cooked evenly from all over. If you don’t have a wire rack, just place them directly on your oven rack. Depending on the size of your russet potatoes, you will bake anywhere from 40-60 minutes at 450 degrees.
- Bake the potatoes until you can easily pierce a fork in it and the outside looks crispy and brown.
- Take out of the oven and coat with some vegetable oil and a little salt and pepper.
- Place back in the oven for 10 minutes to get the skin nice and crispy.
- After 10 minutes, take the potatoes out of the oven and immediately cut them open by cutting a large X across the top and squeezing them open.
- You don’t want to wait too long before opening them, otherwise the steam will get trapped inside and make them gummy
- Tip: If you’re in a hurry, then microwave the potatoes for 3 minutes, and finish in the oven
Notes
Nutrition
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed. It should not be used as a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Tip: If you’re in a hurry, then microwave the potatoes for 3 minutes, and finish in the oven
What to serve on top of a vegan baked potato
Some of my favorite vegan baked potato toppings are:
- Unsweetened vegan yogurt
- Vegan sour cream
- Vegan butter
- Steak sauce ( I know this sounds weird, but it tastes amazing)
- Vegan mayo
What to serve with your baked potato
That’s it for now. Hope this recipe helped you to finally perfect the baked potato. Even though potatoes are versatile and easy to make, baking them right takes a little bit of know how so that they come out crispy and fluffy.
Share this recipe with someone who needs an easy baked potato recipe.
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