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A perfectly cooked classic Jacket Potato is the ULTIMATE comfort carb. It’s a solid choice for any meal, whether the main event or as a side. This recipe shows you how to make sure yours is cooked to perfection, easily, every time.
Let’s not underestimate the humble delicacy that is a Jacket Potato (or Baked Potato, if you know it as that.)
Give me the joy of carby comfort food any day of the week, so long as it’s beautifully tender and fluffy on the inside, and light and crispy on the outside.
Follow these tips and tricks to make sure you get exactly the right flavour and consistency for your jacket potatoes – you’ll never have to eat a soggy jacket potato again!
Why you’ll love this Classic Jacket Potato recipe
⭐️ Great value side dish, lunch or dinner
⭐️ Comforting, satisfying, EASY and delicious
⭐️ Endless customisable filling options
Jacket Potato Hacks
It’s not difficult, but there are a few simple tricks to getting jacket potatoes spot on. Once you know how, you won’t look back.
Cook them on the rack
I like to bake my jackets straight on the oven rack to bake, rather than on a tray, as this helps the air to flow around the potato. This helps the skin to crisp up all over and cooks it nice and evenly.
Don’t forget oil and salt
The simplicity of rubbing oil on each potato and sprinkling salt can’t be understated. Miss them out and you’re missing out on LOTS of flavour and crispy skin.
speed it up
The biggest downfall of a jacket potato, and probably the only reason I don’t eat them most days, is because of the time they take to cook.
It is possible to quicken things up by microwaving the pierced potato for 10 minutes before you bake them in the oven, which should reduce the time it needs in there to about 40 minutes.
Make ahead
You could make lunchtime come quicker by making a batch ahead instead. You could freeze them, but then you’d have to factor in defrosting time.
Instead, once cooked they will keep in the fridge for up to 3 days. When you’re ready to eat, give them a blast in the oven or air fryer for 10-15 minutes.
This is also an economical way to cook them if you know you’re going to be having more than one during the week.
(They are at their best when cooked fresh, but sometimes needs must.)
How else to cook them
Did you know you could also make them in an air fryer and slow cooker? For this recipe, we’re using the standard of baking in an oven, but there are other ways if you don’t want to keep your oven on for an hour (although an oven is the only appliance that gets perfect results, in my opinion.)
Cooking jacket potatoes in a slow cooker obviously requires prior prep, but saves time later. The results are so delicious when cooked like this, but the downside is the skins are not overly crispy.
Making baked potatoes in an air fryer is also a good time saver for a speedy lunch and here we get a crispy skin, if not a very rich flavour.
Ingredients
- Baking potatoes – Make sure you’re using a big floury potato to make sure you get a fluffy middle and a crispy skin. Your best choices are Maris Piper, King Edwards or Russets (in the US). Most supermarkets usually have a large crate of loose ‘baking potatoes’ which are always a good bet too. The variety of these potatoes may vary but they will always make a good jacket!
- Olive oil – For rubbing on the skin.
- Flaky sea salt – For seasoning the skin.
How to make the perfect Jacket Potato
1. Pierce the skin of the potatoes with a fork all over.
2. Rub in the oil and scatter over the salt. Place directly on to the oven shelf and bake until the skin is super crispy and the insides soft, as per the full recipe below.
Cooking time
The cooking times will depend on the size of your potatoes, so keep an eye on them if they are a little small or check that they don’t need a little longer if they are bigger.
Debate: What is the best jacket potato topping of ALL TIME?
I’ll start. It’s got to be cheese and beans, right?!
(For our overseas readers, these are baked beans and you can find a homemade version here if you can’t get hold of them in a tin. Grated cheddar and hot beans is a ultimate combination.)
I am also partial to simply butter if I am enjoying a spud as a side.
Please let us know in the comments what your favourite is!
For inspiration, there’s also:
- Chilli Con Carne or Vegan Chilli
- Coleslaw
- Tuna Mayo
- Coronation Chicken
- Pulled Pork
More favourite potato recipes…
Side Dishes
Potato Wedges {Air Fryer or Oven Method}
Side Dishes
Boulangère Potatoes
Side Dishes
Sautéed Potatoes {Super Easy Recipe!}
Side Dishes
Easiest Ever Homemade Oven Chips
FAQs
No! This is a common mistake and leads to trapping the steam in it and making the skin soggy. Add foil if you’re slow cooking as this issue doesn’t apply as the temperature is low, but if it’s an oven, leave the foil off.
Yes! Make sure you do this as it helps the dense potato cook evenly. If you don’t, you may end up with the inside and outside cooking at different times, leaving it underdone in the middle and burnt on the outside.
Let me know how you got on and what you thought of these recipes. Please rate the recipe using the ⭐️ below.
Also I’d LOVE to see your cooking creations. If you’d like to share yours with me, you can tag me on Instagram (@tamingtwins).
How to make the PERFECT Jacket Potato
Ingredients
- 4 Baking potatoes, Washed and thoroughly dried
- 4 tbsp Olive oil
- Flaky sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200℃/390F.
- Pierce the skin of the potatoes with a fork all over then rub in the oil and scatter over the salt.
- Place directly on to the oven shelf and bake for 1hour 15 minutes or until the skin is super crispy and the insides soft (you can test this by making sure there’s no resistance when push a knife or skewer in.)
- Serve as soon as they are done with lots of butter.
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Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation. Nutritional values are per portion unless otherwise stated.
