Cooking 101: How To Make The Perfect Baked Potato

Spectacular spuds! Everyone loves them! I haven’t met a potato that I didn’t love. I dream of creamy mashed potatoes, scalloped potatoes smothered in cheese, potatoes fried in butter till crispy on the edges and soft on the inside…oh my, potatoes…how do I love thee? One of the easiest, most delicious ways to serve potatoes is baked. Topped with loads of butter, sour cream and freshly sliced green onions. Be-still my beating heart, but I do love me a really good baked potato!

You may be thinking what’s the deal? Everyone knows how to make a baked potato, right? Well, you can bake up an ordinary, ho-hum, middle of the road baked potato, or you can bake up a delectably, fluffy on the inside, with a salty, crispy, crunchy skin that will have your mouth watering. Keep reading to find out to easily turn a ho-hum, run-of-the-mill potato into a spectacular spud with almost no extra effort.

Jump to Recipe

Preheat oven to 400ā„‰.

Wash potatoes under cold running water and pat dry.

Use a fork and poke through the skin of the potatoes several times all over.

Rub skins with olive oil to coat each potato.

Sprinkle liberally with Kosher salt.

Place potatoes in the oven directly on the oven rack.

Bake the potatoes for 90 minutes.

Check potatoes after 90 minutes. Prick them with a fork. Fork tines should slide into the potato easily when done. Skins should be crispy and centers should be soft when pressed with your finger.

Remove potatoes from the oven.

Cut a large slit down the center of each potato lengthwise. Fluff the inside to the potato with a fork and top with butter, sour cream and a sprinkle of green onions to serve. 

I hope this helps those of you that are just starting out on your culinary adventures in the kitchen. I can still remember calling my dad and asking him how to cook rice when I was first married. We assume everyone knows how to bake a potato, or cook up some white rice. I thought I knew everything there was to know about baked potatoes.

For many years I never pierced the skins, and I never had a problem. Then one day, when we were entertaining family visiting from Germany, I wanted to serve up a typical American meal. Barbecued steaks, baked potatoes and corn on the cob, with fresh homemade strawberry short cake for dessert. Six potatoes went into the oven, and when I opened the oven only five remained. One had exploded in the oven! I learned a valuable lesson that day, pierce those potatoes before baking them!

What goes better with a baked potato than a juicy barbecued steak! Whip up an easy to make fresh garlic and cilantro marinade to ramp up the flavor of your favorite steaks. Learn how easy it is to make Juicy, Flavorful, Garlic-Cilantro Marinated Grilled Steaks to serve up with those delectable baked potatoes. The marinade keeps these steaks nice and juicy on the grill.

Round out the meal with this easy to make from scratch corn side dish that brings out the fresh summer sweetness of everyoneā€™s favorite vegetable. Summer Sweet Creamed Corn.

What if I told you that you could make this Homemade Strawberry Shortcake completely from scratch, even if you’re just starting out in the kitchen. The easy to make dough comes together in just a few quick minutes and it’s the perfect base for everyone’s favorite summertime dessert. Give this easy to make, delicious dessert a try, you will impress everyone with this delectable confection.

Perfect Baked Potato

Barbara
Turn a ho-hum, run-of-the-mill potato into a spectacular spud.
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 35 minutes
Course Side Dish
Cuisine American
Servings 2 servings

Ingredients
  

  • 2 large russet potatoes
  • olive oil
  • Kosher salt

Toppings:

  • butter
  • sour cream
  • green onions, sliced

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 400ā„‰.
  • Wash potatoes under cold running water and pat dry.
  • Use a fork and poke through the skin of the potatoes several times all over.
  • Rub skins with olive oil to coat each potato.
  • Sprinkle liberally with Kosher salt.
  • Place potatoes in the oven directly on the oven rack.
  • Bake the potatoes for 90 minutes.
  • Check potatoes after 90 minutes. Prick them with a fork. Fork tines should slide into the potato easily when done. Skins should be crispy and centers should be soft when pressed with your finger.
  • Remove potatoes from the oven.
  • Cut a large slit down the center of each potato lengthwise. Fluff the inside to the potato with a fork and top with butter, sour cream and a sprinkle of green onions to serve.
Keyword cooking 101, potato, spuds

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