Wondering how restaurants get those perfect potatoes? Here’s the hints on how to make the best oven baked potatoes with salty, crispy skin and fluffy potato inside.
Does your family love potatoes? Mine will take them any way they can get them: stuffed potatoes, cheesy potatoes, roasted potatoes…even sweet potatoes. If potatoes are for dinner, they’re 100% all in.
How did your mom bake potatoes when you were growing up? I honestly can’t remember how my mom did, but I know that when I first got married, if I wanted a baked potato, I’d take the easy route and throw them in the microwave.
Now potatoes are good any time and with just about any main dish recipe, but microwaving a baked potato can lead to dry potato skin and even a dry potato inside if you cook it too long.
As we started visiting several steakhouses that served amazing, crispy, salted skin potatoes, I knew I had to figure out how to get that same flavor and texture at home.
We’ve made baked potatoes in the air fryer, but what about the perfect baked potato in the oven?
We’re talking the best baked potato recipe here today that takes just 5 minutes prep time and yes, a little longer to bake than the microwave, but so totally worth it.
What are the best potatoes for baking?
To start, you need to choose the best type of potato. As you remember from our ultimate potato guide that we shared last year, Russet potatoes are the best for baking. They are a high starch potato that when baked, lend a light, mealy texture.
What is the best way to bake a potato?
If you love the restaurant-style, crispy skin potatoes, here’s how you get it.
- Scrub the potatoes, then dry them.
- Rub olive oil all over the outside of the potatoes.
- Rub salt (or salt and pepper) on the outside of the potatoes. Be generous with both the oil and the salt. It’s what gives the potatoes that amazing flavor and makes you want to eat the skin.
- Place the potatoes on a baking sheet and bake in a preheated oven (425ºF) for about 50 minutes. The exact timing will depend on how large the potato is.
Frequently Asked Questions
You will often see recipes for wrapping a potato in foil. Although this works, we don’t believe this is best. The potato actually gets “steamed” and the skin will not get crispy if it is baked wrapped in foil. For that reason, we say no foil is best!
The purpose behind piercing a potato with a fork is to let the steam escape and prevent the potatoes from exploding while baking. I’ll be honest that I don’t always poke the potatoes before I bake them. I’ve never had a potato explode on me. But…for safety, I do recommend piercing the potatoes.
This baked potato recipe goes great with just about any main dish, but we especially love potatoes with ham, roast beef, pulled pork and steak.
I like to bake potatoes at 425 degrees. It generally takes a large Russet potato about 45 minutes to become tender, but the exact timing will depend on how large the potato is. And testing the potatoes is when I do pierce them with a fork. Poke the potato with a fork to ensure that the potato is soft inside.
According to the Idaho Potato Commission, the perfect baked potato will be 210º Fahrenheit inside.
Roasted potatoes are not low in carbs, but they are a natural food so are a great option, especially for those who lead active lifestyles. Be sure to eat the skin where most of the vitamins and minerals are.
What’s the Best Baked Potato Recipe?
You’ll find that just below. Because of the flavor of the olive oil and salt, I’m happy just topping the baked potato with butter and a little bit of fresh parsley, but when I’m feelin’ crazy? Serve with sour cream, cheddar cheese, chives and bacon for the most delicious loaded baked potatoes.
Pro Tip: If you are fixing bacon as a topping, cook it in advance and rub bacon grease on the outside of the potato rather than oil. It’s amazing!
Another Tip: Use coconut oil or butter for rubbing on the outside. Each fat gives just a little bit of a different flavor. Try several to find which one your family likes best.
Baked Potato Toppings
Baked potato bars are a fun idea for a party. Here’s some toppings ideas other than traditional cheese, sour cream and onions:
- Leftover Chili
- Broccoli and cheddar
- Pizza toppings
- Taco meat and cheese
- Salsa
- Avocado (Guacamole)
- Buffalo Chicken Dip (don’t knock it until you try it!)
- Cream Cheese
- Minced Garlic
Our most popular potato side dish recipes:
- Easy Oven Roasted Potatoes
- Rich and Creamy Mashed Potatoes
- Oven Baked Cheesy Potatoes
- Grilled Potatoes
- Buttery Crusted Potatoes
- Christmas Cheesy Potatoes
- Spinach Mashed Potatoes
- Baked Potato Wedges
Serve these classic potatoes alongside our favorite corn dish for a delicious meal.
Oven Baked Potatoes {Steakhouse Copycat}
Ingredients
- 4 large Russet potatoes
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 tablespoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
- Wash and dry the potatoes.
- Pierce the potato 2-3 times with a fork (See notes in article above!)
- Rub oil all over the potatoes (or choose one of the other options above to rub on the outside).
- Rub salt all over the potatoes. We prefer coarse sea salt or pink himalayan salt.
- Place the potatoes on a baking sheet and bake for about 45 minutes.
- The exact baking time will depend on how large the potatoes are. The potato should be tender inside if you poke a fork into it.
- Serve with butter, cheese, chives, sour cream and all of your favorite toppings!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Exploding potatoes: Last winter I baked up a big batch of potatoes to make baked potato soup. I laid them on a baking sheet in the oven and when they were done I took out the pan and laid it on the stovetop. Maybe it was that I jarred them when I laid them down but the whole thing exploded! Un-pierced, they were. I had bits of steaming potato everywhere: in my hair, coating my glasses, all over my clothes and face (with some mild burning to my skin). The kitchen looked like a potato bomb went off – which… Read more »
Thank you all for participating in this back and forth. All I wanted to do was ask Google how do I bake a potato. And what I got was a community of learned scholars in the art of baking potatoes
We are unified and not divided. We can bake a potato or two or 20 or 40 or 60. What a joy to simply read the words of all of us with a common goal. I know include baking potatoes in my list of preparing Soul Foods. Thanks again to one and all.
Hi
My mom always saved bacon grease, she would rub it on the potato skin instead of oil. Haven’t had them that way in years, I always use olive oil. But I can still remember the taste!
I missed poking a potato once and it exploded in my oven. You only have to clean up the mess once to learn.
Growing up my dad always did loaded baked potatoes. We would poke them, cover them in butter, and wrap them in aluminum foil and bake. As toppings to choose from he always had ground hamburger, corn, sauteed onions and mushrooms, brown gravy, ranch and bacon bits. They were always amazing, and very stuffing.
Somehow I have spent my entire long life making baked potatoes by simply pricking them with a fork and baking them. The addition of olive oil and kosher salt makes them amazing. I bought organically grown potatoes so I could feel good about ingesting the skins, and thought these were absolutely delicious without anything added to them. (I had a bag of 18 Russets that were just barely beginning to sprout. I cut off all the sprouted parts and proceeded to bake them this way. I didn’t measure the olive oil or salt, just rubbed each one with both.) SO… Read more »
What about wrapping in foil? Yay or nay
So everyone knows I am not the “Betty Crocker” of my family, although my cooking skills are slowly improving since I have small children now….I made these potatoes exactly as your recipe and my mother in law said it was the best baked potato she has ever had. No foil is the way to go! Thanks for the recipe & helping me score some points with the MIL haha!
Hi Julie; I had to comment. Since I am deathly allergic to olive oil [and ANY thing related to an olive] obviously I cannot do this – and since I am not a fan of russet potatoes in any form, I always opt for red or white rose potatoes. Sometimes, I will go for a golden which seems to be a cross of the white rose and the russet. It takes longer to bake – but the outcome is marvelous. I use canola oil or sometimes, when i have just opened a fresh cube of butter, I use the wrapper… Read more »
I did the olive oil and salt and when they came out I filled them with a garlic prawn in butter so the butter soaked into the potato then put some cheese on top then back in oven for 4 minutes .
lip smacking good with that garlicky butter juicy prawn and stringy cheese.
Our church loves baked potato dinners. I have done up to 40 or 50 and increased the time to an hour and 10 minutes wrapping them sometimes, olive oil and salt (best
Flavor) sometimes just all variety. (Not poked and no explosions)
What is a buttery garlic prawn?
Oh yes, bacon grease for this is the best.
The addition of the salt though is what makes the skin crispy, I guess.
My mom used to coat the potatoes in Crisco shortening. Poke them with a fork, wrap in foil and bake away
Easy side although to be honest I didnt pay that much attention to the temperature. For some reason I thought it was baked at 350 not 425.??
Would this work in the crockpot if its on high? If so, how long would you recommend? The oven method is great now, but in the summertime, I will want an alternative that doesn’t sweat us out of the house!
I actually had a potato explode. I went to take it out of the oven after cooking it and grabbed it with an oven mitt. Poof! The minute I touched it, it exploded! The whole inside of the oven was coated in small potato pieces and it took me (after the oven cooled down) over an hour to clean it up.
Very good! One Q -if I did 6 potatoes instead of 4 – do I need to increase the time?
Honestly…..the best baked potato I’ve ever had. It was so freaking good. Like, seriously. And yes I used the bacon grease to coat the outside. Yummy!
Made them for dinner tonight. Perfect! Thank you for the tutorial, I appreciate it!
Can you make more than 4 potatoes? Would you increase the time? Not a good cook. Lol! Thanks!
Degree in F or C? Please answer
Tried this to the letter today and the potatoes turned out delicious! Skin wasn’t crispy but still tender and flavourful enough for 2 of us to devour all 4 potatoes rather quickly. Topped with sour cream, cheesy mushrooms and crispy bacon bits yummmm
I slice them half way ( about 5-6 slices) between slices put butter onion salt & pepper wrap in foil & bake about 45-50 min. yum yum
No matter how many potatoes you do at once you should check them at the regular amount of time and see if they need any longer. If you don’t you could end up with a potato that seems to have grown a really thick skin. Always pierce them all over. Wrapping in foil makes the skins more soggy and not crispy. Even on the grill you should cook them unwrapped and just keep turning them so they don’t burn.
ok, wasn’t hungry before but am now. never met a potato I didn’t like. thank you all.