The World’s Second Best Baked Potatoes
Discover the secret to the crispiest skin and flakiest spuds ever with this recipe for the World’s Second Best Baked Potatoes. Baked potatoes are a blank slate for a delicious and imaginative easy meal. They reheat in 60 seconds in the microwave for a super fast weeknight meal.
Let’s clear one thing up right now – my father makes the world’s best baked potatoes. His involve about 300 spices and being slowly smoked on a BBQ in a tray of olive oil for an entire day. They’re delicious and perfection, but I don’t have time to make those.
So I make these – The World’s Second Best Baked Potatoes!
Are Baked Potatoes Better in Foil?
In a word – NOOOOOOO. The foil will steam the potato and cook it through, but it also prevents that crispy skin everyone loves so much! Ditch the foil wrapping and use this baking method instead.
Are Baked Potatoes Whole30 Compliant?
Yes! Whole30 allowed white potatoes on the compliant list in 2014. Simply leave off the pat of butter (or use ghee) when serving and don’t top with cheese.
How to Make the World’s Second Best Baked Potatoes – Step by Step
- Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
- Scrub the outside of your potatoes, and dry off with a clean kitchen towel. Poke 7-10 holes in the skin of the potato using a fork.
- In a bowl, add your olive oil, salt, and garlic.
- Put two spuds in the bowl and swirl it around until the entire potato is covered in the oil/salt/garlic mixture. Move to a plate. Repeat with other spuds.
- Put a piece of foil or a baking sheeting on the bottom rack of your oven. Place the potatoes directly on the rack above the foil/baking sheet.
- Bake for 60-90 minutes depending on how many spuds you have. Four potatoes will need 60 minutes, and any more than that will need 90 ish. The potatoes are ready when a sharp knife pierces easily into the skin.
Recipe Notes for Second Best Baked Potatoes
- The dripping olive oil on the foil/baking sheet will smell “hot” in your kitchen, and there may be some sizzling. That is all perfectly normal.
- The kosher salt flavors the potato while baking and helps create the crispiest skin ever! But please brush all the excess salt off of the potato prior to serving. No one needs that much sodium in their diet! Unless of course you’re making baked potatoes for a deer. Then by all means, proceed.
- No kosher salt? You can use table salt but reduce to 1.5 tsp.
- Make these baked potatoes an easy weeknight meal by baking them during your weekly meal prep. Store in a lidded container in the fridge, and microwave for 60 seconds to reheat. No microwave? Reheat in a toaster/convection oven.
Variations on Second Best Baked Potatoes
- This process also works amazingly well with sweet potatoes, but the baking time usually needs to be increased by 10 minutes.
- Feel free to experiment with flavors and seasonings. I love cracked lemon pepper and chopped rosemary mixed in with the olive oil. The possibilities are only limited by your imagination.
What Can You Put in a Baked Potato?
I believe the better question is “what CAN’T you put in a baked potato”? A baked potato is a blank slate for your favorite toppings.
- butter
- cheese
- bacon
- broccoli
- green onions
- chili (hidden veggies chili is another way to get more vegetables in your life)
- sour cream
- spinach – fresh or frozen
These are basically a fabulous medium to get more bacon into my mouth.
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Discover the secret to the crispiest skin and flakiest spuds with this recipe for the World's Second Best Baked Potatoes.
- 4 russet potatoes
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic chopped
- 1 tbsp kosher salt
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
Scrub the outside of your potatoes, and dry off with a clean kitchen towel. Poke 7-10 holes in the skin of the potato using a fork.
In a bowl, add your olive oil, salt, and garlic.
Put two spuds in the bowl and swirl it around until the entire potato is covered in the oil/salt/garlic mixture. Move to a plate. Repeat with other spuds.
Put a piece of foil or a baking sheeting on the bottom rack of your oven. Place the potatoes directly on the rack above the foil/baking sheet.
Bake for 60-90 minutes depending on how many spuds you have. Four potatoes will need 60 minutes, and any more than that will need 90 ish. The potatoes are ready when a sharp knife pierces easily into the skin.
The dripping olive oil on the foil/baking sheet will smell "hot" in your kitchen, and there may be some sizzling. That is all perfectly normal.
The kosher salt flavors the potato while baking and helps create the crispiest skin ever! But please brush all the excess salt off of the potato prior to serving. No one needs that much sodium in their diet!
No kosher salt? You can use table salt but reduce to 1.5 tsp.
Make these baked potatoes an easy weeknight meal by baking them during your weekly meal prep. Store in a lidded container in the fridge, and microwave for 60 seconds to reheat. No microwave? Reheat in a toaster/convection oven.
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This post was originally published in July 2012. It has been retested, updated with reader feedback, the recipe was made printable, and new photos were included.
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Cannot wait to try these??? I LOVE baked taters!
Thanks for sharing your recipe!
JL
Let me know how you like them!
I love baked potatoes, especially when they’re made by smart cookies like you who know better than to wrap them in foil. That crunchy skin is SO yummy!
It’s almost like bonus bacon! ;-D
Mmm, these look really good. I have an abundance of potatoes from our veggie share, so I may have to add these to the menu this week. Maybe while I cook the leg of lamb?
Thank you so much! I can’t wait to make these for our book club. The tip to make it th night before really helped too.
This is almost exactly the way I do mine! Down to the swirling 🙂
Crispy baked potato skin is a very great joy.
The art is in the swirl, right?
This is pretty much how I prepare my baked potatoes, nothing better than that crispy skin, your dad´s version sound amazing, but yeah very time consuming, but I´m sure so worth it! great post 🙂
Crispy skin is the best!!
One of my all time favorites, this dish is easy to make and goes a long way. I will prepare myself and eat at breakfast or as a snack for morning tea.