Baked potato

Baked Potato

Writen By: Sarah Vitale and Karen Irish

The perfect baked potato for any meal has evenly brown skin with a white and fluffy inside.   Baked potatoes are easily prepared, inexpensive, and a nutritious side dish that will fill you up. This recipe is for a simple baked potato.

Ingredients:                 



Main ingredients

Baking Potatoes
Olive oil, vegetable oil, or butter
Coarse salt or sea salt (optional)
Additional toppings (optional)

Step 1

It is recommended that you use a Russsett or Idaho potato.  Russett's have brown skin and are kind of starchy potato. The starch is what gives the potato the characteristic of a fluffy inside.

Purchasing the right potato for your meal is an essential step in baking the perfect potato. The ‘right potato’ is the perfect combination of great color and texture.  Potatoes are very inexpensive and easy to grow.  At a store you want to pick out a potato that is firm and smooth, you want to avoid all potatoes that are wrinkly, have cuts on the surface or have green sprouts growing from them.   

Step 2

Wash your potato with cold water while using a scrub brush. Pierce the potato deeply with a fork and then place on a baking pan or in tin foil.  

Washing potato with scrub brush

Piercing potato with fork

A scrub brush can be used for any type of vegetable.  They have soft plastic bristles at the end of a handle.  Piercing it with the fork allows the steam to be released so the potato doesn’t become mushy or explode while cooking.

Eating the skins of the potato is where most of the vitamins and minerals are found.  You can coat the potato with olive oil and salt to give the skins more of a taste with a crisper texture when cooked on a baking pan.   Another alternative is wrapping the potato in tinfoil for more of a steamed potato instead of having a crisper skin.  The tinfoil contains the steam, allowing the potato to be more moist.  Eating the skins of the potato is where most of the vitamins and minerals are found.

Potatoes wrapped in foil in oven

Step 3

Set the oven for 400 degrees for 45 minutes. You may want to adjust your oven rack so it sits in the middle of the oven.

Potatoes covered in sea salt and olive oil

In a regular oven, not a convection oven, the heat is produced at the bottom therefore the middle rack supplies you with the most even temperature of air. The hotter the oven the less time needed to cook. Make sure you set a timer so you don’t burn your side dish.

Step 4

Lastly, test potato occasionally by poking it with a fork until the desired potato is done.  You can then add as many topping as you want.   Sour cream, butter, bacon bits, cheese and onions are the most common.

Finished product with optional toppings

As you can tell baked potatoes and broccoli and cheese are easily prepared and nutrient rich.  These recipes are appropriate for any day of the week or holiday!  If you’re interested in making this a well-rounded meal with another side dish, a main dish of breaded pork chops, drinks and desserts, follow these links: Breaded Pork Chop  Broccoli and Cheese Pineapple Juice Chocolate Truffles .