Jacket potatoes recipe

Easy comfort food, fill with mayo, grated cheese or tuna... or all of them together

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Allergy Information

Wheat-Free no
Gluten-Free no
Nut-Free no
Dairy-Free no
Sugar-Free no
Vegetarian no
Vegan no
  • Preparation time: 15 mins
  • Cook time: 2 hrs
  • Total time: 2 hrs 15 mins
  • Yield: serves 2

There's really nothing quite like a hot, fluffy potato in its jacket with a crisp golden skin. In our opinion microwaving jacket potatoes just doesn't cut it when compared to baking potatoes slowly so that you end up with that lovely slow cooked texture and smell.

If you don't remember to put your baked potatoes into the oven early enough you can compromise and half microwave them, then oil them and put them into the oven to finish them off and give you the crisp skins, although of course they won't be quite as crisp as if they'd been in the oven for the entire cooking time.

Jacket potatoes are so versatile, serve them with fish, poultry, meat, vegetarian, salads, cheese, baked beans, the list really is endless. They provide a filling, hot and easy meal. To find out more about the wonderful potato why not read our potato fact file.

Ingredients

2 large [2 large] baking potatoes (floury types such as King Edward or Marfona are best)
1 tsp [1 tsp] olive oil
metal skewers/kebab skewers (optional)

Directions

Preheat oven: 190°C, 375°F, Gas 5

  1. Wash the potatoes and dry using kitchen paper. With a small knife remove any eyes or black bits from the potato skin.
  2. Thread each potato onto a metal skewer, the metal going through the centre of the potato helps it to cook more quickly, but it's not essential to put them on metal skewers if you don't have any. For very large potatoes we push two skewers through each one in a diagonal cross pattern.
  3. Pour a little olive oil onto each potato, then using a piece of kitchen paper make sure that the entire potato is covered with the oil. This will give it a crisp jacket on the outside when cooked.
  4. Place on a baking tray and put in the oven for 90-120 minutes, depending on the size of the potatoes and whether you have used metal skewers to reduce the cooking time. To check whether the potatoes are cooked all the way through, pierce with a sharp knife or skewer, if it feels soft all the way through it is cooked enough.

    A good rule of thumb is 90 mins with skewers for medium potatoes, 120 mins with skewers for large potatoes. If not using metal skewers increase the cooking time by 20-30 minutes.

  5. When cooked remove from oven, and using an oven glove to hold the metal skewer, slide the baked potato off, and serve.