What’s the best way to make baked potatoes?

 

Potatoes are on my list of favorite foods. It’s incredible, all the things you could make with a potato, the options are really endless! A baked potato with all the toppings qualifies as comfort food. Plus it can easily be a whole meal when you top it off with some meat and veggies. What can be easier? I found this article about the best way to make baked potatoes I wanted to share with you.

Many ways to bake a potato

Baked potatoes can be prepared in many ways, but here are some of the best know techniques:

Style	Pros	Cons	Time
Oven	very easy, because you wash, poke, bake and forget	it takes foreverrr, like an hour and half?	60-90 mins
Microwave	easy and quick (less than 5 mins)	uneven cooking, changes texture	4-5 mins
Grill	tasty, handy when being outdoors	wrap each potato, takes a while, some may burn due to flames	60 mins
Crock-Pot	doesn’t heat up your kitchen, cooks while you’re away	overcooks a bit, changes texture, takes more than forever	4-8 hours
Instant Pot	fast, fluffy	not crispy, can only cook so much at the time	10-20 mins

 

My favorite technique for baked potatoes

I have tried all the above myself, except the Crock-Pot method. Always up for an easier/faster way to accomplish my goal, I decided to test the Instant Pot baked potato technique at A Mindfull Mom’s blog  when I found the recipe. Even added sweet potatoes to the pot for comparison and I’m happy to say it was a success.

I liked the fact that the potatoes were evenly cooked in a short time. For a crispy skin, you can put the potatoes under the broiler for a few minutes, but since I don’t eat the skin, I didn’t really care.

 

Baked potato, healthy side dish

No matter what technique you use, baked potatoes are one of the easiest things to cook. No need to watch for water boiling over, checking frequently for done-ness, it’s almost like “set and forget, just faster.” Whether you’re off to work, or busy cooking the rest of your dinner, if you want a healthy side dish, then baked potatoes are the way to go (as opposed to french fries). No oil, no salt, unless you add a ton of butter, cream or salt, thereby defeating the healthy purpose. You’ll save some time and have a lot less stress too!

 

Bonus potato tip!

Bonus tip not having anything to do with baked potatoes: Place your raw potatoes in cold water for even cooking. My husband recently told me that it’s better to boil the water first before adding potatoes, because that’s how Chef Ramsey does it. But that theory was shot when I read this tip on the list of everything you need to know about cooking potatoes: 30 brilliant tips for perfect potatoes.

 

 

Gadget geek that I am, check my MCC Amazon Store page here, for a list of cooking equipment, all of which I own by the way (… ugh, I should really start simplifying my life…).

Ever thought of simplifying yours with meal plans?

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