How to make the perfect jacket potato

A comforting baked potato, with crisp skin and a fluffy middle, is one of our favourite things to eat for lunch – or any time, really. Our experts – including recipe writers and our cookery school tutors – share tips for getting the crunchiest skin, and reveal their favourite fillings. Plus 30 instant baked potato topping ideas.

Step 1

Start with the right potato. If you’re not sure which to go for, choose one labelled as a baking potato (find them loose or in packs of four). We recommend an Albert Bartlett’s Elfe but you can’t go far wrong with a King Edward.

Step 2

Don’t forget to prick the skin – steam builds inside the potato and needs an escape route or two to avoid any explosions.

Step 3

Skip the oil – rubbing a potato with oil before baking can make the skin a little chewy. For a crisp skin, wash and sprinkle with sea salt while still damp then bake straight on the oven shelf. An hour at 220°C, gas mark 7 is about right for an average-sized jacket.

Short of time? Speed it up

If you’ve forgotten to switch your oven on in time, or you’re so hungry you just can’t wait an hour for potato pleasure, don’t despair. You can start your jackets off in the microwave, then finish in the oven for that essential crunchy skin.

Step 1

Preheat your oven to 220°C, gas mark 7. Prick the potatoes with a fork, place on a plate and microwave on high (900w) for 3 minutes. Turn them over and microwave for another 3 minutes.

Step 2

Transfer the potatoes to a baking sheet and brush with 1 tbsp oil. Season and bake in the oven for 20 minutes.

Best potatoes for baking

King Edward Potatoes

Recognisable from their creamy skin with light red blushes, King Edwards are reliably fluffy when baked.

Elfe Potatoes

Grown by Albert Bartlett, Elfe potatoes have a smooth oval shape, creamy skin and bright yellow skin that goes deliciously crunchy in the oven.

Essential Large Potatoes

To keep things simple, choose these great-value potatoes: they’re chosen to be similar sizes, so your potatoes will be ready at the same time.

Sweet Potatoes

OK, so they’re technically not a potato (they’re a root vegetable), but sweet potatoes respond pretty well to a hot oven. Their sweet flesh softens beautifully – perfect for mashing with butter.

Shop potatoes & sweet potatoes

Our expert's favourite fillings

Katie Bishop, recipe writer, likes to keep it simple. “I top with baked beans (they have to be Heinz), simmered gently for 10 minutes until they’re reduced and thickened. Then a shake of Worcestershire sauce, and a grating of something tangy and crumbly, such as a Cheshire. The beans have to be hot enough to make the cheese melty – perfection!”

Chef Omar Abourgebah likes something a little more meaty with his baked potato. “My top filling is beef chilli, cheese and jalapeños.”

Fellow chef Helen Carey is a potato purist. “I love a baked potato with salty butter and nothing else! Top tip is to bake on a bed of rock salt to absorb some of the moisture from the potato and make it extra fluffy.”

Food writer Silvana likes her jackets equally simple. “It has to be cheesy: extra mature Cheddar with a sprinkling of chopped red onion. Or if I’m really in need of comfort, baked beans and a dash of chilli sauce.”