Baked potatoes may not seem like a dish that requires much technique, but there’s a difference between a good baked potato and a great one. Wrapping them in foil can lead to a tender interior but render the skin too soft. For the most crisp skin, bake them right on the oven grate at quite a high temperature. (To make it taste almost like a potato chip, rub those scrubbed russets with vegetable oil and season with plenty of salt.) Shockingly, this doesn’t prevent a fluffy interior—that comes down to the internal temperature reaching at least 212°. Sure, it may seem strange to take your potato’s temperature, but it’s a fail-safe route to the most enjoyable potato.
Some, including the Idaho Potato Commission, swear that the way a baked potato is opened affects the texture, eschewing a knife for a fork to gently poke a plus sign into the surface. Others, like beloved food writer Nigel Slater, prefer to strike the potato as though it were part of a martial arts competition. “Bring your hand down fast and sharp as if you were doing a karate chop but only hard enough to crack open the potato skin,” he writes in a piece for The Guardian. (Whether or not to attempt this feat is literally in the hands of the potato-baker.) We found a single fork-pricked line down the length of the spud is the most effective.
Once opened, a baked potato can be filled with anything from tuna salad to cheesy baked beans. Here, it’s a picadillo-inspired mixture with ground beef (packed with protein, iron, and creatine—though ground turkey or chicken work nicely too) adorned with golden raisins and stuffed olives. A spicy tomato sauce will slowly soak into the potato, further seasoning it with every passing minute. Make sure to use a chili powder that’s a mix of spices like chiles, cumin, oregano, garlic (not just dried ground chiles).
Healthy cooking doesn’t have to be complicated. In fact, often the simpler it is, the better it tastes. In Good for You, Test Kitchen editor Rebecca Firkser shares feel-good recipes for any day of the week. Read more: White Potatoes Are Not Empty Calories. They’re Actually Great for You.
