Quick Baked Potatoes
This Quick Baked Potatoes recipe is one of our favorite recipes. It will have you making delicious baked potatoes at home more often. It’s so easy to make, and it requires only 3 simple ingredients!
I’m Irish to the core. Well, at least I think I am. If nothing but for my lack of self-control when anything potato is involved, I would say I’m totally Irish.
That has to mean something, right?
Potatoes are a staple in our home. We have to moderate our intake and how they’re prepared, but a good baked potato is always the perfect standby for us to serve as a side, or as the main star topped with chili, or maybe even something healthy. I’ve learned a shortcut for cooking baked potatoes quicker, and I have to say, tastier. My friend, Cindy, tipped me off to this technique for cooking Quick Baked Potatoes a few years back.
Cindy is also the person that originally spurred me on to begin this site. I didn’t really know what a blog was when she suggested I look at starting one of my own. So thank you for that, Cindy! And thank you for showing me how to bake a potato faster too.
How to Bake Potatoes Quickly
Here’s how it works. It couldn’t be easier. Begin with washed potatoes. We use sweet potatoes for this too. Sweet potatoes are my husband’s favorite. I always toss one in the batch for him. When you’ve washed and removed any icky or weird-looking parts.
1. Cut the potatoes in half length-wise. Then pour a little olive oil, and sprinkle a good amount of salt on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
2. Coat the cut potato halves with the olive oil and salt, place them on the baking sheet, cut side down. Just use your hands to coat the potatoes with oil and salt. It’s easier. Plus, olive oil and salt make for an excellent hand scrub.
3. Once they’re coated on all sides, sprinkle a little more salt, then bake at 400°F for about 30-40 minutes, depending on your oven. Check with a fork for doneness and enjoy!
See? Isn’t that easy?
When potatoes are baked this way, they develop a super tasty skin (which I enjoy even more than the flesh), and they’re the healthiest part of the potato too. They end up being a cross between a baked potato and twice baked potato without all the scraping and re-stuffing involved. Super simple. Super quick. And super satisfying.
Try it soon and let me know what you think! Before you go, do you have any tips for cooking vegetables quicker without losing flavor and health benefits? Do share!
What to serve these quick baked potatoes with:
Potatoes are a great side dish that goes well with so many different meals. They are golden brown and crunchy on the outside and have a soft and crumbly texture on the inside. Their simple flavor and texture makes them the perfect side dish with almost any meal.
One of my go-to recipes that go perfectly with roasted potatoes are these Chicken Breasts in Mushroom Sauce. The mushroom sauce adds so much creaminess and balances all the flavors of the potatoes and juicy chicken breasts.
I also like combining these quick baked potatoes with Glazed Salmon, Roasted Turkey, BBQ Chicken, and all other types of grilled meats.
You’ll also love to try:
Twice Baked Potatoes
Spicy Loaded Baked Potatoes
Lemon Garlic Roasted Potatoes
Easy Roasted Asparagus
Roasted Broccoli Recipe
Quick Baked Potatoes Recipe
Quick Baked Potatoes
A quicker and delicious way to bake a potato.
Ingredients
- 2-3 tablespoons olive oil
- several pinches kosher salt
- 4 baking potatoes,* washed
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400-degrees F, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Drizzle lined baking sheet with olive oil and sprinkle with salt.
- Cut potatoes in half length wise.
- Coat potatoes all sides with olive oil and salt, and place cut side down on lined baking sheet. Sprinkle potatoes with additional salt.
- Bake at 400-degrees F for 30-40 minutes until done. Check with fork for doneness.
Notes
* Sweet potatoes may be used.
I’m tickled that you’re here! Like you, I wear many hats, and live to tell about it. This space is a place for sharing food, home, garden, travel and lifestyle tidbits, with some fun always thrown in for good measure.
Thank you Google for bringing me here! I always have to look up how to bake a potato every time because I can nevefoulr remembiner temp and lengt foulh. Well This time I had already prepped the potatoes whole with oil and salt, pierced them, wrapped in foil and tossed them in the oven based off of a different recipe. Then I saw the cooking time of over an hour , so I started googling fast baked potato in oven and came across this. Took them right back out, unwrapped them, cut in half, oiled and salted the part that had not been done yet, laid then on one of the strips of foil that I had taken off of the potatoes. Put them back in the oven. Seasoned my steaks and tossed them on the same cookie sheet for 15 minutes since the steaks were still partially frozen. Then, I took everything out to the gas grill and finished cooking it all. I just grilled the steaks on the main part and had the potatoes on the foil on the top rack. Left them there until the steaks were done to our liking. Everything was perfect. Thanks for cutting my cooking time in at least half! Will try sweet potatoes next. We don’t normally eat them but I have a couple that were given to me yesterday.
Yay, Jennifer! I’m not sure what we would do if we ever had to go back to cooking baked potatoes the old way. 🙂
Oh my, these look delicious. Hopefully i’ll be able to bake some one of these days, kudos to you, Amy!????
We tried this recipe for the first time last night and I doubt I will ever bake potatoes any other way! My daughter ate the skin for the first time and my husband raved about how good they were! I have a stoneware pan that I used for baking instead of parchment paper. The cut part of the potato was a perfect, crispy golden brown and then skin was delicious. Thank you so much for this idea!!!
So happy to hear it, Jana! It sure is easy.
My dad use to cook spuds like this too but with the cut side facing upwards.
He’d cut a criss cross pattern ( lattice?)with a sharp knife then brush oil over the top then a light sprinkle of salt and then cook.
Once cooked the criss cross pattern would really show up as the cut flesh opened up slightly.
I came across your blog whilst looking “how to cook several potatoes for a group get together,” I’ll try it your way this Sunday for our church family get together. Thanks xx
Thank you!! I couldn’t remember how my mom made these! Nummy… I use butter under the bottom for extra flavour.
We make these all the time now. So much faster for doing twice baked potatoes too. Follow this recipe then once done, scoop out the insides into bowl and mix with sour cream, butter, salt and pepper, and bacon if wanted. I then put mine on a cooling rack, put cheese on top, and put them in the oven on the cooling rack until the cheese is melted . So yummy!!
We make this all the time. Thank you for sharing. No more microwaves potatoes for us! Everyone asks for the recipe. So simple. So good.
thank you shewearsmanyhats for giving me wonderful information
good one keep it up
Tonight I was panicked as I had to make baked potatoes for dinner for company and ran out of time. On the way home from the grocery store I searched “how to make baked potatoes fast” and I clicked on your site here. Followed your instructions exactly and what a wonderful thing!!😋😅 Delicious, fast, easy!! Came out perfectly! The guests didn’t even add butter or sour cream to them. Ate them as they were. They got a beautiful, toasty golden underside on the bottom which gave a great crispy texture on the outside. Delicious and perfect solution!! Thank you! I’ll be making them this way again and again from now on.
I’m so happy to hear that, Lori! One of the things I like about these is exactly what you said about not needing to add anything extra.
These are the absolute best baked potatoes! Thank you! Saves me time and always flavorful! 💗
I find 5 minutes in the microwave (use a fork to pierce the skins, and cover with a plate to stop splatter) means you only need 20-30 minutes in the oven afterwards.
I will never make baked potatoes any other way than this from now on! These were EXCELLENT!
Best baked potatoes, ever. My husband will only eat these now. Thanks!
Trying this right now.
The addition is a handful of carrots, baking amplifies their sweetness..
The only fear I have is that they can’t be fluffed by wrapping in a towel and whacking them?
The hand whack explodes the steam out, and fluffs up the interior?
I was so lucky to run into this! I was trying out the Southern Sweet Potato Cake (moist and delicious, but I tried powdered erythritol in the frosting, which had a cooling aftertaste, so I wouldn’t do that part again) and saw this quick method for baking potatoes. I had procrastinated cooking them and needed to get the cake done, so I tried it out- It is amazing! It’s my new method for doing sweet potatoes. I used to do the old covered-in-foil method, but the skins are soppy that way – I thought that’s just how it had to be. I had used another method without foil for a while before trying this one, but without cutting them in half, they take longer and the skins get tougher.
This way they are soft and caramelized, with delicious crispy, salty skins. They are delicious without all the nuts and brown sugar I used to find necessary.
My husband JACK found your recipe it is the only way to make baked potatoes awesome. this is a 5 star ***** thank you, POLLY GARY
Brilliant. Everyone loved.
My family loves this recipe! I have been baking potatoes this way for short time and it is perfect.