How to jazz up your jackets! No more boring baked potatoes…

Great ideas for making humble baked jacket potatoes into the delicious centrepiece of your meal. Get those spuds in the oven! YUM!

My daughter Kipper has various after-school activities, so on those days we don’t get home till 6 o’clock or later. This means that dinner has to be ready and waiting for us when we come in.

I spent ages, and worked hard creating bakes and casseroles and risottos and things that could cook in the oven while we were out. Then Kipper asked for jacket potatoes for a post-activity-dinner. Much easier! Potatoes in, oven set, Bob’s your uncle.

Jacket potato love

it turns out that Kipper and DH really really like jacket potatoes, and for all those months of hard work and creativity, I could just have been doing baked spuds every week. Which is what we have now, of course!

How to bake a potato

Making jacket potatoes, or baked potatoes as they’re also known, is super simple. All you really need is a hot oven, and a potato!

However, there is a tool that helps take your jacket potatoes from good, to great!

A baked potato spike or potato stand holds the potatoes upright so that the skin can get evenly crispy. The metal spike also conducts heat into the inside of the potato for faster and more even cooking.

I really recommend having one of these! I never make baked potatoes without it.

Health benefits of baked jacket potatoes

For all their simplicity, potatoes baked in their jackets are actually pretty good for you. They contain a sensible amount of complex carbohydrate, which provides fuel for your body. Retaining the skins ensures that you get all the dietary fibre that your potato naturally contains.

Baked potatoes are also low in fat and contain decent amounts of vitamin C and certain B vitamins.

To turn them into a filling and nutritious meal, you simply need to choose your fillings and accompaniments carefully, to get a good balance of vegetables, proteins and healthy fats to go with your baked potato.

Jacket potatoes – filling ideas

I usually stick to pretty standard fillings for our jackets. Here’s a list of some that we really like, either alone or in combination:

• Butter
• Tuna mayonnaise – with or without sweetcorn
• Grated cheese
• Baked beans
• Humous
• Egg mayonnaise or egg and onion
• Smoked salmon
• Avocado
• Cream cheese
• Garlic mushrooms
• Coleslaw
• Grilled aubergines
• Olive tapenade

Whatever comes on top, both Kipper and DH are absolutely delighted with their jacket potatoes every week. Simple pleasures…

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📖 Recipe

Simple jacket (baked) potatoes

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How to make perfect baked potatoes in their jackets.

5 from 1 vote

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Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr 20 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 25 minutes mins

Course Main Course, Side Dish

Cuisine Vegan

Servings 4

Calories 284 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 4 large floury potatoes e.g. maris piper

Instructions

 

• Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F).
• If you have a metal potato baking spike, impale the potatoes on it. Otherwise stab each one several times with a fork.
• Place the potatoes (on the spike or not) onto a baking sheet. Place in the oven and bake for at least an hour and up to an hour and a half, until the skins are crispy and the potatoes are soft throughout.
• Remove from the oven and serve straightaway!

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts

Simple jacket (baked) potatoes

Amount per Serving

Calories

284

% Daily Value*

Fat

 

1

g

2

%

Saturated Fat

 

1

g

6

%

Sodium

 

22

mg

1

%

Potassium

 

1553

mg

44

%

Carbohydrates

 

64

g

21

%

Fiber

 

8

g

33

%

Sugar

 

3

g

3

%

Protein

 

7

g

14

%

Vitamin A

 

7

IU

0

%

Vitamin C

 

73

mg

88

%

Calcium

 

44

mg

4

%

Iron

 

3

mg

17

%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Keyword potato

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

(If you can’t be bothered to bake your own, McCain frozen jacket potatoes have an SKA hechsher.) 

Baked potato inspiration

Below are some slightly fancier ideas from food bloggers to jazz up your jacket spuds, and if that’s not enough, check out my Jacket Potatoes! board on Pinterest. It’s where I’ll be putting all the baked potato inspiration I can find.

2. These Veggie Shepherds’ Pie Jacket Potatoes from The Veg Space look brilliant! Hollow out your potato, fill it with a tasty veggie mixture, and pipe the mashed potato flesh back onto the top. Genius! 

Vegan Jacket Potato Shepherds Pies

These Vegan Jacket Potato Shepherds’ Pies are a vegan twist on the British classic, with a red wine, puy lentil & mushroom gravy filling.

Check out this recipe

3. Spring jacket potatoes with avocado, peppers and mustard cress, from Coffee and Vanilla, sound delicious. Tangy, cheesy, herby and full of avocado. What’s not to love?!

Spring Jacket Potatoes with Avocado, Pepper and Mustard Cress

Check out this recipe

4. My spinach souffle potatoes are always a hit. A light, fluffy, spinachy filling piled into a jacket potato skin and baked to golden, risen loveliness. 

Spinach souffle potatoes

A tasty spinach filling rises appetisingly inside these delicious soufflé potatoes. A meal in itself or an indulgent side dish.

Check out this recipe

5. And don’t forget about sweet potatoes! This recipe for baked eggs in sweet potatoes is a fabulous way to turn a something simple into something really special.

Baked eggs in sweet potatoes

Soft, buttery sweet potatoes enclose creamy-soft baked eggs. A tasty & nutritious light lunch or supper.

Check out this recipe

More ideas for jacket potatoes

If you want more jacket potato inspiration, be sure to follow my Jacket Potatoes! board on Pinterest. I’ll keep adding new pins to it whenever I find them.