Jacket potato night
Not a recipe so much as a system — crispy-skinned potatoes and a toppings bar, and everyone builds their own. The cheapest good dinner we know.
The trick is a hot oven, oil and salt on the skin, and patience — no foil, no microwave shortcuts. Everything else is just what's in the fridge.
Ingredients
- 4 large baking potatoes (Maris Piper or King Edward)
- Olive oil · flaky salt
- Grated cheddar
- Baked beans or leftover chilli
- Tuna mayo or coleslaw
- Butter · spring onions · soured cream
Method
- Oven to 200°C fan. Scrub the potatoes, prick all over, rub with oil and salt. Straight onto the oven rack or a rack over a tray — air needs to circulate.
- Bake 1 hour 15 minutes until the skins are crisp and a knife slides through with no resistance.
- Split, fluff the middles with a fork, add butter first (always first), then let everyone loose on the toppings.
Kit for this recipe
A crisper tray — £9.59 at Lakelandcrispy skin all round, no soggy bottoms
Small bowls for toppings — set of 3 ramekins, £12.79the 'bar' is what makes it feel like an occasion
A proper potato masher — Dreamfarm Smood, £17.99for the middles if you're going twice-baked
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