The PERFECT Baked Potato

I LOVE a baked potato. Its so basic but if its an option at a restaurant I will order it so I've learned all the tricks on how to make my own restaurant quality baked potato at home.

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Ingredients

• 6 large Russet Potatoes

• 3 Tablespoons

• 1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, freshly shredded

• 6 slices of thick cut bacon

• 1 bundle of green onions, chopped

• 6 Tablespoons of butter

• Sour cream

• Salt and Pepper to taste

Steps

1. Turn the oven to 400 degrees F.

2. Line a baking sheet with tin foil and place a cooling rack on top.

3. Place the bacon on the cooling rack and cook for 20 to 25 minutes in the oven (you want the bacon extra crispy and it makes it easier to crumble later).

4. While the bacon is cooking, wash and scrub the potatoes well.

5. Rub each potato down in olive oil really well. Put sea salt on the outside of each potato and poke with a fork on top 3 - 4 times.

6. Wrap each potato in tin foil and put in the oven at 400 degrees F for one hour.

7. While the potatoes cook shred the cheese and cut up your green onions. Put these aside for later.

8. After the bacon has cooked and cooled, crumble into small bits and set aside.

9. At the hour mark, check the tenderness of the potatoes by squeezing them with your ovenmit on. You want them to be soft enough to squeeze gently in but not mushy. If they are still firm after an hour (cooking time varies by the size of the potato), turn the oven up to 425 degrees and cook for another 10 - 20 minutes checking every so often.

10. When the potatoes are cooked to the desired softness pull them out of the oven and unwrap from foil when you are ready to serve.

11. Put a small slit in the top of the unwrapped potato then squeeze the potato into itself on the long side to make the potato pop open.

12. Put salt and pepper on FIRST.

13. Then the butter and let it melt.

14. Then put your cheese and any other desired toppings (green onions, sour cream, bacon bits). Top off with a little more salt and pepper.

15. Enjoy!

    
    

    Tips

    • Be sure to shred your cheese fresh, pre-shredded cheese does not melt as well and doesn't taste as good.

    • Be sure to use extra thick bacon and cook it extra crispy. I also prefer baking it in the oven vs pan fried

    • Putting salt and pepper on your potato before any other toppings is key. This adds more flavor to the potato itself that you can taste under all those delicious toppings.

Nutrition

This is based on My Fitness Pal for 6 servings and toppings of butter, cheese, bacon bits and green onions (I personally don't love sour cream on my potato so add 25 calories for a Tablespoon of Sour cream)

430 calories / potato

40.2g Carbs / 24.4g Fat / 14.6g Protein