Best jacket potato fillings ideas

Choose the right potato

A floury potato variety will give you a soft, fluffy jacket potato interior. Floury potatoes also come in larger sizes, which is great for a one-person portion. You can buy packs of potatoes labelled ‘baking potatoes’, but if you are looking for specific varieties, Maris Piper, Desiree and King Edward are all very good. Also look out for newer varieties such as Vivaldi and Melody.

Sweet potatoes also bake really well and are a good vitamin-boosting option. But because they have a higher water content, you'll never get the crisp skin a normal spud will give you. Choose plump rounded potatoes around 250-300g each, then try our recipe below by clicking on the photo:

If you want crispy skin, don't use the microwave!

The real beauty of a baked potato is the crisp outer skin. Although you might be able to speed up the process of cooking by giving it a quick blast in the microwave before transferring it to the oven to finish (we understand that time is sometimes of the essence), this trick creates a lot of moisture which means the skin will never properly crisp up.

So plan ahead and do all of your perfect baked potato cooking in the oven. A decent sized spud will only take about an hour, so relax and watch a bit of telly, or whip up one of the delicious topping recipes below. Remember: if in doubt, bake your jacket potatoes in the oven.

Crispy skin tricks

To get that perfect crispy baked potato skin there are a few tricks you can use. Never, ever wrap your jacket potato in foil before baking. This will only encourage moisture and you want to gradually dry and crisp the skin as it cooks.

Give each potato a scrub then prick evenly with a fork all over. While the potatoes are still a bit damp sprinkle with sea salt so it sticks to the skin (go as light or heavy as you like depending on your salt tolerance). The oven temperature should be hot but not blistering. Heat it to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6 and position the oven shelf in the middle.

When the oven has come up to temperature carefully put the potatoes directly on the oven shelf so the heat can attack the spud from all sides. Leave the potatoes for an hour then check by giving them a squeeze. If they are not quite done give them another 10-15 minutes. The flesh should feel soft and the skin crisp.

Split open the spuds then serve with, butter, soured cream and chives... or try one of our easy recipes below:

Jacket potato filling ideas

Fish pie jackets

Make this comfort food mash up for an easy family meal. We've combined the crispy shell of a baked spud with an easy fish pie filling and buttery mash on top.

Baked sweet potatoes with succotash

Succotash is an American sweetcorn side dish. We've added our take on it to crispy sweet potato jackets for a herby twist on the midweek classic.

Rarebit baked potatoes

Everyone loves Welsh Rarebit, so why not use the same cheesy topping on a baked potato?

Tuna melt jackets

Tuna makes a great budget choice for a topping – this recipe adds cheddar and spring onion for extra flavour.

Salt-baked potatoes with prawns and jalapeño and coriander butter

Give your baked spuds a Tex-Mex twist with this spicy seafood butter.

Horseradish, smoked trout and mascarpone baked potatoes

A smarter way to serve a baked potato – this smoky fish and horseradish topping is quite luxurious.

Masala beans baked potato

Tuna crunch baked potato

This recipe uses tuna, spring onion, celery and sour cream to create a delicious baked jacket potato. Really easy to make and perfect for when you're short on time.

Smoked haddock and cheddar jackets

Load your baked potatoes with smoked haddock, spring onions and cheddar for a comforting, flavour packed family meal.