How to Make Baked Potatoes in a Microwave
Learn how to make baked potatoes in a microwave with just a few easy steps! Microwave baked potatoes are the perfect weeknight meal when you’re craving potatoes but strapped for time! Quick, fluffy, and so tasty; you’ll completely bypass your oven. Just microwave your potato with the skin on, add your favorite toppings, and dig in!
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When you’re craving baked potato, the last thing you want to do is wait for the oven to heat up. Our baked potato in microwave is moist, fluffy and tender on the inside! Whether you’re looking for a side dish to your favorite beef dish, or for a quick weeknight meal, learn how to make baked potatoes in a microwave with simple steps and in just 7 minutes!
Why We Love Baking Potatoes in the Microwave
- Quick and easy– This microwave baked potato recipe comes together in just 7 minutes with minimal effort!
- No cookware– You won’t have any pots or pans to clean when you learn how to make baked potatoes in a microwave. All you need is the good-old microwave!
- Customizable– When it comes to topping your baked potato, the possibilities are infinite. Sour cream, butter, bacon, cheese – the list goes on and on!
- Fun! Loading up your baked potato is a family activity that kids will love. We even suggest the idea of creating a “baked potato bar” to allow kids to select their preferred toppings.
🛒 Ingredients
Potatoes– We prefer medium-sized russet or Idaho potatoes for their thicker skin and tender inside, but any potato of choice will work! Be sure scrub, dry and leave the skin ON.
Toppings (optional)– Our favorites include butter, salt, pepper, sour cream, chopped green onions, shredded cheddar and bacon bits. Choose your favorites!
👨🏼🍳 Instructions
Step 1: Clean the potato by rinsing and scrubbing away any dirt or debris.
Step 2: Pat potato dry and stab it with a fork 4 for more times on each side of the potato. This enables steam to vent while the potato is cooking, ensuring it doesn’t burst in your microwave.
Step 3: Place directly into the microwave. We recommend placing your potato on a microwave safe plate or a paper towel to catch the excess moisture. Cook for 3 1/2 minutes, flip the potato over to its other side, and cook for another 3 1/2 minutes. I recommend using tongs for this task as the potato will be hot!
Step 4: Carefully remove the potato from the microwave. Check to see if the potato is done cooking by piercing it with a knife. The potato should feel tender. Cook at 1 minute intervals until tender. When fully cooked, let your microwave baked potato rest for a few minutes before cutting it open and adding your toppings!
Note: This baked potato in microwave recipe calls for medium-size potatoes. For larger potatoes, we typically add 1-2 minutes of cooking time on each side of the potato.
🧂 Set Up A Potato Bar!
Once you’ve learned how to make baked potatoes in a microwave, the rest is really your creation. We like to set up a potato bar for our kids, letting them pick what they want and how much. Our microwave baked potato bar typically includes:
- butter
- sour cream
- salt & pepper
- chopped green onions
- shredded cheddar cheese, and
- bacon bits
The kids really loved the whole baked potato bar experience. They loved being able to ‘make’ their own potato. They could pick the toppings they wanted and the amount. Sometimes, kids need a little more agency at dinner time, and it really goes a long way. The only things to watch out for is kids wanting to keep adding stuff, especially more salt, butter, cheese, and sour cream. To ease your conscience, serve some veggies on the side, like carrot sticks, sliced cucumbers or celery sticks.
✔️ Expert Tips and Tricks
- If cooking more than one baked potato in a microwave, make sure potatoes are not touching. You may need to add an additional 1-2 minute of cooking for each additional potato in the microwave.
- Our tutorial on how to make baked potatoes in a microwave calls for medium potatoes. If working with larger or smaller potatoes, you will need to adjust the cooking time accordingly. Specifically, we recommend adding 1-2 minutes of cooking time on each side for larger potatoes and removing 1-2 minutes of cooking time for smaller potatoes.
- To prevent your potato from drying out, be sure to flip it over halfway through cooking. If your microwave lacks a rotating plate, you can give the potato a few turns during the cooking process.
- Keep in mind that since microwaves can vary, the cooking time may differ depending on the specific potato.
- The potato will be extremely hot when it’s done cooking. Handle carefully. Oven mitts or tongs are useful here.
🔪 How to Cut your Potato
For a restaurant-style potato cut, slice the baked potato lengthwise at the top, cutting down about halfway. Then, gently press the sides of the potato inwards until the slit naturally separates. Note: To get the insides of your potato to fluff up even more, create small horizontal incisions on each side of the larger cut before pressing the sides.
🍽️ What to Serve with Microwave Baked Potatoes
We prefer to serve microwave baked potatoes as a side with our favorite chicken, beef or pork dishes. Here are a few of my preferred recipes to pair this with:
- Panko Parmesan Pork Chops
- Baked Italian Sausage
- Old Fashioned Sloppy Joes
- Honey Garlic Chicken Thighs
🧊 Storing and Reheating
Storing- Once completely cooled, baked potatoes can be stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container for 3-5 days. We recommend storing potatoes without toppings so that they don’t become soggy.
Reheating-To reheat baked potatoes in microwave, cut potatoes in half and cook in the microwave for 3-5 minutes. To prevent them from drying out, consider covering potatoes with a damp paper towel in the microwave.
❓ FAQ
Yes, baked potatoes can be wrapped tightly with foil, placed in a freezer bag and stored in the freezer for up to three months.
Before microwaving, make sure to puncture the potatoes with a fork four or more times on each side. This allows steam to escape while the potato cooks, preventing any potential bursting in your microwave.
If preparing more than one potato in the microwave, you may need to add an additional 1-2 minute of cooking for each additional potato in the microwave. So if cooking 2 potatoes, plan to cook for 8-9 minutes.
Yes these microwave baked potatoes are vegetarian, unless you decide to top them with bacon bits. You might consider buying McCormick’s Bac’n Pieces, which are actually vegan.
Craft For This Recipe
Potato People!
In search of a creative activity to engage kids while you’re in the kitchen? Hold on to those extra potatoes and transform them into adorable potato people! All you need is a potato, toothpicks and some veggie scraps to make these sweet potato characters.
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🥔 How to Make Baked Potatoes in a Microwave
Equipment
- microwave
Ingredients
- 1 Russet or Idaho potato (scrubbed and dried)
- butter ((optional))
- sour cream ((optional))
- salt ((optional))
- black pepper ((optional))
- shredded cheddar cheese ((optional))
- green onions, chopped ((optional))
- bacon bits ((optional))
Instructions
- Clean the potato by rinsing and scrubbing away any dirt or debris.
- Pat potato dry and stab it with a fork about 4 times on each side.
- Place potato in the microwave and cook for 3 ½ minutes. Then, flip the potato over to its other side and cook for another 3 ½ minutes. Note: We recommend placing the potato on a microwave safe plate or a paper towel to catch excess moisture.
- Check to see if the potato is done cooking by piercing it with a knife. The potato should feel tender. Cook at 1 minute intervals until tender. Carefully remove the potato from the microwave and let it rest for a few minutes before cutting it open.
Video
Notes
- Note that the nutrition calculation for this recipe is for the potato only. Toppings vary and will change the nutritional content of your food.
- If cooking more than one potato in the microwave, make sure potatoes are not touching. You may need to add an additional 1-2 minute of cooking for each additional potato in the microwave.
- The potato will be extremely hot when it’s done cooking. Handle carefully. Oven mitts or tongs are useful here.
- Keep in mind that since microwaves can vary, the cooking time may differ depending on the specific potato.
- To prevent your potato from drying out, be sure to flip it over halfway through cooking. If your microwave lacks a rotating plate, you can give the potato a few turns during the cooking process.
- Our tutorial on how to make baked potatoes in a microwave calls for medium potatoes. If working with larger or smaller potatoes, you will need to adjust the cooking time accordingly. Specifically, we recommend adding 1-2 minutes of cooking time on each side for larger potatoes and removing 1-2 minutes of cooking time for smaller potatoes.
Nutrition
The nutrition facts provided are calculated using a third-party tool and are estimates only. Actual nutritional content may vary based on the ingredients and brands you use, as well as portion sizes. For accurate results, please consult a registered dietitian or nutritionist.
