Jacket potatoes are a warming and filling meal to have when you don’t know what to have for dinner and they are cheap and easy to make but one major downside is the time it takes to cook them
When indecision strikes at dinner time, a humble jacket potato often comes to the rescue – they’re affordable, effortless to prepare, and require only a brief stint in the oven. However, the lengthy cooking time, often stretching up to an hour, can be a significant drawback.
Kathryn Doherty, a cookbook author and founder of Family Food on the Table, has revealed a game-changing hack to achieve “perfectly fluffy and tender” baked potatoes in mere minutes using a microwave. She exclaimed: “These potatoes are perfectly fluffy and tender and steamy and so delicious! And they are ready in about 10 minutes.”
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This swift solution is ideal for those short on time, eliminating the need to preheat the oven and wait for what feels like an eternity.
How to make a jacket potato in 10 minutes
1. Place the potatoes directly on the microwave plate. For two medium-sized potatoes, set the microwave timer to 10 minutes at 100 per cent power.
2. Once the time is up, carefully remove the potatoes using a tea towel or oven mitt and gently squeeze them to check if they’re cooked through.
3. Kathryn advises, “If it gives without resistance and starts to open up, it’s ready. If it still seems a bit firm, microwave for another minute at a time until tender.”
4. If your potatoes vary in size, remove the tender ones from the microwave and continue cooking only those that require additional time.
Cassie shared her top tips for making the ideal microwave ‘baked’ potatoes, shaving precious time off dinner preparation, reports the Express.
Microwave times for potatoes vary depending on their number and size, with two mid-sized spuds taking around 10 minutes and a quartet needing about 15 to 16 minutes; solo diners can zap a single potato for just five to six minutes.
For those heftier, restaurant-style potatoes, Cassie advised, “If your potatoes are especially large or fat – like the kind you’d get in a restaurant – you’ll likely need an extra couple minutes of microwave time. Just put them back in the microwave and add more time until they get cooked through.”
The benefit of using a microwave is the speed – forget waiting an hour for a fluffy jacket potato; you’ll be tucking into your delicious meal almost instantly.
Eager to get us all trying this rapid method, Cassie encourages, “I hope you give these a try – they make dinner so easy and you end up with perfect, fast microwave ‘baked’ potatoes every time.”