Pull together an amazing baked potato bar that everyone will love. Your baked potatoes will be cooked perfectly and everyone can customize their potato with toppings. Over 50 topping options included below! Choose a few for your Baked Potato Bar!
Cheese: sharp cheddar cheese, Monterey Jack, goat cheese, blue cheese crumbles, cottage cheese, mozzarella, or pepper jack, for guests to sprinkle on their baked potatoes. You can also provide a nacho cheese sauce or queso!
Vegetables: Fresh, sautéed, or roasted vegetables. Some favorites include steamed or roasted broccoli, sauteed bell peppers, roasted asparagus, caramelized onions, mushrooms sauteed in butter with garlic, black olives, cole slaw, roasted corn, fresh diced tomatoes, avocado, and sauteed spinach.
Beans: Black beans, pinto beans, refried beans or chili
Additional toppings: jalapeños (pickled or fresh), ranch dressing, buffalo sauce, cilantro, fresh basil or even your favorite hummus.
Instructions
Cook The Russet Potatoes - choose one method
Before choosing a method make sure you clean/scrub your potatoes and poke them on all sides with a fork or knife to allow the steam to escape during cooking.
Oven: Preheat your oven to 400°F. Rub the potatoes with olive oil and sprinkle with salt for a crispy, flavorful skin. Place your prepared potatoes on a baking sheet and bake for about 1 hour, or until tender when pierced with a fork, or an instant read thermometer reads 208-211°F.Oven Baked Potatoes
Instant Pot: You can pop over and read all about Instant Pot Baked Potatoes here. Pour 1 cup water into the bottom of the Instant Pot. Place the metal trivet over the water. Layer your potatoes into the pot. Be careful not to go above the fill line marked in the lining of your inner pot. Set the pot to cook on pressure mode, high, for 15 minutes. Do a 15 minute natural release, then release any additional pressure with a quick release.
Roaster Oven: Heat roaster oven to 400°F. Stack your prepared Russet potatoes on top of each other, but don't let them touch the sides of the roaster oven. Place cover on roaster oven and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until tender when pierced with a fork, or an instant read thermometer reads 208-211°F..
Air Fryer: Coat with olive oil and sprinkle with kosher salt. Cook in a 400 degree basket style air fryer for 30 minutes. Turn them over and cook for an additional 10 minutes.
Keep the potatoes warm in the oven, in a roaster oven, or the Instant Pot on "warm mode".
Put out all your chosen toppings in dishes, ramekins, or small bowls. If you like, you can make "tents" with cardstock and label all your toppings. Make sure the toppings have spoons/ladles/forks as needed.
Let everyone make their loaded baked potatoes and enjoy!
Notes
Potatoes: Plan on at lease one potato per person, but bake a few extra just incase someone opens their potato to find those "brown" spots on the inside.Soup or Stew is a great accompaniment to a Baked Potato Bar. Just be sure to choose one that doesn't have a lot of potatoes in the recipe!