Microwave Baked Potato

There's a reason why baked potatoes are a classic: Relatively effortless, they provide the ideal side dish for anything from grilled steak to barbecued ribs. But baked potatoes also take forever to make—up to an hour in the oven, depending on the size of the spud. And while it’s all well and good to add a potato to the oven if it’s already on when making, for example, oven-fried chicken thighs or a pork tenderloin, it’s kind of a pain to have to heat the whole oven up when you’re just looking for something to serve alongside garlic-butter shrimp.

So don’t! Instead, turn to that woefully underused kitchen tool, the microwave. 

Microwaves make baked potatoes an achievable weeknight side thanks to their ability to cut cooking time down six times or more. Here, learn how long to cook a potato in the microwave, plus how to get the crisp skin of an oven-baked potato even if you microwave it.

How To Make a Baked Potato in the Microwave

Not only is cooking a potato in the microwave fast, it's easy. Here's how to do it:

• Step 1. Prep the potato: To make a baked potato in the microwave, start with a good baking variety, like a russet potato, and prick it with a fork all over to create holes through which the steam can escape. This will keep the potato from bursting. (No one wants that.)
• Step 2. Lightly oil the potato: To keep the skin of the potato hydrated, lightly brush it with oil like canola oil or olive oil. You can also sprinkle kosher salt on the skin after oiling it, but that's optional.
• Step 3. Microwave the potato: Place the potato on a microwave-safe plate or bowl, and cook it for about four minutes. Turn the potato with tongs (careful, it’ll be hot!), and microwave for three minutes more.
• Step 4. Check tenderness: Prod the potato with a fork. If it's tender and the tines slip in easily, it’s done. If not, return the potato to the microwave, and keep cooking at one-minute increments until you get that fluffy, yielding texture you seek.
• Step 5. Rest: Allow the potato to rest in the microwave for a minute before carefully removing it with tongs. Run a knife through the center of the potato. Holding a kitchen towel, place fingers on either side of the potato (the kitchen towel will protect your fingers), and gently push in to open the potato and expose the fluffy interior.

The Best Potatoes for Baked Potatoes

We vote for russet potatoes as the best potatoes for baked potatoes. Their fluffy, starchy interiors are the iconic potato texture, and their skin, which is thicker than most other potatoes, cooks up nicely, even in the microwave. (Coat the potato in oil to keep the skin hydrated while cooking.)

But you could use this technique with any type of low-moisture, high-starch potato. such as Idaho potatoes.

How Long To Microwave a Baked Potato

Factors like your microwave's strength and the size of the potato will alter the total time it takes to cook a potato in the microwave, but here's a handy guide to get you started:

How To Make Multiple Baked Potatoes in the Microwave

If you’re microwaving multiple potatoes, just add a minute per side for each additional potato (i.e., start at five minutes on the first side for two potatoes and six on the first side for three). Try to keep them from touching on the plate; this will allow them to cook more evenly.

Craving Crispy Skin? Start Potatoes in the Microwave and Finish in the Oven

It might seem too good to be true that you could get a perfectly baked potato in the microwave, and in reality, it kind of is. While the microwave will make the potato just as nice and tender inside as the oven, the spud won’t have that crispy skin you’re used to.

If that’s a deal breaker, however, there is a quick fix! Simply brush the skin in olive oil when the potato emerges, and throw it into a very hot oven (or toaster oven!) just until the skin crisps up, about 5 minutes.

Toppings for a Microwaved Baked Potato

Once you’ve microwaved your baked potato, you can use it much as you would a traditional baked potato. Top with the classic Cheddar cheese, bacon bits, and sour cream combo, or veer a bit more nutrient-dense with healthy baked potato fillings like spinach and feta or roasted vegetables, raisins, walnuts, and vinaigrette.

You can also turn baked potatoes into a meal by loading them up with BBQ pork or transform them into a fancy appetizer with this deviled potato recipe. And leftovers—if you have them—are a dream in twice-baked potatoes stuffed with bacon and Cheddar and topped with green onions.