How Long to Cook a Jacket Potato in Microwave? (Helpful Tips)

Do you know how long you should cook a Jacket potato in the microwave? Well, you are at the perfect place to find the answer to such a question.

There are a lot of ways to cook a jacket potato, but the most common query is how long a jacket potato should be cooked in the microwave?

A jacket potato, also known as a baked potato can be the perfect snack for your cravings, granted it’s baked properly to perfection.

On average, a potato should be cooked for a total of 8-10 minutes in the microwave for it to be fully cooked. However, this time frame may vary depending on how big or small your potato is and thus how long it will actually take to be baked fully till the middle.

Keep on reading to find out all the information you need to know about cooking a jacket potato in microwaves, along with what ingredients you should use, nutrition facts, tips, and tricks to baking your potato perfectly.

Table of Contents

How long should you cook a jacket potato in a microwave?

To cook a jacket potato, pierce it multiple times using a fork/knife to create air pockets. Microwave for 8-10 minutes and stop after 4 minutes to turn the potato over 180 degrees. After 8 minutes, check if the middle of the potato is fully cooked by piercing it with a knife; if it’s soft, your potato is baked.

Small potatoes may take only 8 minutes or lesser while bigger potatoes take up more time in the microwave. For extra-large potatoes, cook for 15-18 minutes in the microwave.

While the potato is being cooked, it should be checked from time to time, after every 3 minutes to see if and when it needs to be turned over so that it can cook from the other, unexposed side as well.

Normally, you should turn over the potato exactly halfway between the total time and leave the other side to bake properly.

Monitoring the potato when it’s close to the end of baking time will make sure your jacket potato does not harden up because of overcooking.

To prevent this, use a knife to check the middle of the potato, if it’s soft, this means the potato is fully cooked and should be taken out of the microwave immediately.

What ingredients and tools are needed to cook a jacket potato?

There are a few ingredients and tools you should prepare before cooking your potato in the microwave:

Ingredients

1 baking potato
Sea salt (or any other kind of salt)
Black pepper (freshly ground or otherwise)
Butter (for topping)
Olive oil (1 tsp)
Filling options (grated cheese, meat, herbs, sauces, condiments, vegetables)

Tools

Kitchen rolls/paper
Microwave-safe crockery (plates)
Knives and forks
Heat protectant gloves
Tongs
Cooking brush
Serving dishes

A step-by-step recipe to cook a jacket potato in the microwave

Step 1: Pick your potato

If you don’t already have some potatoes at your home, go and purchase some from the market. Make sure to buy the size of potatoes according to the baking time that is convenient for you, for example, if you want your potatoes to cook quicker, choose small sized potatoes, and if you have a sufficient amount of time, choose medium to large sized potatoes.

Medium sized potatoes work the best for cooking in microwaves, weighed at around 250g-350g. However, we’d suggest you don’t focus too much on the weight, but rather, go with whichever sized potatoes suit your needs.

According to a home-based chef Liana’s personal blog, you should ideally use loose jacket potatoes for cooking in your microwave.

If those aren’t available, there are alternative types of potatoes you can use, like Maris Piper, Vivaldi, and King Edward.

Step 2: Prepare the potato

After picking your chosen potatoes, the next step would be to clean and prep them to be put in the microwave.

For this, first, take the potato (or potatoes) and place them under cold water, wash and scrub them properly by hand to get all the mud off the skin.

It may be good to wash them at least 2-3 times to make sure they’re as clean as possible.

Cleaning the skin is important if you’re going to bake your potato with the skin on, as that would prevent any possible intake of bacteria.

After washing, you can either leave them to dry on their own or dry them yourself if you want to be quick. For this, use kitchen paper to pat them dry.

After drying, take a fork, or a knife, and pierce the potato from all sides, digging an inch deep with every pierce.

Piercing the potato will help allow the steam buildup inside to escape and not cause the potato to pop like a piñata in your microwave, saving you from the hassle of cleaning.

A fun fact is that poking several holes into your potato will also help it bake faster, as it creates air pockets and gives the potato a fluffier and softer texture while being baked.

If you prefer a crunchy and crispier skin for your baked jacket potatoes, the trick is to take some olive oil and massage it into the skin of the potato, otherwise skip the olive oil.

Step 3: Put the potato in your microwave

Now lay a piece of kitchen roll on the microwave-safe plate, and put your potato on it, you can also put another sheet on top to cover the potato.

According to BBC’s Food Recipes, you should place the potato in the microwave and cook it on full power for about 4-5 minutes, after which, turn the potato over 180 degrees using tongs and check how much it has been cooked.

Before turning over the potato, take the plate out of the over using oven mitts and change the damp kitchen roll sheet (to preserve the potato’s crispiness).

You can also dry both sides of the potato and oil it again before putting it back into the microwave to bake at full heat for another 4-5 minutes.

Step 4: Monitor and check the situation

After the set time has passed, stop the microwave clock and take out the potato to check if it has been cooked all the way through.

A trick on how to do that is to use a knife to poke the potato till the knife reaches the middle, if the middle is soft, your potato is cooked perfectly, but if it’s not, it needs to be microwaved for 2-3 minutes more.

Keep on cooking it until the skin is perfectly wrinkled and the medium is soft enough, then take it out to avoid overcooking (hardening) and leave it to cool for a bit.

Step 5: Top and serve

After the potato has been cooled down, you can cut and top it off with salt, pepper, butter, herbs, or any condiments that complement its taste and serve it to the guests (or yourself) in a serving dish.

If you’re using toppings which need to be warmed up a little for example butter and cheese, top your potato and pop it in the microwave for 3 seconds more to melt the toppings.

How to top and serve the jacket potato?

Bakes potatoes can be made better with toppings; we all know that. The traditional types of toppings you can use are salt, pepper, butter, and cheese.

However, there are many other types of condiments and herbs that you can use to take your baked potatoes to the next level, especially if you’re serving them to guests you want to impress.

Since baked potatoes are a low-fat, low-cholesterol source of good carbohydrates along with proteins, you can use heavier condiments to top it off and it still would be a very light snack for you or your guests to munch on. Just make sure to cut your baked potato properly before putting the toppings on it.

You can use cheese spreads, sour cream, heavy butter, baked beans (for a breakfast option), herbs (cilantro, parsley, rosemary, oregano), corn, and any type of cooked meat (bacon, beef), or pesto.

For an easier topping, use cut up veggies and fruits (avocado, tomatoes, onions) to spoon on the baked potato for a better flavor.

You can also create your own toppings by mixing in a bunch of ingredients you think will go well with the jacket potato.

As an alternative, these potatoes can also be served as a side dish (mashed up or as is) with steak, soup, meat stew, or any other heavier dish.

JACKET POTATO Microwave | Oven baked potatoes | How to make recipe >> Check out the video below:

Conclusion

Jacket potatoes are a great alternative to many snacks and side dishes as they’re not only easy to make, but are also healthy, full of proteins, and not to mention, downright delicious.

In this article, we gave you a step by step break down of how long it takes to cook a jacket potato in your microwave and how to serve them up with delicious toppings which will have your guests talking about it for days on end.

We hope this recipe helped awaken your inner chef, and that you’ll be using this recipe very soon to make your own version of baked potatoes, good luck!

References

https://www.delish.com/uk/food-news/a29733783/how-to-bake-potato-in-microwave/

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/how-cook-jacket-potatoes-microwave