Making a baked potato doesn’t need to be an hour-long affair. And yet here we are, with generations of home cooks dutifully sliding a naked russet into a 400-degree oven and then just… waiting. Doing nothing. Wondering if there’s a better way.
There is. And it involves a little teamwork from two appliances.
The microwave is fast but soulless — it’ll cook your potato in minutes and leave you with skin the texture of a wet paper towel. The air fryer is glamorous but slower to penetrate a potato’s dense interior. Neither one alone gets you there. But together? Together, they’re unstoppable.
Here’s the move: microwave the potato for a few minutes until the inside is tender and fluffy, then throw it in the air fryer on high heat to blister the skin into something salty, shatteringly crispy, and completely unreasonable. That’s it. That’s the whole secret.
Twelve minutes. Steakhouse results. Zero waiting around, wondering if you should have just ordered pizza instead. Your oven had a good run. It just doesn’t need to be involved in this particular side dish situation.
Here’s my 12-minute baked potato recipe
What you need
- One russet potato
- 1 teaspoon olive oil or butter
- A microwave
- An air fryer
- Kosher salt for serving
Directions
- Step 1: Poke 10 to 12 air holes in the potato using a fork, and salt liberally.
- Step 2: Microwave the potato on high for 8 to 10 minutes or until it’s fork-tender and cooked through.
- Step 3: Slice the potato halfway through and toss with melted butter or olive oil. You can also stuff the potato with cheese or bacon bits.
- Step 4: Air fry on high, skin side up, for 2 minutes.
- Step 5: Flip and cook for another 2 minutes until your desired crispiness is achieved. (If topping with cheese, veggies or bacon, cook skin side down only.)
For more tips, see my list of the seven foods I’ll only air fry from now on, and learn the best way to reheat every kind of leftovers.
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