The perfect baked potato has golden, crackly skin and a light, fluffy inside, but waiting an hour for the oven to do its thing isn’t always practical. If you want steakhouse-level results without heating up your kitchen or spending all night cooking, the air fryer is your secret weapon.
With just a little prep and the right cooking time, you can get potatoes that are crispy on the outside, soft on the inside and ready in a fraction of the usual time. It’s an easy weeknight win and good for backyard cookouts, holiday dinners or whenever you need a quick, crowd-pleasing side.
With a microwave to speedily cook the inside and a powerful air fryer to crisp the skin, you’ll wonder why anyone makes baked potatoes the old-fashioned way.
My 12-Minute Baked Potato Recipe
A microwave and an air fryer will give you the best baked potato of your life.
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 eight 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 two minutes.
- Step 5: Flip and cook for another two minutes until desired crispiness is achieved. (If topping with cheese, veggies or bacon, cook skin side down only.)
Feel free to stuff or top the potato to your heart’s content.
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.
