Microwave Baked Potato

Name: Microwave Baked Potato
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 20 min
Yield: 1 serving
Ingredients: 1 medium russet potato, scrubbed clean; Butter, sour cream, bacon bits and chives or other toppings of your choice

By Genevieve Ko

Published Oct. 16, 2024

Microwave Baked Potato — Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.

Total Time: 20 minutes
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Rating: 5(363)
Comments: Read comments

The key to making a perfect baked potato in the microwave is cooking it at half power. Because microwaves generate heat that penetrates foods from the outside in, they can overcook the exterior and undercook the interior of big, dense ingredients like potatoes. At 50-percent power, the machine cooks the spuds evenly all the way through. Even at that lower wattage, the potato will cook far more quickly than it would in an oven and is a great method for preparing just one serving.

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Ingredients

Yield:1 serving

1medium russet potato, scrubbed clean
Butter, sour cream, bacon bits and chives or other toppings of your choice

Ingredient Substitution Guide

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Preparation

Step 1
Poke holes all over the potato with a fork or small paring knife to prevent it from exploding.
Step 2
Microwave on a plate at 50-percent power for 6 minutes. Flip the potato over with tongs and microwave at 50-percent power for another 5 minutes. A paring knife should slide through easily. At this point, the potato will be cooked through and tender with the moistness of a steamed or boiled potato. If you’d prefer a dry, fluffy inside, microwave for another minute or two longer, until the skin looks dry and wrinkled.
Step 3
Cool for a few minutes, then cut open and fill with toppings.

Ratings

5 out of 5

363 user ratings

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Comments

J8 months ago

After microwaving, I put mine in the toaster oven at a relatively high temperature (400-450 °F) for around 5 minutes or even less. It ends up tasting like it was actually baked instead of microwaved.

Jean L8 months ago

My understanding is that we don't control the power on the microwave. lower power just means that it cycles on and off, slowing the cooking. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Bgk8 months ago

As simple as this seems - using the microwave to speed up a baking a potato or cook one when it is definitely not the star of the meal - I am grateful for this. During a brief illness, I have had to coach 3 experienced cooks through cooking a potato. Or, tried. Reactions ranged from outright fear to how to wash a potato, how many times to prick a potato with a fork…. There seems to be a real loss of basic skills in food prep. So, I am grateful for a “recipe” I can print. Food that comes without instructions seems to flummox more people than I could have imagined.

Polly Dickinson4 months ago

After many years of cooking potatoes in a microwave, I have reverted back to the oven. Just better. IMO

Emily4 months ago

While a proper oven-baked potato is great, there is nothing like being able to eat a potato topped with whatever you like in under 10 minutes. I’ve been surviving ok on microwaved potatoes for decades without piercing them and none have exploded! Love the idea of trying them at half-power.

Philly4 months ago

Best baked potatoe ever. I never had the patience to wait over an hour for a baked potatoe what with the oven preheating and baking time. This is a great weeknight game changer.

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