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In Britain a baked potato is called a jacket potato, and it is not a side dish. It is lunch. You will find it in every cafe, in school and office canteens and sold from vans in town squares, split open, buttered and piled with a filling, and the favorite filling of all is hot baked beans with a mountain of grated cheddar on top. The first time my English friend Margaret set one in front of me I laughed at the idea of beans on a potato. Then I ate it, skin and all, and I have not wrapped a potato in foil since.
Because that is the real difference. The potato most of us grew up with is soft and pale because it steams inside its foil. A jacket potato is baked bare, rubbed with oil and salt, for well over an hour, until the skin is as crisp as a shell and the inside is dry and fluffy enough to drink up the butter. Here is exactly how to get the skin crisp and the inside fluffy, which potato to buy, and a quick pot of British-style beans in tomato sauce to pour over the top.
Why this jacket potato works
- A floury potato. Large russet baking potatoes have the dry, starchy flesh that turns fluffy; waxy potatoes stay dense and wet.
- No foil. Foil traps the steam and gives a soft, damp skin. Bare on the rack, the skin dries out and crisps.
- Oil and salt on dry skin. A thin coat of oil and coarse salt helps the skin crackle and seasons every bite.
- A long, hot bake. An hour and a quarter to an hour and a half gives the inside time to cook dry and light all the way to the middle.
- Opened at once. Cutting the potato the moment it comes out lets the steam escape so the flesh stays fluffy instead of turning gluey.
Ingredients
Makes 4 large jacket potatoes, one per person as a full lunch or supper. The measurements are in US cups with grams in brackets.
For the jacket potatoes
- 4 large russet baking potatoes, 10 to 12 ounces each (280 to 340g each)
- 1 tablespoon vegetable or olive oil
- 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt or flaky sea salt
- 4 tablespoons salted butter (56g)
For the beans in tomato sauce
- 2 cans (15 ounces each) navy beans or small white beans, drained and rinsed (about 3 cups, 500g drained)
- 1 cup plain tomato sauce or tomato passata (240ml)
- 1/2 cup water (120ml)
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt, plus black pepper to taste
To finish
- 2 cups coarsely grated sharp cheddar (225g)
British baked beans are plain white beans in a light, slightly sweet tomato sauce, with no meat in them and no dark molasses sauce. The quick stovetop version here tastes very close. If you buy canned beans instead, choose vegetarian beans in tomato sauce.
How to make jacket potato
Bake the potatoes
- Heat the oven to 425 degrees (220°C) with a rack in the middle. Do not line the rack and do not use a baking sheet.
- Scrub the potatoes and dry them completely with a towel. Prick each one 6 or 8 times with a fork.
- Rub the potatoes all over with the oil, then sprinkle and rub them with the coarse salt.
- Set the potatoes directly on the oven rack, with space between them. Bake for 1 hour 15 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes, until the skin is dark golden, dry and crisp and the potato gives easily when you squeeze it with a towel.
Make the beans
- About 20 minutes before the potatoes are done, put the tomato sauce, water, tomato paste, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, onion powder, salt and pepper in a saucepan and bring to a simmer.
- Add the drained beans and simmer gently for 12 to 15 minutes, stirring now and then, until the sauce has thickened and coats the beans. Taste and add salt if needed. Keep warm.
Fill and serve
- As soon as the potatoes come out of the oven, cut a deep slit along the top of each one and a shorter one across it, then push the ends toward the middle so the potato opens up.
- Rough up the inside with a fork and tuck 1 tablespoon of butter into each potato. Let it melt in for a minute.
- Spoon the hot beans over the top and pile each potato with 1/2 cup of grated cheddar. Serve at once, with a fork and knife, and eat the skin.
Tips that make the difference
- Dry the potatoes well after washing. Water left on the skin turns to steam and keeps it soft.
- Give them the full time. A jacket potato is done when the skin sounds hollow and crackles as you squeeze it, not just when a knife goes in.
- For an even crisper skin, turn the oven up to 450 degrees (230°C) for the last 10 minutes.
- Never open them late. A potato left whole after baking goes on steaming inside, and the flesh turns heavy.
- Grate the cheddar coarsely and pile it on cold. It should melt slowly from the heat of the beans, the way it does in a British cafe.
Variations
- Cheese only. Skip the beans and fold a big handful of cheddar into the buttered potato, then add more on top.
- Tuna and sweetcorn. Mix a can of tuna with mayonnaise and a few spoonfuls of corn kernels, another favorite British filling, served cold on the hot potato.
- Chili jacket. Spoon leftover beef chili over the potato and finish with cheddar and sour cream.
- Coleslaw and cheese. Top with grated cheddar and a spoonful of creamy coleslaw for a cold, crunchy contrast.
Storage and make-ahead
Jacket potatoes are best straight from the oven. Leftover baked potatoes keep in the refrigerator, unwrapped until cold and then covered, for up to 3 days.
Reheat them in a 400 degree (200°C) oven for 15 to 20 minutes to bring the skin back to crisp. A microwave warms the inside but softens the skin.
The beans keep in a covered container in the refrigerator for 4 days and reheat well on the stove with a splash of water.
Frequently asked questions
How do I get the skin crisp and the inside fluffy?
Use a large russet potato, dry it well, rub it with oil and coarse salt, and bake it bare on the oven rack at 425 degrees for 75 to 90 minutes. Then cut it open right away so the steam can leave.
Can I start the potato in the microwave?
You can microwave it for 6 to 8 minutes and finish it in a hot oven for 30 to 40 minutes. The skin will be crisp, though not quite as thick and crackly as a potato baked the whole time in the oven.
Why is it called a jacket potato?
Because the potato is cooked and served in its skin, which the British call its jacket.
What cheese do the British use?
A sharp, mature cheddar, coarsely grated. Any well-flavored cheddar that you grate yourself from a block will melt better than pre-shredded cheese.
Split it, butter it, pour on the beans and do not hold back on the cheese. Then eat the skin, because that is the best part.
Jacket Potato with Beans and Cheese (Crisp Skin, Fluffy Inside, the British Way)
A proper British jacket potato: a large potato rubbed with oil and salt and baked without foil until the skin is crisp and the inside fluffy, then split, buttered and topped with baked beans in tomato sauce and grated cheddar.
Ingredients
- 4 large russet baking potatoes, 10 to 12 ounces each
- 1 tablespoon vegetable or olive oil
- 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt or flaky sea salt
- 4 tablespoons salted butter
- 2 cans
- 1 cup plain tomato sauce or tomato passata
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt, plus black pepper to taste
- 2 cups coarsely grated sharp cheddar
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 425 degrees (220°C) with a rack in the middle. Do not line the rack and do not use a baking sheet.
- Scrub the potatoes and dry them completely with a towel. Prick each one 6 or 8 times with a fork.
- Rub the potatoes all over with the oil, then sprinkle and rub them with the coarse salt.
- Set the potatoes directly on the oven rack, with space between them. Bake for 1 hour 15 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes, until the skin is dark golden, dry and crisp and the potato gives easily when you squeeze it with a towel.
- About 20 minutes before the potatoes are done, put the tomato sauce, water, tomato paste, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, onion powder, salt and pepper in a saucepan and bring to a simmer.
- Add the drained beans and simmer gently for 12 to 15 minutes, stirring now and then, until the sauce has thickened and coats the beans. Taste and add salt if needed. Keep warm.
- As soon as the potatoes come out of the oven, cut a deep slit along the top of each one and a shorter one across it, then push the ends toward the middle so the potato opens up.
- Rough up the inside with a fork and tuck 1 tablespoon of butter into each potato. Let it melt in for a minute.
- Spoon the hot beans over the top and pile each potato with 1/2 cup of grated cheddar. Serve at once, with a fork and knife, and eat the skin.
