How To Cook Tender Baked Potatoes In Your Air Fryer

Every home cook has their own preferred method when it comes to baked potatoes. Some swear by the microwave: It's the quickest method but tends to leave you with a soft potato skin rather than a crispy one. Others prefer using the oven; this is the most traditional way to make a baked potato, and while the results are almost always perfect, it's not a method for the impatient. Depending on the temperature of the oven and the size of the potato, this method can take up to an hour and a half to bake. Clearly, the most popular ways to make a baked potato come with pros and cons, but if you're looking for a foolproof method for crispy potatoes that doesn't take years to make, look no further. Rachel Buck, Senior Demo Chef at Ninja's test kitchen, gave us the lowdown on how to make a perfect baked potato in the air fryer.

To begin, you'll want to preheat your Ninja air fryer to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Not preheating your air fryer is one of the many mistakes you might be making when air frying potatoes, and it's just as important as allowing your oven to preheat so that the temperature remains consistent throughout the cooking process. Once it's preheated, "coat the potato with olive oil and season with salt before cooking," Buck said. "This will give you a crispy skin while the inside remains fluffy." Because oil is a fat, it gets really hot in the oven, which is what creates the crispiness we all aim for when making baked potatoes.

This method takes anywhere from 35-45 minutes, and it all depends on the size of the potato; if it's on the smaller side, you should be able to take it out after about 35 minutes. But however long it takes, it's important to flip the potato halfway through cooking, Buck told us. This is to ensure that both sides of the potato get equally crispy, since nobody wants a partly-crispy potato. You'll know that it's done cooking when you can easily poke it with a fork. To be extra sure, you can take its internal temperature with a meat thermometer. It should be around 210 degrees Fahrenheit.

Once the potato is all done, we've got plenty of tips to make your baked potato delicious. When it comes to toppings, the possibilities are endless. You could stick to the classics, adding butter, chives, bacon bits, and cheddar cheese. Or you could try an unexpected topping, like hummus, canned tuna, or pesto.