Is there any better side to a hearty meal than a tender, fluffy baked potato with all the toppings? I think not. While making a baked potato is easy, it takes time. In fact, a potato can take over an hour to bake fully.

This microwave baked potato cuts way down on the cook time with nearly identical results (especially if you use my finish-in-the-oven hack below).

There are two main reasons to use a microwave to make a baked potato:

1. Time. You shave off over 75% of the cook time for a baked potato if you microwave it rather than bake it. Instead of baking for an hour, the potato cooks for about 10 minutes (plus 10 minutes in the oven if you want crispy skin). That’s a big deal!
2. Fluffiness. Because a microwave steams the inside of the potato rather than baking it from the outside, the resulting potato has a fluffier inner texture. The only downside of microwaving potatoes is that the skin gets soggy and doesn’t have the crispy texture that you get from the oven. We can fix that with a quick trip in the oven.

If you cherish the crispy potato skin of a baked potato (I know I do), there’s a trick to achieving a crisp exterior on a microwave potato. Once your potato is done in the microwave, place it on a baking sheet. Rub it with some olive oil and sprinkle it on all sides with kosher salt. Bake it in a hot oven for about 10 minutes and it’ll crisp up beautifully.

This adds a few minutes to your total time, but it’s worth it for that crispy potato skin. No one will know you didn’t cook the potatoes in the oven from start to finish.

There’s no need to overthink it. Russet potatoes make the best baked potatoes.They are economical, a good size for stuffing with toppings like cheese and butter, and have a really fluffy, tender interior that works perfectly for baked potatoes.

Whether you’re using your microwave or the oven, use russet potatoes to make baked potatoes.

All microwaves are a little different and you’ll have to do some checking on your potato. If you know the wattage of your microwave, you can get a rough guideline of timing with this recipe. I have a 1,000-watt microwave (a pretty standard wattage), and my potatoes were perfect after 10 minutes, flipping once halfway through.

If you have a 1,200-watt microwave, you can probably knock a minute or two off that total time. If you have an 800-watt microwave, then you might need to go up to 12 or more minutes.

The potato size will also impact the cook time. The bigger and thicker the potato, the longer it will take to cook. Smaller potatoes will take less time. Old potatoes also take longer to cook, and may never get completely soft. Once you figure out a formula that works for your microwave, stick to it.

You can microwave up to four potatoes at a time if your microwave is big enough. Ensure the potatoes are laying flat on the plate with a little space between each one. Start by adding an extra minute to the cook time for each additional potato. If the potatoes aren’t quite done, return them to the microwave in 30-second to 1-minute increments until cooked through.

This leftover idea is one of my favorites and I’ve even started microwaving an extra potato so I can do this the next day. Store the leftover potato in the fridge. When it’s breakfast time, cube it up and cook it in a skillet with some olive oil, salt, pepper, and a pinch of paprika. It makes incredible breakfast potatoes!