I fear jacket potatoes have ruined all other potatoes for me—in the best way possible.
Barbecue Pulled Pork Jacket Potato
Tangy-sweet barbecue pulled pork is a knockout topping idea from Taste of Home editor Lauren Pahmeier. The shredded texture is easy to scoop up with the potato, and the barbecue sauce adds a pleasant punch of flavor. Taste of Home prep kitchen manager Catherine Ward also loves this combo. She suggests finishing it with your choice of cheese (cheddar or Monterey Jack are best) and scallions or pickled jalapenos for crunch and color.
Baked Beans and Cheese Jacket Potato
My personal favorite is this tried-and-true, completely traditional jacket potato topping. Heinz baked beans and sharp cheddar cheese make a perfectly balanced and inexpensive jacket potato topping combo. It’s also pretty incredible with homemade chili con carne, if you prefer that to baked beans. Finish the jacket potato with chopped scallions for a pop of color.
Shepherd’s Pie Jacket Potato
Taste of Home editor Melissa Gaman loves shepherd’s pie baked potatoes because they showcase the casserole’s flavors in reverse, with the potatoes sitting beneath the saucy, meaty filling. Shepherd’s pie traditionally uses ground lamb, but you can swap in ground beef for cottage pie.
Black Beans and Salsa Jacket Potato
This southwestern-style jacket potato topping, where baked beans are traded for spicy black beans, comes from Taste of Home editor Lesley Balla. You can really lean in to bold flavors on this one, adding Cotija or pepper jack cheese, jalapenos (if you want more heat!), salsa and pickled onions. Don’t get too carried away with cold toppings, though, or it’ll quickly turn your jacket potato lukewarm.
Sausage and Sauteed Greens Jacket Potato
Taste of Home senior editor Lindsay Mattison’s go-to jacket potato topping is inspired by her favorite sausage and kale soup. Load up your jacket potato with cooked ground sausage (she prefers a tube of Jimmy Dean’s), sauteed kale and a little sour cream. Honestly, even leftover sausage and kale soup will do the trick, just try not to ladle on too much broth.
Ground Beef and Veggies Jacket Potato
We’ve been obsessed with chili crisp recipes over here lately, and Lindsay Mattison brought it into jacket potato territory. She tosses chili crisp with ground beef (or ground pork, chicken or turkey, depending on what she has on hand). Then she combines it with a roasted vegetable like broccoli or asparagus and loads it all into a jacket potato.
Use a good chili crisp brand so the crunchy, zingy, spicy texture and flavors aren’t lost among the carbs. You can also season the ground beef however you like. Want a taco-stuffed potato? Use taco seasoning. Want a cheeseburger potato? Add special sauce. You get the idea!
Quesabirria and Sour Cream Jacket Potato
Taste of Home trends writer Lindsay Parrill told me her husband just added birria jacket potatoes to his restaurant’s menu. Genius! After piling on the shredded birria, go full quesabirria mode by topping it with a melting cheese, like Oaxaca cheese, and popping it under the broiler until it’s nice and melty. Finish it with diced white onions, chopped cilantro and a dollop of sour cream.
Eggs and Bacon Jacket Potato
Love breakfast for dinner? Taste of Home brand content director Ellie Martin Cliffe puts a whole new meaning behind breakfast potatoes. She makes hers with soft-scrambled eggs, breakfast sausage and a healthy drizzle of maple syrup. You can customize this one with whatever you eat for breakfast. Try using bacon or ham instead of sausage and adding a mountain of freshly shredded cheese if a cheesy potato is your thing.
Roasted Vegetable Jacket Potato
There are so many tasty veggies you can put in a jacket potato! Mushrooms and sour cream, eggplants and tomatoes, fajita-style onions and peppers—or Catherine Ward’s version, which includes roasted cabbage and caramelized onions. Cabbage is going through a bit of a renaissance, and we’re here for it. Simply roast shredded cabbage in the oven, stir it with caramelized onions and add it to your jacket potato. I usually make my jacket potatoes with a few pats of butter, but I like the idea of using nutty tahini butter or umami-rich miso butter for this version.
Cheese and Broccoli Jacket Potato
This combo from Taste of Home editor Caroline Stanko is wonderfully reminiscent of broccoli cheddar soup, which is usually thick enough to ladle onto a potato. But if you want an easier version, load a jacket potato with cooked broccoli (steamed or roasted works) and add a mountain of cheddar cheese on top. Then put the potato back in the oven so the cheese melts thoroughly.
Pizza Beans and Basil Jacket Potato
I recently became obsessed with pizza beans—a skillet-cooked mixture of white beans in tomato sauce with cheese melted on top. It sticks to the inexpensive ethos of jacket potatoes and tastes like pizza. Win-win! Serve chopped basil on top to bring in some much-needed color.
Leftovers on a Jacket Potato
Fridge leftovers were the unanimous favorite jacket potato topping among our team. Yesterday’s coconut chicken curry, taco meat, chicken tikka masala or lentil bolognese are today’s jacket potato toppings. Saucy leftovers are best, as the sauce nestles perfectly into the fluffy potato. If your leftovers feel too dry to use as a topping on their own, mix them with the dips that have been hanging out in your fridge, like ranch avocado yogurt dip or homemade garlic aioli. Add a garnish, like cilantro, to brighten the flavor and color palette.
