Baking Potatoes in a Toaster Oven

Baking potatoes in a toaster oven is easy! How to get crispy potato skins and tender fluffy insides. Russet, baby or sweet explained here and is the best way to make baked potatoes when you have limited space or without an oven.

Bake a Potato in a Toaster Oven

You can certainly enjoy these as is as a side dish or go further for make ahead twice baked potatoes. Those take a bit more prep but sure are great, double stuffed with sour cream, cheese and all the things. If you find yourself living in a small space you will be surprised at how well you can cook breakfast, lunch and dinner inside of this.

You don’t need the most expensive model either. The one you see here was $19, the cheapest one I found at Walmart. I wanted to see how well something in that price range would do, it held up well. All of them will come with racks as well as a small solid metal tray. You are going to use both for these.

Baked Potato in Toaster Oven

Since we use all different types of taters for side dishes or main meals I wanted to share how each one cooked. Baked red potatoes cook at the same rate as russets really. You can stuff either one depending on your preferences.

• Preheat toaster oven at 400 degrees F for 5 minutes.
• In that time wash potatoes, dry with paper towels and poke all over each one with a fork or knife.
• Lay each large russet potatoes or red potatoes in foil and drizzle olive oil on the outside. Sprinkle with salt and wrap up tight.
  • (or you can wrap up to 4 petite potatoes together)
• Put shelf inside toaster oven to bottom and set on top.
• Cook at 400 F for 45 minutes to 1 hour, depending on their size. Sliced Potatoes in Oven would be faster if in a hurry.
• At this time petite potatoes should be fork tender and can be enjoyed.
• For medium to large red, russet, or sweet potato at 400 I like crispy skin so unwrap after 60 minutes and set on aluminum baking sheet tray (it will drip a bit).
• Slide that in and drizzle a bit more olive oil over each one, sprinkle with a bit of salt and continue cooking for 20-30 minutes or until middle is fork tender and skins are as browned as you’d like.

The reason I wrap and then unwrap is if you put them in for an hour without any foil I feel the outsides get way too firm and hardened by the time the insides are tender. Once done have your favorite toppings prepped in small pieces so you can slice, fluff and fill!

Sweet Potato in Toaster Oven

Now this variety really does have probably more variance than others as far as size goes. I would choose medium no matter which one you want to cook. First off the inside size isn’t really that large, and already takes a bit more than an hour so steer away from huge ones. Of course you could always cut for a faster go around like our baked sweet potato cubes.

Potatoes in Toaster Oven without Foil

Pierce a medium russet and/or sweet potato with a fork, rub with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and place it in the toaster oven. Bake at 400°F for 45-50 minutes, or until the potato is tender. Note that the outsides will get quite dark this way and there may. be a bit of drippings from where you poked that may drip down to the bottom heat source.

Baked Potato Toppings

There is a wide range of what you can fill these babies with. I cannot begin to name them all but we will go over a number of possibilities both sweet and savory. Yes, you can totally make any of these for dessert with the right ingredients. Think cinnamon and sugar with honey butter and some toasted marshmallows on top!!

• The most popular and common choice we have in our household is definitely stuffed with our 5 ingredient chili and cheese. I mean so easy, cheap and it has been a favorite since they could eat solids.
• Pulled pork baked potatoes are great if you make the meat in the slow cooker in the morning. OR if you have leftovers from the night before, warm, toss with bbq sauce, and use that to fill the insides for dinnertime!
• You can microwave broccoli in small spaces too and add that with some Velveeta for a yummy combo.

If you want it done faster just use baby potatoes like you see here, cut into fourths when done and pour toppings on top in a bowl to serve. If you do have leftovers they keep well for the next day for sure. If you save the foil just wait until they have cooled and wrap tight again. Keep in the fridge overnight.

Toaster Oven Baked Potatoes

Reheat potatoes in air fryer for best results. That way the outsides can crisp again and not have that strange texture. The insides are already tender so you don’t have to worry about that part. Heat leftover chili or a can of it to make into a meal or enjoy as a side to a 2nd main dish for the night.

If you love the whole thing, and especially the skins experiment with something other than table salt. Sea salt has bigger granules, truffle salt is fabulous, or garlic adds another flavor element.