When it comes to baked potatoes, I’ve always subscribed to the rub-’em-down-with-shortening-and-bake-at-400-until-done method, but I recently saw this method in my copy of America’s Test Kitchen Best Recipes and Reviews 2013 and I was intrigued. The potatoes are baked in a bed of salt that helps evenly distribute the heat of the oven to produce a light, fluffy baked potato. The verdict? Incredible baked potatoes. I personally think the skins are delicious–crispy and salty and kind of like potato skin chips (like there is such a thing). And the insides are fluffy and flavorful and sweet. The rosemary butter in the potato is incredible, but you could also omit the whole rosemary/roasted garlic step altogether if you just want to do the whole butter/sour cream/bacon/whatever else you put on potatoes thing.
Ingredient Notes
- Potatoes – I have only tried this recipe with Russet potatoes. Russet potatoes are ideal for baking because they are low in moisture and have a high starch content, producing a tender, fluffy finished product. You can certainly experiment with other varieties if you’d like.
- Fresh Rosemary and Garlic – For an elegant baked potato, include these during roasting and to mix with butter for an incredible topping for your baked potatoes. If you’re just wanting a basic baked potato, topped with butter, sour cream, shredded cheese, etc., feel free to skip these.
- Salt – You’re going to need a lot of kosher salt: 2 1/2 cups of it, to be exact. Salt helps evenly distribute the heat in the oven for slow, even baking.
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 450 degrees. Wash the potatoes and pat them dry with a paper towel. Pour the salt into a 9×13″ baking dish.
- Arrange the potatoes on top of the salt, kind of nestling the potatoes into the salt (but don’t worry about burying or covering the potatoes with salt). Make sure the potatoes aren’t touching. Then add the sprigs of rosemary. Slice top off of the bulb of garlic and add that to the salt (cut side up).
- Cover the dish tightly with aluminum foil and bake for 1 hour. Your house will smell like heaven, I am not kidding you (just in case you didn’t know, the smell of rosemary and roasting garlic makes me swoon).
- When the potatoes are done cooking, remove the pan from the oven. Turn the oven up to 500. Carefully remove the foil and remove the head of garlic from the pan. Brush each potato with a bit of oil. When the oven is heated, place the pan back in the oven and bake for an additional 15 minutes.
- While the potatoes are baking at 500, combine some softened butter, some chopped rosemary, and the entire head of garlic–just squeeze it straight from the papery skins into the butter. Add a little salt to taste, especially if you’re using unsalted butter, and mix to combine. Set aside.
- When the potatoes are done baking, remove from the oven and serve with the roasted garlic rosemary butter. Resist any temptation to nibble on the rosemary that you roasted. You will be sad. Not speaking from any firsthand experience here.
Serving Suggestions
These potatoes make a great addition to a holiday table, or a nice Sunday dinner. They would pair perfectly with the following Our Best Bites favorites.
- Oven-Roasted Tri Tip
- Herb Roasted Turkey Breast
- Smoked Pulled Ham
- Bacon-Wrapped Green Bean Bundles
- Caramelized Green Beans
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I make these ahead of time? These potatoes are best made fresh. If needed, you could transfer them to a warm crock pot to keep warm for a short amount of time between baking and serving.
Did You Make This?
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Salt Baked Potatoes {with Roasted Garlic & Rosemary}
- Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
Description
Easy and elegant! Tender baked potatoes, nestled in a bed of salt for even cooking and roasted with aromatic garlic and rosemary. A roasted garlic-rosemary butter is the perfect finish.
Ingredients
- 4 medium russet potatoes, washed and patted dry
- 2 1/2 cups kosher salt
- 1 head garlic, the top sliced off
- 2 sprigs fresh rosemary, plus 1/4 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
- 4 teaspoons olive oil
- 4 tablespoons butter
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450. Place the salt in a 9×13″ pan. Press the potatoes down until nestled into the salt, making sure they’re not touching. Add the sprigs of rosemary and the head of garlic, cut side up. Cover tightly with aluminum foil and bake for 1 hour.
- When the potatoes have baked for 1 hour, remove the pan from the oven and remove the head of garlic. Turn the oven to 500. Brush each potato with 1 teaspoon olive oil and return to the hot oven, uncovered. Bake for an additional 15 minutes.
- While the potatoes are baking, combine the butter, 1/4 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary, and then squeeze out the whole head of garlic into the butter and stir to combine. Serve the hot potatoes with the rosemary butter (although if you’d rather serve it with more traditional toppings, you can omit the garlic/rosemary step altogether).
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour, 15 minutes
Questions & Reviews
I followed this recipe exactly but with sweet potatoes instead of russet and it was HEAVENLY!! That garlic rosemary butter is to die for!
These look so good! I think the smell filling the house is one of the best parts of cooking. Does the rosemary flavor come through strong in the potatoes? I love it and was wondering if it would be smart to use a rosemary olive oil for that last little bit of cooking. I might have to experiment with that. Thanks for the recipe!
Yes- definitely use the rosemary olive oil!
The 1975 edition of Joy of Cooking, which taught me to cook, mentions putting potatoes on a bed of rock salt. The entire purpose is to draw moisture out of the potatoes. Wrapping in foil was not to be heard of. There is also a recipe for heating up 25 pounds of resin in an iron kettle and cooking potatoes in that for the ultimate in flakiness. These are very welcome after some hours of skiing or skating, according to ‘Joy’.
I read this recipe here and in the Chicago Tribune. I was a excited to make them and finally did it last night. I have to say that I was seriously underwhelmed. It didn’t differ substantially from any other baked potato I’ve ever had. The skin was a bit crispier as described, but that was about it. I found that the insides, while initially fluffy, dried out extremely quickly upon opening the jacket. I might try this one more time with a red or white potato and see if it’s any better. If not, my vote is don’t bother.
I had the same question as DeAnn. I am trying to make 8-10 potatoes and wondered the best way of cooking those. Do you just create two pans of 4 potatoes each and double the cooking time?
I too get a big clump of salt on the bottom that was very hard to get off. Does anyone have any suggestions? Otherwise they were very delicious!
Mine have that almost every time, but it usually just pops off with a fork or spoon. Maybe has something to do with it not being completely dry when you put it in the pan before cooking?
I do this on my bbq and they are so good. I wash and dry and place directly on the grill let cook till fork goes through then take off and rub with butter or oil and roll in salt and place back on till done. yummy
If I’m making 8-10 potatoes, do I double all the ingredients?
I don’t even really measure the salt anymore…just make sure that whatever pan you have has enough salt in it to completely cover the bottom. There needs to be enough so the potatoes “rest” on the salt but don’t touch the bottom of the pan. I would put another head of garlic in, too, so you have enough to make that amazing garlic butter!
Can I substitute those super tiny mixed potatoes (red, purple, yellow) instead of the russets? 🙂
P.S. I used my oven preset timer for them to cook while we were at church. Woohoo!
Made these for lunch after church today and they were AWESOME! Hubs says it’s the best potato he’s ever had! I made the delicious garlic/rosemary butter, but honestly these were so moist and fluffy they really didn’t need anything but a sprikle of salt and pepper. THANK YOU for changing the way we bake potatoes!!! DELICIOUS!
I always find exactly what I needed on your blog. I’ve got a huge bag of potatoes sitting in my kitchen right now (sent hubby out for 4, got a bag), and we don’t eat potatoes often. Definitely going to try this.
i like to go to steakhouses not for the steak, but the incredible baked potatoes. thanks for sharing!
I learned the trick of great baked potatoes in a culinary class I took in college. It changed my whole outlook on them. We rubbed the outside of a scrubbed baked potato all over with salt and stuck them on the rack in the oven to bake. The salt wicks out the moisture so you are just left with a nice mealy inside and crispy salty skin outside. My husband won’t eat them any other way now. Your way seems like a good way to achieve the same thing without as much consumption of sodium in the end. I will have to try it.
p.s. I actually had a discussion last week with someone at work about Stacey (random!)
So, I am the only weird one that had a huge clump of salt stick to the bottom of the potato or is that normal? I couldn’t get it to come off!
Hmmm…I had that, but it just kind of popped off like a cast of the potato. Did you get it off? 🙂