Jacket potatoes will be extra crispy and full of flavour with 1 extra ingredient
Jacket potatoes are a British staple, perfect for when you need something quick and simple that requires minimal effort or fuss. Ensuring that the spuds have the perfect crispy skin and are all full of flavour, recipe developer and TikTok creator Amy Sheppard shared her innovative take on the classic jacket potato.
The recipe developer said that this spin on the classic comfort tea has "completely changed their minds". To ensure there is ample flavour, she uses a premade cheese spread, which also creates a gorgeous melt-in-the-middle texture. In a recent video, Amy said: "I honestly don't think that there's a dinner better than jacket potato cheese and beans, but my lot think it's a bit boring, so I turned it into the cheesiest, ooziest jacket potato bake.
"This has all of the joy of a simple crispy jacket potato, but with a thick cheesy sauce, so you get this sort of melt-in-the-middle centre; smokey bacon baked beans topped with that golden, toasted cheddar cheese."
Amy also pointed out that the recipe could be completed in the air fryer, provided the basket is large enough to fit the dish. She ensured that her food isn't "fancy", so this is perfect for a simple dinner for all the family to enjoy.
Amy's video has already gone viral, with over 1.2 million views. Her video received 64,000 likes and 370 comments.
Charlotte said: "That with loads of coleslaw would literally be my death row meal."
Emmie suggested, "This would be amazing with tuna beans and cheese as well."
Herbie Hancock recommended: "Try garlic butter on the spuds, top with chilli con carne, grated cheese and the sour cream and guac."
Another commented, "Your ability to come up with new delicious versions of everything is extraordinary. You are easily on a par with Jamie Oliver," while Vicky agreed, "Omg that looks amazing, I'm definitely going to try this at some point."
Next time you're looking for a comforting meal but are bored with a bog-standard jacket potato, here's how you can recreate Amy's recipe at home.
Jacket Potato Cheese & Bean BakeIngredients (serves four)
- Four large jacket potatoes
- Olive oil for roasting
- Seven rashers of smoked streaky bacon
- Two x 400g tins of baked beans
- 125g mature cheese spread
- 25ml milk
- Butter
- 80g grated cheddar cheese
- Salt and ground black pepper
Method
Heat the oven to 200 (fan). Place the jacket potatoes in an ovenproof dish roughly 23cm x 23cm.
Prick them all over with a fork, rub them in olive oil and sprinkle generously with salt.
Cook in the oven for around an hour or until cooked through.
In the meantime, cut up the bacon into 2-3cm pieces. Add a little oil to a frying pan and fry until crisp.
Add the baked beans to the pan five minutes before the potatoes are ready and gently heat through.
Blitz the mature cheese spread and milk together until you have a smooth sauce. Season with salt and pepper.
When the potatoes are ready, remove them from the oven and cut a deep cross in all four, squeezing the edges together to push the flesh out a little.
Add a knob of butter to each and use a fork to press it through the potato, fluffing it up right to the skin.
Add a dollop of the mature cheese sauce to each of the potatoes.
Top the potatoes with the beans, pushing them right up to the edges of the dish so that none of the potato is showing.
Top with grated cheese before grilling on a medium heat for around five minutes until the cheese is golden brown. Serve each person a loaded potato with some salad or veg.