Have you ever wondered why the Outback Steakhouse Baked Potato tastes so good? What do they do differently from you and me? The potatoes have a magnificent salt crisp crust with a moist, tender inside.
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Restaurant Style Baked Potato
You can make a baked potato just like Outback. It takes just an extra step or two to make your typical baked potato taste as if it came from a steakhouse. Hands down, this is one of my favorite and most used copycat recipes.
Perhaps you have seen this classic baked potato in the steakhouse for years and may have long wondered how to prepare this famous side dish. It is straightforward to do.
Ingredients
Here’s a list of what you need:
- Potatoes
- Vegetable oil
- Kosher salt
Ingredient Notes
I recommend using a russet potato. They bake up very well and are ideal for baked potato. Your cooking time may vary. If you have an extra-large potato, you will need to be prepared it so that it will cook for a little longer.
This recipe works best when using potatoes that are 5 ounces. For a 5-ounce potato, you will need to cook it for 50 minutes. If your potato is larger, you will need to cook it longer.
Also, cut the sprouts off your potatoes before cooking them. The nodes are not tasty, and they are said to be poisonous.
How to Make Outback Baked Potatoes
- Wash and dry the potatoes and do not poke each potato once or twice with a fork.
- Pour the vegetable oil into a small dish and dip a paper towel into the oil.
- Rub the oil all over each potato.
- Place the potatoes on a baking sheet.
- Sprinkle salt over the potatoes.
- Bake at 350°F for about 1 hour.
- Check the potatoes for doneness by inserting a fork into one. If it presses through easily, the potato is thoroughly baked.
- Serve with butter, sour cream, shredded cheese, bacon bits, and chives.
What to serve your baked potato with
Now that you have a perfectly baked potato, you will add the perfect toppings. I would suggest the following:
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Butter
- Sour cream
- Shredded Cheddar cheese
- Sour cream
- Crispy bacon cumbles
- Sliced green onions
Potato Buying Tips
I have two major tips when it comes to buying potatoes:
- Do not buy potatoes with a green tint. Potatoes with a green tint are old and they are past their prime.
- You should pick potatoes that are even in size and have that consistent brown skin.
How to store leftovers
- Cool the potatoes: Allow the baked potatoes to cool completely at room temperature. This will prevent moisture from building up in the storage container, which can cause the potatoes to spoil quickly.
- Store in an airtight container: Once the potatoes have cooled, place them in an airtight container. Ensure the container is big enough to hold the potatoes without crowding them. You can use a plastic container with a lid, a resealable plastic bag, or wrap them in plastic.
- Refrigerate the potatoes: Store the airtight container in the refrigerator. Baked potatoes can be stored in the fridge for up to four days.
Four different ways to reheat a baked potato
There are several ways to reheat a baked potato, but the best method depends on personal preference and the equipment you have available. Here are some standard methods:
- Oven: Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Place the baked potato on a baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes until heated.
- Microwave: Pierce the baked potato several times with a fork to allow steam to escape. Place the potato on a microwave-safe plate and microwave on high for 1-2 minutes, turning the potato over halfway through.
- Air Fryer: Preheat the air fryer to 375°F (190°C). Place the baked potato in the air fryer basket and cook for 5-10 minutes until heated and crispy outside.
- Grill or BBQ: Cut the baked potato into thick slices and grill over medium-high heat for 3-5 minutes on each side until heated through and crispy.
No matter which method you choose, monitor the potato closely to avoid overcooking or drying it out. You can also add toppings like butter, cheese, sour cream, or chives after reheating to add flavor and texture.
Love Outback? Make these copycat Outback Steakhouse recipes!
- Bloomin Onion
- Outback Alice Springs Chicken Recipes
- Baked Sweet Potato with Cinnamon Butter
- Outback Steamed Vegetables Recipe – Green Beans
- Outback Soups – Walkabout Creamy Onion Soup
- Dill Sauce for Steak
Best Potato Recipes
- Air Fryer Baked Potatoes
- Air Fryer Potato Wedges
- Lipton Onion Soup Mix Potatoes
- Red Skin Potatoes Recipe
- Baked Potato Slow Cooker
- Parmesan Roasted Potatoes
- Leek and Potato Bake
- Easy Scalloped Potatoes Recipe
- Roast Potatoes Greek Style
Be sure to check out more of the best side dish recipes and copycat restaurant food.
Outback Steakhouse Baked Potato
Ingredients
- 4 russet potatoes (about 1/2 pound each)
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1 to 2 tablespoons kosher salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Wash and dry the potatoes and do not poke each potato once or twice with a fork. Again, do not poke any holes in the potato. Potatoes only explode when they are overcooked.
- Pour the vegetable oil into a small dish and dip a paper towel into the oil. Rub the oil all over each potato.
- Place the potatoes on a baking sheet. Sprinkle salt over the potatoes.
- Bake for about 1 hour. Check the potatoes for doneness by inserting a fork into one. If it presses through easily, the potato has completed cooking.
David Mosser
Keep the good ones coming !!!
Stephanie
Thank you!
Stephanie
thank you!
Mari
If I don’t want to heat the oven for one or two potatoes, I bake in a hot toaster oven. Same effect as regular oven Have you ever tried a copycat of St. Louis layer cake from miss Hullings? Or paradise cake from old lake forest bakery. Love for you to try.
Cindy Knight
Dear Stephanie,
Without a doubt, this is the BEST baked potato I have ever popped in the oven. Your video was great and wonderful instructions. Thank You for sharing this information.
Regards,
Cindy
dick
Some steak houses coat their oven baked potato with bacon grease Then wrap in foil Adds a bit more flavor
SyAna
Excellent video. You have an excellent voice. Thank you for the recipe.
Kay Fiveash
I’m probably older than most of you, and I have used a microwave for years. I like the softness of baked potatoes, especially sweet potatoes, just like Longhorn’s, and I use the microwave. It is faster and safer than opening the oven door.
Stephanie
I had a very powerful microwave, I am sure you need a hazmat suit to stand next to it. It would completely nuke a potato in about 3 to 5 minutes (depending on size). It had a nice texture 😉 I understand what you are saying.
Stephanie
How is opening an oven door unsafe?
Matt G, aka, Mr Slap n Tickle
Many out backs are franchise, so there may be different methods….but I worked at one in Orlando FL for 5 year and they were rolled in butter (margarine), then in salt, then wrapped in foil. This was am prep, cooked at night IN the foil.
Imelda Guanzon
The look of the Baked Potato wins, I love it
Becca Torsell
If our central air wasn’t down, I’d totally make these for dinner tonight!
stephaniemanley
Oh no!
KHH
Just to clarify, Outback doesn’t roll them in butter, they roll them in margarine – so it is basically oil (like the recipe calls for), but in a form that is easy to spread.
alison
wheres the bacon bits?
stephaniemanley
I didn’t include them on this potato. You can include bacon on your potato!
Sally Hill Boyster
Or better yet….oil and prick them and then put in a deep baking dish with clean, white rock salt completely covering them. The salt draws moisture from the potato drying them out a bit. If you want a crunchy skin, take them out when they are nearly done and put them on the baking sheet. I cool the salt and put it in a baggie. I use the same salt for a long time…even several years. Over time, it will get dark from the moisture baked out of the potatoes. The more potatoes that are baked in it the better it gets. I’ve replaced the salt maybe 4 times in 20 years. I have a small enamel roaster that is perfect for this and this is about all I use it for any more. Bake in a hot oven. It does take a little longer than the foil method.
stephaniemanley
That sounds like a great way to make potatoes as well. Thank you for sharing Sally.
Donna
Are you saying to bake the potatoes covered in the rock salt? Oven temp and how long?
Sally Hill Boyster
I oil them (or butter), prick and cover with rock salt so they are completely surrounded. Bake about 400 degrees about an hour or 1.5 hrs. It does take a little longer. If I’m in a hurry, I’ll bump up the temp.
Sunny
I even make them on the grill like this when the oven is full, just need to adjust the heat & check them as usual
stephaniemanley
Oh, yes, potatoes on the grill are great!
Don Odiorne
Use Idaho Russet Burbank variety potatoes instead of just “russets” to make them turn out like Outback. That’s the variety they used at the beginning when the three founders were active in the restaurant chain operations. Idaho was the source for their fresh cut fries too.
stephaniemanley
Thanks Don for sharing the info about the potatoes, I hope I can find these the next time I go to the grocery store.
losgatosmama
You can make these more healthy by microwaving the potatoes (poked with holes) for 10-12 minutes (turning at 6 minutes) on a paper towel-lined plate. Then, roast them in a 450 degree oven for 20 minutes. Creamy inside, super crispy skin on outside, no oil at all!
stephaniemanley
How do you get the salt to stick on?
Sunny
The oil doesn’t “soak” into the potato while baking, just crisp’s up the outside. We use to give the potatoes a light swipe of Crisco, (back in the dark ages), before using oil became popular.
stephaniemanley
Do you remember the old crisco commercials where someone would leave in the middle of cooking and come back to find their fried chicken was still good? I do. I love Crisco and how it gives great results.
Michael Gatto
outback rolls them in butter then the salt, worked there 5 years
stephaniemanley
Someone mentioned in another post, they used to roll them in butter, now it just oil. I imagine they would be better with butter though!
Anon
Outback rolled spuds in margarine before switching to lower cost veg oil. Still use kosher salt
BakoGeek
I used to work at Outback Steakhouse. They soak their potatoes water overnight in salted water.
Ken Withey
any thing else you might “share”? 🙂 would be appreciated. Yummy. Thanks.
chuck
Is this before you bake or after?
Debby Foodiewife
I made these potatoes, along with your green bean recipe. My adult son has never eaten a baked potato (if you can believe it). As a kid, he refused to eat them. Anyway, he LOVED the potato. At first he didn’t get that the best part is eating the skin. Once he tried it, the whole spud disappeared. I made mine in my cast iron skillet, and we got a beautiful brown crust on the bottom. Thank you!
Stephanie
Debby, I am so glad that you enjoyed this one. I was stumped by that crispy skin for so long. It is really hard to beat one of these potatoes. I love that you used your iron skillet. Those are such work horses.
Sunny
I turn the potatoes every once in while to brown them on all sides!
stamper1004
This way of making baked potatoes is awesome!! Great flavor crispy outside and perfect middles!!
Stephanie
Before I made this recipe, I really thought the only way you could make a baked potato was to poke holes in it.
KT Kacer
I also do with either Olive Oil or rub outside with butter then add coarse salt.
Dominque Smith
came out perfect, crispy skin and fluffy inside, heck it came out better then my outback steakhouse
Stephanie Manley
Oh that’s awesome. Fresh straight out of the oven is always best.