This Celebrity Chef Makes The Absolute Best Baked Potato Out There

If you need an easy side dish, or even a main meal, baked potatoes can be a great pick. You can make them in just 20 minutes or so and then pile them with sour cream, cheese, pre-cooked bacon, and other bits and bobs that don't require prep work.

For a truly game-changing meal, however, the recipe you use matters. Daily Meal tested and ranked celebrity chef baked potatoes and determined that out of all the recipes you can use to make this meal, the Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond's, Air Fryer Baked Potato is the way to go.

The method behind this potato is simple — brush your tuber with oil, season it with salt and pepper (or get creative and add other seasonings like garlic, paprika, or even cumin), and bake it in the air fryer at 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Then, all you've got to do is cook them for 50 minutes, rotating them around halfway through, and then you're ready to let them cool a bit and dig in!

Although this method takes about an hour to put together, it's well worth it as you get a soft potato with a crispy outer skin. Air fryers circulate hot air through the basket at high temperatures. This leads to the skin of your potato cooking first, which helps create a crunchy exterior. Another factor in getting that crackly skin is that as the potato cooks, the oil on the skin helps more moisture evaporate off the outside of the tuber, causing extra crispy consistency. And, unlike deep frying, the potato doesn't remain in the oil, keeping your meal from becoming greasy. However, you'll still get that rich, buttery flavor from the fat you used on your potato making for a flavor-packed meal. ​​

It's not just the outside that's affected, however. When you use the air fryer, you also get a delightfully fluffy, creamy texture when you cut into your baked potato. When you cook the tuber in the air fryer, the high temperatures used in the machine help the starch in the potatoes to trap moisture, leading to a soft and fluffy bite.

Another reason the air fryer is the best method for making a classic baked potato is that it's hassle-free. With the air fryer, there's no need to wrap your potatoes in aluminum foil (and in fact, doing so could lead to a mushy skin rather than the crispy texture you're looking for. Plus, the only prep work involved is washing and brushing your potatoes in oil. There's no need to poke holes in them (but you can) or prep a baking sheet. Additionally, you don't need to preheat your air fryer for as long to get it up to temperature. While ovens can take up to 15 minutes to warm up, your air fryer needs less than five, depending on the size.

The clean-up is also reduced with the air fryer. You don't need to worry about cleaning baking trays or knives. Plus, if you use air fryer liners, you don't even have to wash out the basket when you're done cooking. Just throw out the liner and you're ready to use your device again. The easy prep and clean up and tasty texture make Pioneer Woman's baked potato recipe a true winner.