Baked Potatoes in a Roaster

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This Baked Potatoes in a Roaster recipe is hands-down the easiest and best way to cook and keep warm baked potatoes for a crowd.

Baked Potatoes in Electric Roaster recipe

If you’ve ever wondered the best way how to bake potatoes for a large gathering, this recipe is for YOU!

Whether you like your baked potatoes wrapped in foil or unwrapped with a crispy texture on the outside, this recipe will break down all the simple things you need to know.

It is especially useful if you’ve got a big dinner to make and you’re stuck with just a single oven. Yep, an electric roaster can come right alongside you to become your second oven!

I learned this first-hand when one of my double ovens went out. I had to figure out how to cook both a turkey and a ham in electric roasters.

They both turned out great, and I’ve begun cooking in my electric roaster more and more.

Heck, I even cook prime rib in my electric roaster.

And now here I am baking mounds of baked potatoes in my electric roaster.

Using an electric roaster oven is also convenient because you can move it off the kitchen counter to another area.

The kitchen counter is such a sacred space!

Baked potatoes in a roaster recipe ingredients

• Russet baking potatoes: Yep, you can make baked potatoes using just about any type of potatoes. HOWEVER, for the best baked potatoes, Russet potatoes are truly what you should use. This is because Russet potatoes have thick skins that get nice and crispy as they bake. Russet potatoes are also high in starch, making them fluffy in texture and a bit sweet to the taste – delicious!
  
• Vegetable or canola oil: Oil ensures that the skins get crispy and golden brown, adding both flavor and texture. If you like skins that get really crispy, swap out the oil for butter when rubbing the skins before baking.
  
• Kosher salt: Sprinkle the oiled potatoes with a generous sprinkling of kosher salt for added crunch.

Recipe tips

• To make the potatoes cook even faster, rotate them and turn them over in the roaster half way through the baking time.

• Size actually does matter when you’re talking about baked potatoes. Larger russet potatoes (at least 10 – 12 oz. in size or larger) make better baking potatoes since they have had time to grow which means more of their natural sugars convert to starch, creating the soft and fluffy texture we all know and love.

How to cook baked potatoes in a roaster

Lay a sheet of heavy-duty aluminum foil across the bottom of the electric roaster oven. Preheat the electric roaster to 400°F.

When placing the potatoes into the preheated electric roaster, be sure they aren’t touching the sides of the roaster as they cook.

A few of mine touched the side of the roaster oven. This resulted in burn marks on the potato skins, which made them look rather unappetizing.

Scrub the potatoes, then pat each one dry with paper towels. Pierce each potato a few times with a knife or fork.

Pricking the potatoes with a fork before cooking them keep them from exploding.

This can actually happen so take the time to stab them with your fork a couple times!

Using your fingers, rub each potato generously with a bit of vegetable or canola oil all over the exterior. Season with kosher salt.

Place the prepared potatoes into the preheated electric roaster. Take care that the potatoes don’t touch the sides of the roaster oven.

If desired, you can wrap the potatoes with foil or bake them naked. It will take the potatoes longer to bake if they are wrapped in foil, but the foil also helps them stay warmer longer when you are preparing to serve them.

Cover the electric roaster with the lid.

Bake the potatoes for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until very tender when pierced with a fork.

If you meet any resistance when inserting the fork, the potatoes aren’t fully cooked.

Give them some additional cooking time and test again.

To be sure the potatoes are fully cooked and ready, I use an oven mitt to squeeze the hot potatoes as a test.

If the potatoes are fully cooked and ready to be eaten, they will give under pressure.

This ensures the insides will be perfectly fluffy and soft.

Turn the electric roaster oven to the “WARM” setting until ready to serve the potatoes, keeping the roaster oven covered with the lid.

To serve the baked potatoes, cut each down the potato vertically, then press at the top and the bottom to open where you’ve cut.

Fluff the insides with a fork, then dd your favorite toppings such as butter, sour cream, and shredded cheese.

Do baked potatoes cook faster with or without foil?

Baked potatoes will cook faster without foil. I was curious about this so I tested foil-wrapped potatoes and unwrapped baked potatoes side-by-side in the electric roaster oven.

The unwrapped potatoes cooked significantly quicker than the foil-wrapped potatoes. I also liked how crispy the skins of the unwrapped potatoes became as they baked “naked”.

The biggest positive to baking foil-wrapped potatoes is that they will stay hotter for a longer period of time once fully baked.

This is typically why restaurant baked potatoes often come in a foil wrapper when served.

How long does it take to bake potatoes in an electric roaster?

We baked 20 potatoes that were about 10 oz. in size. It took every bit of 1 hour and 15 minutes at 400 degrees F. before the potatoes were fully cooked.

The fuller you fill the electric roaster oven with baked potatoes, the longer it will take them to cook due to the volume inside.

That said, if you cook fewer potatoes at once, the cooking time might be slightly less.

The best advice is not to cook the potatoes just for a specific amount of time, but rather by doneness.

1 hour and 15 minutes is an approximate baking time, but it may take even 1 hour and 30 minutes for the potatoes to get fully cooked to where they are soft and fluffy inside.

This is because there are always variables when we cook. Variables may be whether or not your electric roaster oven cooks efficiently or the temperature of the potatoes when you begin the cooking process.

Heck, even the weather outside affects how things cook in the kitchen.

How many pounds of potatoes for 20 people?

A good size Russet potato for baked potatoes is 10-12 oz.

If you are serving 20 people, you’ll need 20 potatoes or 12-15 lbs. of potatoes if you’re purchasing them by weight.

Buying potatoes by weight

A 10 pound bag of big Russet baking potatoes yields roughly 15 – 17 potatoes.

A 10 pound bag of regular Russet baking potatoes yields roughly 26 – 28 potatoes.

How to keep baked potatoes warm in a roaster

After you have baked the potatoes in the roaster at 400 degrees F. and they are fully cooked, turn the roaster down to the lowest setting which should be “warm”.

The baked potatoes can rest right inside the roaster oven on warm until you are ready to serve them. Keep the lid on the roaster to contain the heat.

What to serve with baked potatoes

My guys are carnivores, so we have baked potatoes a lot alongside meat dishes, especially beef.

We especially enjoy baked potatoes with eye of round roast beef and bottom round roast that’s falling-apart tender and juicy.

I like to serve hamburger steak with baked potatoes since we can put the gravy over the baked potatoes for a different twist. Garlic butter sizzle steaks are a fast weeknight meal that are also delicious served with a baked potato.

More easy side dish recipes

• If you want perfect whipped potatoes make a big batch of creamy, fluffy million dollar mashed potatoes in your slow cooker. You and your family will love this simple potato side dish.
• Instant Pot Creamy Smashed Potatoes are creamy and full of flavor smashed potatoes made in your pressure cooker.
• Smashed Garlic Potatoes are crispy smashed potatoes that are slow-roasted with a garlic kick.
• Corn for a Crowd is an easy vegetable side dish made in a roaster.
• Mac and Cheese for a Crowd has a combination of cheddar and Velveeta cheese to make the perfect Mac and Cheese.