Jacket Vs Baked Potatoes: Is There A Difference?

Whether as a side dish or a full meal on its own, a fluffy potato enclosed in a crispy layer of skin is sheer perfection when done correctly and gussied up with the right toppings. Baked and jacket potatoes are two names for that comforting, classic, and easy dish. Simply put, jacket potatoes are the more common name for a skin-on baked potato in the United Kingdom.

While the dishes are nearly the same, jackets often have a crispier skin shell in comparison to their Stateside baked counterpart. Perfect baked potatoes, American-style, cook for around an hour in the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Meanwhile, jacket potatoes usually cook anywhere from an hour to about an hour and a half. British potatoes might roast for a second round under a raised temperature depending on the recipe, which ensures that delightful crispy skin. If the potatoes aren't scheduled for a secondary, higher-temperature blast, they're baked at a high temperature from the beginning of their cooking time.

While some like to wrap their spuds in foil before cooking, it's not a necessary step. Rubbing your potato with some oil –- and salt and pepper –- before baking it can help ensure a crisp and tasty outer layer.

Jacket and baked potatoes are excellent vehicles for fillings because of their comforting fluffy centers that are a blank canvas. However, if you want to enjoy a traditional jacket potato, you'll use different toppings than what is considered common in the United States — take, for example, how tuna salad is a topping we miss out on in the U.S. but is popular over in Great Britain.

Here, traditional baked potato toppings include a slab of butter, shredded cheese, sour cream, crumbled bacon, or chives — heck, even barbecued beef or pork make great fillings here in the States. In the U.K., standard toppings for a traditional jacket potato include butter, a rich cheese like red Leicester, and spoons of a nationally beloved favorite –- Heinz baked beans.

The latter might seem unusual on a baked potato to those who haven't tried it, but it's well worth giving a chance. It adds to the comfort of a jacket potato for the British, as the tomato-sauce-based beans are the idyllic type for beans on toast. Moreover, they're slightly sweet, slightly savory, and an essential part of a classic full English breakfast. With the cheese topping, the jacket potato is a full-on hearty and filling meal of comforting flavors.