The Only 12-Minute Cooking Decision You Won't Regret This Holiday Season

Stop waiting an hour for a potato. The traditional oven method is a massive waste of time that you should have retired years ago. These days, if you want that perfect steakhouse-ready pillowy, fluffy interior with skin so salty and crisp it snaps, you need to stop being a purist and start using the “hybrid” shortcut.

Sure, a microwave is the undisputed king of cooking the inside of a potato quickly, but it can leave the skin a soggy, depressing mess. On the flip side, an air fryer creates an incredible crust but takes forever to penetrate the center. By nuking your russet for about 10 minutes to get it tender and then tossing it into the air fryer for a four-minute finishing blast, you cheat the system.

In roughly 12 minutes, you get a result that tastes like it spent the afternoon in a 400-degree oven. So here’s how you’ll get it out on the table this holiday season. 

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My 12-minute baked potato recipe

What you need

• One russet potato
• 1 teaspoon olive oil or butter
• A microwave
• An air fryer
• Kosher salt for serving

Directions

• Step 1: Poke 10 to 12 air holes in the potato using a fork and salt liberally.
• Step 2: Microwave the potato on high for 8 to 10 minutes or until it’s fork-tender and cooked through.
• Step 3: Slice the potato halfway through and toss with melted butter or olive oil. You can also stuff the potato with cheese or bacon bits.
• Step 4: Air fry on high, skin side up, for 2 minutes.
• Step 5: Flip and cook for another two minutes until desired crispiness is achieved. (If topping with cheese, veggies or bacon, cook skin side down only.)

For more tips, see my list of the seven foods I’ll only air fry from now on, and learn the best way to reheat every kind of leftovers.