Baked Potato Bar Night: The Easiest Build-Your-Own Family Dinner

A baked potato bar is the easiest build-your-own dinner there is: bake one potato per person, set out a few bowls of toppings, and let everyone load their own. The oven does almost all the work, the toppings can be leftovers, and a child who only wants butter and cheese eats the same dinner as the adult piling on beans and broccoli.

Serves: 4 · Prep: 15 minutes · Cook: 50–60 minutes · Kid-friendly: very. Every topping is optional, so nobody is stuck with something they don't like.

What you need

For the potatoes:

• 4 large russet potatoes, about 10 oz (280 g) each
• 1 tbsp (15 ml) olive or vegetable oil
• 1/2 tsp (3 g) salt

For the bar (pick four to six):

• 2 tbsp (30 g) butter
• 1 cup (100 g) shredded cheddar
• 1/2 cup (120 ml) sour cream or plain yogurt
• 2 cups (180 g) small broccoli florets, steamed
• 1 can (15 oz / 425 g) black beans, drained, rinsed and warmed
• 1 cup (150 g) sweet corn kernels, warmed
• 2 green onions, thinly sliced
• 1 1/2 cups (about 200 g) cooked chicken or ham, warmed, if you have it

Russets work best because their floury flesh fluffs up when you split them. Yukon Golds also work but come out creamier and denser.

How to make it

1. Heat the oven to 425°F (220°C).
2. Scrub the potatoes under running water and dry them well. Prick each one five or six times with a fork so steam can escape.
3. Rub the potatoes with the oil and sprinkle with salt. Put them straight on the oven rack, with a baking sheet on the rack below to catch drips.
4. Bake for 50–60 minutes. They're done when a fork slides into the thickest part with no resistance and the skin feels crisp.
5. While they bake, steam the broccoli, warm the beans, corn and any meat, and spoon the cold toppings into bowls.
6. Cut a line along the top of each potato, then squeeze the ends towards the middle so it splits open. Fluff the inside with a fork.
7. Set up the bar in order and let everyone build their own.

Skip the foil. Wrapping potatoes before baking traps steam, so the skin comes out soft instead of crisp.

Set up the bar in the right order

The order of the bowls matters more than you might think. Butter and cheese need the potato's heat to melt, so they go first. Warm toppings come next, and the cold ones go last so they don't cool everything down before the plate reaches the table.

With younger kids, an adult can handle station one, because a just-split potato releases a lot of steam. Children can serve themselves from there.

Making it work for younger kids

A whole baked potato is a lot for a small child, and the inside stays hot long after the outside feels fine. For toddlers and preschoolers:

• Scoop the flesh into a bowl, mash it with a little butter or milk, and let it cool before serving. Test the temperature in the middle, not just the top.
• Cook the broccoli until it's soft enough to squash between your fingers, and cut it into small pieces.
• Lightly mash black beans for children under 4 so they're easier to manage.
• Cut any chicken or ham into small, thin pieces.
• Offer the skin to older kids who like it crunchy, and skip it for babies and toddlers who are still learning to chew.

Older kids can help prep by scrubbing the potatoes, filling the topping bowls, and slicing green onions with a kid-safe knife while an adult watches. An adult should handle the hot oven and the splitting.

Using up leftovers

This is a good night for leftovers. Shredded chicken from sheet-pan chicken fajitas makes a great topping with a spoonful of the roasted peppers. Leftover chili, pulled pork and roast vegetables all work too. Warm any cooked meat until it's steaming hot all the way through before it goes on the bar.

Allergen swaps

• Dairy (butter, cheese, sour cream): use olive oil instead of butter, a dairy-free shredded cheese, and a dairy-free yogurt or mashed avocado instead of sour cream.
• Gluten: potatoes, beans and vegetables are naturally gluten-free. Check labels on ham, chili or ready-made sauces, which can contain wheat.
• Nuts, eggs, soy, sesame and shellfish aren't in the basic recipe, but check the labels on anything pre-made you add.

Storing and reheating

Refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours of cooking, in a covered container, and eat them within 3–4 days, following USDA guidance on cooked leftovers. Keep potatoes and toppings in separate containers so the potatoes don't go soggy.

Don't leave baked potatoes wrapped in foil at room temperature. USDA warns that foil-wrapped baked potatoes left out can support the bacteria that cause botulism, so unwrap them and refrigerate promptly.

To reheat, put potatoes back in a 350°F (175°C) oven for 15–20 minutes, or microwave them until they're steaming hot all the way through. The oven keeps the skin crisp, while the microwave is faster but leaves it soft. Leftover potato flesh also mashes well, and you can turn it into potato cakes the next day.