Six in ten Brits (62 percent) have been saving pennies by baking potatoes, with 82 percent claiming they are the ultimate mid-week lunch – and nine in ten insisting they are back on trend, thanks to social media accounts like The SpudBros.
And as the nights draw in, Brits eat an average of eight baked spuds a month, during the colder months, with almost half (47 percent) insisting they are the ultimate comfort food – and 55 percent eating more of them in a bid to reduce their meat consumption.
According to the poll, by plant-based cheese brand Nurishh, 88 percent have swapped their shop-bought sandwiches, sushi or salads for a hearty and filling baked potato, in a bid to save cash. And when it comes to fillings – a liberal grating of CHEESE emerged as the favourite way to enjoy the classic, carb-fuelled lunch – although its bad news for vegans as a quarter insist plant-based cheese never tastes as good as the real deal.
Baked beans (62 percent), tuna (34 percent) and chilli-con-carne (32 percent) are other staple fillings, according to the 2,000 polled, while 35 percent insist that JUST butter is the best recipe, with two tablespoons emerging as the perfect amount, according to spud lovers. Coleslaw, bolognaise, Coronation chicken, prawn marie-rose and EVEN chicken curry are other fillings Brits love to pour onto their spuds.
According to baked potato masters and TikTokers, Spudbros, the secret to the perfect potato is to use Melody potatoes, and to wrap the potato in foil to hold that moisture. They should then be cooked at 200 degrees for 50 minutes – and then 260 for 15 minutes and turned halfway through cooking to ensure even crispness and fluffiness.
Half (50 percent) of Brits cook a baked potato in the oven, while 25 percent give them a blast in the microwave and finish them off in the stove – while 14 percent turn to an air fryer for their lunchtime spud.
Crispy skin (74 percent), lashings of butter (67 percent), good quality potatoes (50 percent), lots of melting cheese (38 percent) and putting olive oil and salt on the skin before baking (26 percent) are considered vital to creating the perfect baked potato. Despite also being highly popular with vegans, 63 percent wish there were better alternatives to cheese and butter that they could put in their jacket potato.
The survey also revealed a host of things that should NEVER be put in a baked potato, according to Brits, with instant noodles (64 percent), Marmite (60 percent) and haggis (55 percent) topping the list, along with canned spaghetti (51 percent), tin of mac and cheese (45 percent) or salad cream (44 percent) or mayo (43 percent) on their own. And don’t think about serving up a sweet baked potato, as two thirds (62 percent) say it can NEVER be as good as the original.
BEST BAKED POTATO TOPPINGS, ACCORDING TO BRITS:
- Cheese – 64%
- Baked beans and cheese – 62%
- Just butter – 35%
- Tuna and cheese – 34%
- Chilli con carne – 32%
- Cheese and bacon bits – 31%
- Cheese and coleslaw – 26%
- Sour cream and chive – 18%
- Chicken curry – 17%
- Bolognese – 17%
- BBQ chicken – 16%
- Coronation chicken – 13%
- Pulled pork – 13%
- Prawn Marie Rose – 10%
- Egg mayonnaise – 10%
