For Copycat Texas Roadhouse Baked Potatoes, Rub This Ingredient All Over The Skin

Though there are lots of things you should know before eating at Texas Roadhouse, one of the most important is understanding how the chain restaurant infuses its fluffy, delicious baked potatoes with that signature salty, smoky flavor. The secret, as it turns out, is bacon grease. While it's highly recommended to coat your baked potatoes in some kind of fat to ensure a crispy, delicious skin you'll look forward to eating, selecting bacon drippings as your fat of choice also imparts a hefty dose of salt, umami, and richness difficult to attain from any other ingredient.

In fact, if you weren't already sure throwing out your bacon grease is a huge mistake, this Texas Roadhouse baked potato dupe is sure to convince you. Piercing the potatoes all over before you coat them in fat not only prevents your spuds from exploding, it also creates channels for the grease to seep into the flesh of the potato, essentially seasoning them inside and out with one of America's most beloved flavors.

There's also no need to wrap these in foil before throwing them in the oven, as that's one of the crucial mistakes people make with baked potatoes that prevents the skin from crisping to golden perfection. For true restaurant-style taste, you can also rub the outside of your potatoes with coarse sea salt. You might also opt for something spicy, like hot salt, to take the flavor in a barbecue direction, while a salt and pepper combo mimics the beautiful flavors of a rustic brunch.

Since baked potatoes are usually kind of a bland foundation to showcase other flavors and ingredients, coating them in bacon fat not only ensures a crispy skin but gives you a clear starting point for building your other flavors. For instance, a potato already infused with meaty, smoky goodness would make an irresistible loaded baked potato topped with cheddar cheese, sour cream, chives, and real crumbled bacon. Pro tip: Swap the sour cream for herby Boursin cheese for even more flavor.

If you're looking for an easy, hearty, tasty weeknight meal, it's awfully difficult to think of bacon-infused potatoes without immediately jumping to Southwestern flavors. For a cowboy-style baked potato worth singing about, try smothering your Texas Roadhouse dupe in that last bit of spicy slow cooker beef chili along with a generous helping of aged white cheddar cheese or — even better — smoked Gouda to carry that flame-kissed flavor throughout the dish.

You might also swap out the Gouda for Gruyère and sub chili for caramelized onions to create a rich baked potato with French onion flair. Drizzle on some rich beef gravy to mimic the soup's classic jus and garnish with crispy fried onions for a mouthwatering crunch. If you want to take things to brunch territory, think over-easy eggs, more crumbled bacon, diced avocado, red onion, pico de gallo, and top everything off with a beautiful drizzle of Cholula hot sauce or your favorite salsa. No matter how you make it, a bacon-rubbed baked potato is sure to be a hit.