Jacques Pépin's Technique For Serving Baked Potatoes Gives You Extra Room For Toppings

Fluffy, filling, and loaded to the brim with your favorite toppings — there's nothing quite like a great baked potato. Legendary French chef Jacques Pépin has a go-to method that makes it even easier to load up your baked potato with the good stuff, and it's super simple. All you'll need to do is make one extra cut before you load up with toppings. Slicing your baked potato vertically and horizontally creates a perfect pocket for cheese, chili, or whatever else you're using to fill up your spud.

Pépin slices about halfway down the baked potato vertically, then he turns the potato and makes a similar, halfway-down-the-potato cut horizontally. He gently pushes the edges of the potato toward the center, causing the four-way slice to open up into a perfect space for toppings. He adds a sprinkle of salt and pepper, followed by a solid helping of sour cream and chives. This classic approach is, without a doubt, delicious, but there are a ton of ways you can get creative when you're customizing your baked potato.

Now that you have Jacques Pépin's tip on how to properly slice your baked potato, it's time to take a look at how you can top it to perfection. If you'd rather not follow Pépin's sour cream topping method, try the British way to deliciously top a baked potato. The most popular British baked potato toppings (they're called jacket potatoes across the pond, by the way) include beans and cheese, tuna and mayo, and chicken tikka.

Another surprising way to elevate your baked potato: Add a dollop of bleu cheese dressing. You can include other classic toppings as well — think bacon, cheddar cheese, and chives — or lean into the bleu cheese flavor by adding shredded chicken and hot sauce for a buffalo wing-inspired creation. Topping your baked potato with a classic appetizer — spinach and artichoke dip — can also create a filling, super-flavorful side dish. No matter what you decide to top your baked potato with, be sure to use Pépin's slicing method so you can load up on more hearty ingredients.