Not Salt — Baked Potatoes Are 100% More Delicious When You Use This Seasoning

One might spend so much time thinking about what should go in a baked potato that they might not fully consider the extent of what should go on one. Stuffing a baked potato with a whole darn shepherd's pie or all the ingredients for taco night shows just how seriously we take our fillings. But the outside has a ton of potential, too. And dressing it up with a few shakes of lemon pepper seasoning will better tailor those jackets to the rest of your dinner, or just make the baked potato even better on its own.

A good lemon pepper seasoning will include the obvious ground pepper and lemon zest, plus its own salt, which it's always good to account for before adding any extra. Some blends also feature other enhancements like garlic, onion, and herbs. Rubbing lemon pepper seasoning and oil onto the potato skin before baking adds a citrusy pop, a little extra brightness, and subtly aromatic notes that you might not have otherwise taken the time to include. And with all that flavor sprinkled around the outside of your potato, you might even be able to keep whatever you're piling inside a little simpler.

Once you've seasoned your potato with lemon pepper, you'll have to think about what to put inside while it bakes. As luck would have it, the butter and regular salt that you might have normally used will still be great carb companions, just with the new kick of what you've introduced to the exterior. This is actually one case when you can even consider adding a pinch more salt to the interior without overdoing it, given how much fluffy, otherwise plain starch there is to adorn.

Grated parmesan cheese is also terrific with lemon pepper seasoning, plus its naturally occurring MSG carries a savory, umami quality that your potato might not otherwise get. That extra topping also seems to invite fresh green herbs that go beyond the light presence of the dried ones that you'll likely find in the lemon pepper mix. Something like thyme's citrusy, peppery notes can further amplify what's already in the seasoning. And it never hurts to borrow specific elements from the lemon pepper's listed ingredients for further hints about what might also be deliciously cohesive in the baked potato. The garlic in your seasoning, for example, might be barely noticeable straight from the jar. But a few roasted cloves can both amplify what's already there and bring their own fragrant, mild sweetness to the meal.