As comfort food goes, a good old-fashioned jacket potato is hard to beat.
The stress-free mid-week meal option is wonderful in its simplicity, but the key to the perfect baked spud is delicious crispy skin that's golden brown.
According to one top chef, there's an easy way to ensure your potatoes are crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside without the dreaded soggy skin.
Poppy O'Toole, who has been dubbed the 'Potato Queen' on social media, recently spoke to The Mirror about the 'delicious' way she whips up a jacket potato.
The chef, who posts on TikTok as @poppycooks, said: "I love a jacket potato, it's especially good when you don't know what you're going to have for lunch or dinner as it's super quick to make."
She went on to say that her top tip is to "smush" the potato before you put it into the oven or air fryer.
"Doing it this way is really tasty because you get super crispy outside and super fluffy inside," she explains.
"I like to add spices and garlic and all these different bits as well, that's my go-to jacket potato simply because it's filling, it's cheap and you can put any topping on it.
"You can also do that with any other meal you're prepping because you can use any kind of potato and it's going to be delicious."
And if the great taste wasn't enough of a reason to give it a go, the expert adds: "It can go with anything, which is what I really love."
To make her 'smushed' jacket potato, Poppy starts by microwaving a potato for about 10 minutes until it's almost cooked.
She then puts it on a tray and 'smushes' or 'smashes' the potato with a glass.
Next, the chef adds some oil or melted butter and herbs of her choice, before baking it in the oven or air fryer to finish it off.
To finish, you can add a topping to your jacket potato as you normally would, such as cheese and beans, or leave it as is and serve as an accompaniment to another dish.
Poppy went on to say that the smushed potato could make a great alternative to traditional roast potatoes in the coming summer months.
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