Give Baked Potatoes An Upgrade With This Hearty Favorite

Baked potatoes might be one of the simplest foods, and yet they're also one of the best. They're warming, delicious, and incredibly easy to make (as long as you're patient, of course). Even professional chefs have a soft spot for them, including Kieron Hales, head chef and managing partner of Zingerman's Cornman Farms, a Michigan event venue. 

Hales has been a lifelong fan of baked spuds, or "jacket potatoes" as the British sometimes call them, but moving across the Atlantic cemented his love for the comfort food. "My eyes were opened when I got here, and the world of options and variations," he explained. Hales likes to add chili to his baked spuds, a classic combination that he first tried back in the U.K. but has grown to love in the United States.

A chili and potato combo hits all the right notes because "the fat and spice of a great chili highlights the natural sweetness of the potatoes," Hales said. A potato topped with chili already has salt, fat, acid, and heat, creating an irresistible combination that needs little in the way of fancy upgrades — just the fundamentals right.

Kieron Hales thinks of a perfectly fluffy baked potato as a little like a sponge. It soaks up whatever you put on top and takes on that flavor. Hales noted that "the fluffier the potato, the more chili it can hold." Fluffy potatoes, he says, are starchy potatoes, so look for spuds with a high starch content. " ... Russets are the winner by a country mile [in the U.S.]," the chef said, adding that he would use a Maris Piper back home in the U.K. Both of these potato varieties also have thick skins, which Hales said "are nice and robust and hold up to become crisp ... " If you want really crispy skins, choosing the right cooking method for your baked potato is essential — a quick blast in the microwave probably won't cut it.

When it comes to the chili, simply follow your own preferences — whether you like it super spicy, smoky, or mild and tomato-forward, the flavors of chili should work with the potato. Hales said he likes chili with "lots of beans" and "plenty of veggies and textures." He acknowledges that the beans-or-no-beans debate is a fiery one, however, and leaves that choice up to individual preference for others. In fact, his only hard and fast prerequisite for good chili is adding a squeeze of lemon or lime to brighten the dish. Hales and his family do like a thick chili, but the chef doesn't seem to think this is essential if you prefer a thinner consistency. As long as you get the right potato and cook it well, the liquid of your chili should soak into its flesh.

"No potato would move forward without [a] lashing of a good sharp cheddar," Kieron Hales said. We're not going to argue with that, although other cheeses can be added, too. Nutty gouda would work with the sweet flesh of the potato, while gruyere would bring richness and melt fantastically, and if all you have in the fridge is shredded Mexican cheese blend, that's fine too. A baked potato is likely to be a last-minute meal idea or something you put together the day before grocery shopping, so there's no need to over-complicate things. In fact, it's a great meal to assemble from leftovers — chili usually improves over time as the flavors really marry, so you'll probably be getting it at its best.

For Hales, a baked potato sans sour cream feels unfinished, and the tart dairy goes very well with chili, too. You could substitute with Greek yogurt, sprinkle some feta cheese over your chili to achieve that tart dairy flavor, or even make your own quick sour cream if you have heavy cream in the fridge. Hales noted that a nice, freshly sliced green onion is a "lovely addition," but other similar alliums, like chives, a thinly sliced shallot, or a few pickled red onions are great toppings as well. "Finally, a good squeeze of lime is the chef's kiss to bring it all together," Hales said.