Jason’s Deli Baked Potato Copycat Recipe (Loaded Big)

The Jason’s Deli baked potato is the one people photograph. It arrives roughly the size of a football, split open and steaming, buried under cheese and broccoli or bacon, and it costs less than most sandwiches. This copycat recipe gets you the same thing at home for about a dollar a potato.

The restaurant version isn’t complicated. It’s a very large russet, baked naked on a rack at high heat with an oiled and heavily salted skin. What makes yours different from theirs is almost certainly the foil, and the fix is to stop using it.

Why You Will Love This Recipe

• Crackling, salty skin instead of the soft steamed skin foil gives you.
• Genuinely fluffy inside, not dense or gluey.
• Costs about a dollar per potato to make.
• Three topping builds straight off the Jason’s Deli menu.
• Almost entirely hands-off once it goes in the oven.

Why Restaurant Baked Potatoes Are Better Than Yours

They start with a much bigger potato. Jason’s uses oversized russets, in the 12 to 16 ounce range. Your grocery store’s standard bag runs 6 to 8 ounces. Ask at the produce counter for baking russets or buy them loose and pick the biggest ones in the bin. The size is half the impression the dish makes.

They never use foil. Foil traps steam against the skin. Steam is the enemy of crisp. A potato baked in foil is technically steamed, which is why the skin comes out soft and slack. Bake it bare and the surface dries out and crackles.

They oil and salt the skin. A thin coat of oil conducts heat into the surface and helps the salt stick. Kosher salt, generously, all over. This is the single step most home cooks skip and it’s the one that makes the skin taste like the restaurant’s.

They bake it hot and long. 425°F for a full hour or more. Low and slow gives you a pale, leathery skin. If you want a deeper dive into baking times at other temperatures, I break that down in my baked potato timing guide.

They open it properly. A cut down the middle and a hard squeeze from both ends pushes the flesh up and lets the steam escape. Trapped steam turns the inside gummy within minutes.

Ingredients

• Large russet potatoes: The oversized 12 to 16 ounce baking potatoes
• Olive oil: A thin coat that helps the salt stick
• Kosher salt: Coarse grains that crust and season the skin
• Butter: Melts straight into the hot fluffed potato flesh
• Sour cream: Cool tangy base under the shredded cheddar topping
• Shredded sharp cheddar: Melts from the potato’s own heat, no broiler
• Broccoli florets: Steamed just until bright green and still firm
• Bacon: Cooked crisp and crumbled for salt and crunch
• Chives: Sliced thin for color and mild onion bite

How To Make a Jason’s Deli Baked Potato

Step One: Heat the oven to 425°F and set a wire rack inside a rimmed baking sheet. The rack matters. Air needs to reach the bottom of the potato or that side steams against the pan.

Step Two: Scrub the potatoes well under cold water and dry them completely. Any surface moisture works against the skin.

Step Three: Pierce each potato six to eight times with a fork. This lets steam out during baking and keeps the potato from bursting.

Step Four: Rub each potato all over with about a teaspoon of oil, then sprinkle generously with kosher salt, turning to coat every side.

Step Five: Place them directly on the rack, not touching each other, and bake for 60 to 75 minutes. A 16-ounce potato may take 80. They’re done when a knife slides into the center with no resistance and the internal temperature reads 205 to 210°F.

Step Six: Cut a slit lengthwise down the top, then push in hard from both ends with your fingers or a towel. The flesh will mound up through the opening.

Step Seven: Fluff the inside with a fork, add butter while it’s hot enough to melt, and top however you like from the builds below.

The Jason’s Deli Topping Builds

Broccoli and cheese. Steamed broccoli florets and a generous handful of sharp cheddar, added while the potato is still hot enough to melt it. This is the one most people order.

Bacon and cheddar. Sour cream, shredded cheddar, crumbled bacon, and sliced chives. Add the sour cream after the cheese so it doesn’t melt into soup.

Chili and cheese. A ladle of chili, cheddar, sour cream, and scallions. Any thick chili works; a thin one waterlogs the potato.

Sweet potato version. A large sweet potato takes 45 to 55 minutes at the same temperature. Skip the salt crust, use butter and cinnamon instead, and check earlier since they go from firm to collapsing quickly.

Recipe Tips

• Buy the biggest potatoes you can find. If they look ordinary on the plate, the recipe hasn’t worked. Size is the point.
• No foil, ever. If you need to hold them warm, leave them uncovered in a 200°F oven rather than wrapping.
• Dry the skin thoroughly. Wet skin steams, and steamed skin never crisps.
• Use a thermometer if you have one. 205 to 210°F is the window where the starch has fully gelatinized. Under that and the center is waxy.
• Open them immediately. A finished potato left whole for ten minutes steams itself soft from the inside.
• Salt the skin more than feels right. Most of it ends up on the pan or falls off. What sticks is what you taste.

Storing Instructions

• Refrigerator: Whole, unsplit baked potatoes keep 4 days in an airtight container. Don’t top them until you reheat.
• Reheating: 400°F oven for 15 to 20 minutes brings the skin back. Air fryer at 375°F for 8 to 10 minutes works too.
• Microwave: It’ll heat through, but the skin turns soft. Use it only if you’re going to load the potato anyway.
• Freezer: Not recommended. The texture turns grainy on thawing.

Make It a Full Deli Spread

A loaded potato and a bowl of soup is the classic Jason’s Deli order. Round it out with the copycat sweet cornbread on the side, or serve smaller potatoes alongside the Jason’s Deli chicken salad and pasta salad for a lunch spread. A drizzle of the copycat ranch dressing over a loaded potato is closer to the restaurant than sour cream alone, and the fruit dip finishes the meal the way the salad bar does.

If you want the same toppings without the wait, my cheesy bacon roasted potatoes get there in a fraction of the time. For more restaurant favorites, browse all my copycat recipes or the sides archive.

Jason’s Deli Baked Potato FAQs

How big is the Jason’s Deli baked potato? Oversized, generally in the 12 to 16 ounce range before toppings, which is roughly double a standard grocery store potato.

Why is my baked potato skin soft? Almost always foil. Wrapping traps steam against the skin. Bake it bare on a rack with oiled, salted skin instead.

What temperature should I bake a potato at? 425°F gives you crisp skin and a fluffy interior in about an hour. Lower temperatures work but the skin never gets there.

Do I have to poke holes in it? Yes. Steam has to escape somewhere, and occasionally a potato really does burst without them.

Can I make these in an air fryer? Yes. 400°F for 40 to 50 minutes, same oil and salt treatment, turning once. Best for one or two potatoes; more than that crowds the basket.

How do I know when it’s done? A knife should meet no resistance at the center, and a thermometer should read 205 to 210°F.

Can I use a sweet potato instead? Yes, and it takes less time. See the sweet potato variation above.

This is an independent copycat recipe inspired by the Jason’s Deli baked potato. It is not the official recipe, and no knowledge of proprietary recipes, processes, or ingredients is claimed or implied. Jason’s Deli is a registered trademark of its owner and Fork To Spoon is not affiliated with or endorsed by it.

More Jason’s Deli Copycat Recipes

If a loaded potato has you wanting the rest of the menu, here’s what else I’ve recreated at home.

Their chicken salad is the one people ask about most, with tender shredded chicken, celery and grapes in a simple mayo base. The pasta salad from the salad bar is just as easy and travels well to a potluck. For a hot lunch, the Reuben stacks corned beef, sauerkraut and Swiss with a creamy Russian dressing on grilled rye.

On the side, the sweet cornbread is moist and cake-like the way theirs is, and the ranch dressing works as a dressing, a dip, or a drizzle over the potato above. To finish, the fruit dip is the closest version to the restaurant’s you’ll find, right down to the orange liqueur most copycat recipes leave out.

For more restaurant favorites, browse all my copycat recipes or the sides archive.