How to Bake Potatoes on a Grill
It is so easy to bake whole potatoes on a grill and they are delicious topped with butter and sour cream. You will think that you are at a steakhouse restaurant.
During the warm months of the year, I try to cook everything on the grill. It does not heat up the inside of the house summer, and it is much easier to be able to cook all the food in once place. Cooking a full meal on the grill, while hanging out in the sun-filled backyard, that is awesome. One of my favourite sides to cook on the grill are whole baked potatoes.
It is so easy to bake a potato on the grill, and perfect if you are also grilling up some steaks, chicken or other meat. These truly are some of the best potatoes ever. Light and fluffy on the inside, and the skin is also amazing. I love to top the potatoes with butter, sour cream, and have even sprinkled them with grated cheese and crumbled bacon. Oh yeah!
Great Alongside these Recipes!
Here are some other amazing recipes that are great to grill at the same time as the potatoes.
Russet potatoes are my favourite kind to use for baking on the grill or in the oven. The russet is a nice starchy potato that results in a light and fluffy flesh after baking. It tastes so good with some butter and sour cream.
Make sure you rinse and scrub the skin of the potato. Some russet potatoes you buy may have plenty of dirt on the skin and needs to be washed well first.
Poke the Potatoes with a Fork
Before I wrap the potatoes with foil, I like to stab them a few times with a fork. Push the fork in so that it is about 1/2 to 1 inch into the potato. This is something my mom always did anytime she baked potatoes. There is a lot of water in a potato and you can actually see the water coming out when you poke them with the fork (just look at the picture above). Stabbing them a few times provides a way for the steam to escape from the potato during baking.
Wrap the Potato in Foil
Before the potatoes go on the grill, roll them each up in some aluminum foil. Make sure each sheet is large enough so that the potato is completely covered and wrapped in the foil. The foil helps to prevent the skin of the potato from drying out. I have tried baking potatoes on a grill without foil and find that the skin of the potato can be tough and leathery. The foil will help prevent this from happening.
How Hot Should the Grill Be?
Preheat the grill to medium heat, about 375-425F. Place the wrapped potatoes on the upper/warming rack of the grill. Make sure to leave a little bit of space between the potatoes to allow for air flow and even baking. Close the lid and bake for 45-60 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender when poked with a knife. Turn the potatoes over halfway through the cooking time.
Using the warming rack keeps the potatoes a little bit further away from the direct flame to allow them to bake more evenly and not scorch on the bottom. If you do not have a warming rack, you could use the indirect grilling method to cook the potatoes. Heat the grill with one of the burners turned off (left or right). Place the potatoes on the side of the grill where the burners are off. This method may require a little more time to bake the potatoes.
One of the other reasons that I love using the warming rack for cooking whole potatoes, is that it leaves the main surface of the grill available for cooking more food. Put the potatoes on the grill first, and once they are close to being finished, you could throw on some burgers, steaks, or pork chops. Such an easy way to make a full meal on the grill.
I like to leave the potatoes in the foil until serving and only unwrap them once they go on the dinner plate. Use a knife to cut a slit across the top of the potato. Open it up, fluff the insides with a fork, and add some butter, a dollop of sour cream, and even some parsley or chives. This is one amazing way to have a baked potato.
How to Bake Potatoes on a Grill
Ingredients
- 4 medium russet potatoes
- foil for wrapping
Instructions
- Use a fork to pierce each potato about 4 times about 1/2 to 1 inch into the potato.
- Wrap each potato in foil.
- Preheat grill to medium heat, about 375-425F.
- Place wrapped potatoes on the upper rack of the grill. Make sure there is some space in between each potato for air flow.
- Close the lid to the grill and cook until the potatoes are fully cooked, about 45-60 minutes. Turn the potatoes over halfway through the cooking time.
- Test the doneness of the potatoes by sticking a knife in the centre of the potato. If it goes through easily, then the potato should be finished cooking.
- Cut a slit across the top of the potato and open it up. Fluff the inside with a fork and serve with your toppings of choice (butter, sour cream, parsley, chives, grated cheese, crumbled bacon, salt, pepper and more!)
Nutrition
Per serving:
