Ina Garten’s Unconventional Baked Potato Recipe Is as Simple as It Is Holiday-Worthy

This sheet pan recipe was quite simple to prepare with one caveat: Garten recommends a food processor to blitz both the herb seasoning for the potatoes and the whipped feta. I (like many of you, I assume) don’t own one, so I used other methods to get as close to hers as possible. First, I chopped the rosemary and thyme very finely. Next, I zested a lemon, added the zest to the herbs, and minced it all even more. Once those components were combined, I added fleur de sel (ICYMI, this is a fancy French sea salt; Garten’s favorite brand is Le Saunier de Camargue) and transferred the mixture to a bowl. Next, I rubbed the washed, scrubbed potatoes with olive oil and coated them in the herb mixture.

While the potatoes baked (this takes at least an hour, so be sure you have the time and patience before you start), I started working on the whipped feta topping. It’s mostly crumbled Greek feta, along with a bit of room-temperature cream cheese (be sure you set it out in advance!) and olive oil. Because I didn’t have a food processor on hand or a food-friendly blender, I used a potato masher to combine the two cheeses before mashing in the olive oil. Once it looked combined, I used a whisk to whip in the lemon, salt and pepper.

The potatoes were fluffy and cooked through after 1 hour and 15 minutes. I quickly slit them down the center and squeezed the ends to open and puff out the centers of the spuds. After a few minutes of cooling, I crowned them with the feta topping and finished them with chopped scallions (Garten suggests chives for the garnish, but my supermarket was out, so I went for the next best thing).

First, let’s talk appearance. The potatoes indeed looked crusty; the lemon zest browned for an elegant finish, while the skins were slightly wrinkled all over. Sure, the seasoning may not have been as fine and the feta topping not as smooth (it looked sort of like cottage cheese) as Ina’s, but even sans food processor, that didn’t take away much from the aesthetics.

Now for the most important part: taste. Ina’s baked potato recipe was as delicious as you’d imagine. The outside was crispy and very well-seasoned; I was surprised how subtle yet apparent the herbs and lemon zest were, making for a citrusy, almost floral note that complemented the potato skins’ natural earthiness. The feta topping was tastefully punchy, bright and tangy without being overwhelming. (I was concerned it would be too salty alongside the seasoning, but the gargantuan potatoes and their fluffy insides evened things out.) The olive oil and lemon juice tamed the cheese’s acidic high notes and made for a balanced-yet-robust overall flavor.

The TLDR? Ina doesn’t miss.