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These baked potatoes are cooked on the grill, making them a super easy side dish to include whenever you’re grilling out! They have crispy skin with a delicious salt crust, and they’re so fluffy on the inside. Load them up with all of your favorite toppings or use them as a base for BBQ pork or chicken!
Before You Get Started
- Each time you open the lid of the grill, you increase the cook time for your baked potatoes. I know you’ll have open it periodically to grill other foods, but try to keep it to a minimum!
- Use potatoes that are all the same size and thickness. That way they’ll cook at the same rate and be ready at the same time!
How to Make This Recipe
See recipe card below for full list of measurements, ingredients, and instructions.
Prep and Preheat
While the grill works toward that 350ยฐ Fahrenheit temperature, give the potatoes a good wash, pat them dry, then prick them with the tines of a fork to create little vent holes. You’ll need to pierce the potatoes several times on all sides for proper ventilation. Don’t use too much force, though – you don’t want to push the fork through the potato.
Cheryl’s Tip: Ventilating the potatoes is an important step. If you skip it, the steam that builds up inside the potatoes during cooking could lead to a potato explosion.
Season the potatoes
Completely coat the potatoes in avocado oil or olive oil, then roll the potatoes in sea salt to give them a nice crust. Once they’re salted, microwave them all together for 4 minutes, just long enough that they’re a little soft when squeezed.
Grill the potatoes
Wrap the microwaved potatoes in 2 sheets of foil each, making sure every inch of each potato is completely covered. Pop the wrapped potatoes on the fully-preheated grill and leave them for 30-40 minutes. Try not to open the lid during that time if you can avoid it!
Finish and Serve
When the potatoes are fork-tender, take them off the grill and give them 5 minutes to cool a bit. Unwrap them, slice them open, and add your favorite toppings. Enjoy!
What I Love About This Recipe
- Baked potatoes cooked on the grill are so easy to make, and they fit right alongside whatever else you’re already cooking. No running back-and-forth between the patio and the kitchen, trying to time everything just right. The perfect addition to your Memorial Day or July 4 spread!
- These are steakhouse-quality baked potatoes. Their insides are warm and fluffy, while the skins are deliciously crispy, with a delectable sea salt crust giving them extra texture and flavor.
- Grilled baked potatoes get a little natural smokiness to them that you don’t get from oven-baked potatoes or air fryer baked potatoes. Since they’re wrapped in aluminum foil, that smoke flavor doesn’t permeate so much that it’s overwhelming. It’s just enough to give them an extra depth.
Recipe Variations
- Experiment with Toppings: Look. Everyone has their favorite baked potato toppings. I get that! BUT! There’s a whole wide world of “ingredients that taste great with potatoes” out there! Butter? Basic. Shredded cheddar and sour cream? Entry-level. Try a drizzle of chimichurri ranch. A smattering of chili. Load that baby up with taco meat, BBQ pulled pork, or juicy shredded chicken. Stuff it with steamed broccoli and smother it all with a rich cottage cheese alfredo sauce. This is your sign to completely rethink your approach to baked potatoes.
Making changes to a recipe can result in recipe failure. Any substitutions or variations listed are simple changes that I believe will work in this recipe, but results are not guaranteed.
Baked Potatoes on the Grill
Equipment
- grill gas or charcoal
- Shallow bowl
- running water
- vegetable brush or clean dish towel
- Paper towels
- Cutting board
- Fork
- Large microwave-safe plate
- 8 aluminum foil sheets large enough to wrap around potatoes
- Tongs
- Sharp knife
Ingredients
For the Baked Potatoes
- 2 tablespoons sea salt plus more as needed
- 4 medium russet potatoes approximately 6-8 ounces each
- 4 tablespoons neutral-flavored oil avocado oil, olive oil, etc.
Serving Suggestions (All Optional)
- sour cream
- shredded cheddar cheese
- sliced green onions
Instructions
- Preheat grill, with lid closed, approximately 15 minutes or until temperature reaches 350ยฐ Fahrenheit.
- While grill preheats, add 2 tablespoons sea salt to shallow bowl. Set aside.
- Wash 4 medium russet potatoes under running water, using vegetable brush to remove all surface dirt. Pat potatoes completely dry with paper towels.
- Place potatoes on cutting board. Very carefully, prick each potato with tines of fork, covering each potato in vent holes on all sides. Be careful not to push fork too far into potatoes.
- After poking vent holes in each potato, cover potatoes with 4 tablespoons neutral-flavored oil (approximately 1 tablespoon per potato). Rub oil onto potatoes until all sides are coated completely.
- Place one potato in bowl of salt. Roll potato in salt until all sides are coated, then transfer potato to microwave-safe plate. Repeat until all potatoes have been coated in salt, adding more salt to bowl as needed.
- When all potatoes have been salted, place plate of potatoes in microwave. Microwave potatoes on 100% power 4 minutes.
- Carefully remove potatoes from microwave. Wrap each potato securely in 2 sheets aluminum foil, covering potatoes completely.
- Place foil-wrapped potatoes directly on grate in preheated grill. Grill potatoes, with grill lid closed, 30 minutes. Note: Time required will increase each time grill lid is opened.
- After 30 minutes, open grill lid and very carefully unwrap one potato slightly. Insert fork or skewer into potato. If utensil does not pierce potato easily, rewrap potato and close grill lid. Grill potatoes 5 minutes more, then repeat process.
- When fork or skewer pierces potatoes easily, with zero resistance, carefully remove potatoes from grill. Let potatoes cool 5 minutes.
- After 5 minutes, unwrap potatoes and discard foil. Slice each potato open, cutting lengthwise down center of potato. Gently press ends of potato toward center of potato to widen cut, then fluff flesh inside potato with fork.
- Top potatoes with sour cream, shredded cheddar cheese, sliced green onions, or other desired toppings. Serve immediately.
- Salt:ย You’re welcome to skip the salt crust if you like. You could also replace the salt with garlic and onion powder or any other seasonings.
- Leftovers: Let potatoes cool completely, then place potatoes in airtight container. Refrigerate potatoes up to 5 days. Reheat potatoes in the oven or the air fryer until warmed through.
Approximate Information for One Serving
Nutrition Disclaimers
Number of total servings shown is approximate. Actual number of servings will depend on your preferred portion sizes.
Nutritional values shown are general guidelines and reflect information for 1 serving using the ingredients listed, not including any optional ingredients. Actual macros may vary slightly depending on specific brands and types of ingredients used.
To determine the weight of one serving, prepare the recipe as instructed. Weigh the finished recipe, then divide the weight of the finished recipe (not including the weight of the container the food is in) by the desired number of servings. Result will be the weight of one serving.
Did You Make This Recipe?
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Frequently Asked Questions
At 350ยฐ Fahrenheit, you’re looking at 30 to 45 minutes on the grill. If you’re opening the grill lid often, that time will be more like 40 to 60 minutes.
Yes! Just like when you bake your potatoes any other way, you want to poke them a few times with a fork so that steam can escape. Otherwise, your potatoes can explode!
Some people say yes, others say no. Foil will help conduct and retain heat, making the cooking process more efficient at the very least. It also helps prevent any dry spots!
The skins on these potatoes are super crispy, but for even crispier results, grill the potatoes without the foil.
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Even an idiot could make perfect potatoes this way. Dead simple, turned out great.
So glad you enjoyed them, Sarah! ๐
Would have been nice to know about the microwave trick at the beginning?
Iโm sorry, Terry, Iโm not sure I understand what you mean? Microwaving the potatoes is the first cooking step of the instructions, after poking holes in them and seasoning them.
I had the same problem as Terry. The microwave step is missing from the instruction narrative/blog portion before the recipe itself. I just got done following every instruction and have my raw potatoes all oiled, salted, and wrapped in foil. There was no microwave step.
I apologize Deanne! We have a note at the beginning of that section alerting that it’s just an overview of the process, and that the full recipe with complete instructions is down below. We’ll update the post to be more clear. Thank you for the feedback!
Not sure if I just used “too small” of a potato but dang, with the salt coating on the skin these were insanely too salty to eat.
So sorry these didn’t work out for you, Brad! We intentionally list “salt” without a specific measurement so that each person can adjust the amount they use to their liking, since everyone’s palates are different. Since the salt was the issue, I hope you’ll give these another try with less salt next time!
Came out Delicious ๐, and I was also cooking sweet potatoes ๐ฅ too
Sounds like the best of both worlds with baked potatoes and sweet potatoes! Glad you enjoyed them, Perry. ๐
First time doing baked potatoes on bbq and turned out great ๐
Yay, so glad you enjoyed them! Thanks for sharing. ๐
Your recipe looks good. I’m going to try your recipe next weekend on a camping trip. Question: Do you use coarse sea salt? Or does it matter?
It doesn’t matter!
Worked just as described. Delicious.
So glad you enjoyed it! ๐
I love sweet baked potatoes to eat as a snack or meal time.
Same!
Followed directions exactly, potato wasn’t done at 59 mins. Steak and other vegetables are now cold waiting for these to finish.
We’re sorry you had this experience, Jeffrey. This shouldn’t happen if the potatoes are microwaved before being wrapped securely in foil and grilling. Regardless, thank you for sharing this feedback.
Thank you!!
I did exactly as you described, used avocado oil and sea salt. Soooo good. I did need to bbq for 55 minutes as the potatos I had were exceptionally big.
So glad you enjoyed the recipe!