How Long To Bake Potatoes At 375 In Foil? The Ultimate Guide

Today we take a look at how long to bake potatoes at 375 in foil. This is an extremely handy guide that will discuss every factor that affects the final baking times. With it, you will be able to bake the perfect potato while managing your food-prepping time better.

And, I’ve included a recipe that you can make in three different ways. Obviously, the main focus is on baking potatoes in foil. However, I’ve also included a guide on making foil-baked potatoes crispy and baking potatoes without foil. Check out my Ensalada Rusa which you can easily do with those baked potatoes with oil.

What Will Affect The Baking Times Of Potatoes?

There are actually a shocking number of factors that affects the baking times of potatoes. And these factors really apply to all cooking techniques and ingredients.

Baking/Cooking Temperature

First, it’s obviously the baking temperatures. The lower the temperature is, the longer the item will take to completely cook. However, if the temperature is too high, it will affect the ingredient, in this case, potatoes, in a negative way. Despite the faster cooking times, it will dry out the potatoes completely.

This is why many ingredients are better cooked using specific cooking techniques at very specific temperatures.

Potatoes are one of the easiest ingredients you can cook. If we specifically look at baking them, there is still a range of temperatures you can use. 

The Size Of The Potato Or Cut You Are Baking

This is another major factor that will affect how long to bake potatoes at 375 in foil. As you may already know, the larger the item, the longer it will take to completely bake. 

So, if you are baking potatoes to make mash, you can cut them into bite-sized blocks. These smaller pieces will bake for a much shorter time than whole potatoes or even wedges.

It may not always be possible to adjust the size of your potatoes. But, if you are in a rush, it’s a very crucial factor to keep in mind. And it can cut your baking time in half!

Size Of Whole Potatoes

Small potatoes usually weigh less than 5 ounces (142 grams). However, keep in mind that they shouldn’t be as small as baby potatoes.

Your average medium potato weighs between 5-10 ounces (142-284 grams).

And, of course, a large potato is any potato that weighs more than 10 ounces (284 grams).

The larger a whole potato is, the longer it will take to bake. So, if it is at all possible, when baking potatoes, make sure they are all the same size and that they are all medium.

With Or Without Foil

Have you ever wondered why many people bake their potatoes covered with foil? Or why they wrap a whole potato in a layer before roasting it?

Well, that’s because foil actually helps cook the potatoes much faster.

How does it work? It’s simple: the aluminum foil layer helps conduct the heat to the potato very quickly. Furthermore, it’s an excellent retainer of heat, ultimately helping keep a stable cooking temperature, which reduces the overall cooking time.

Making oven-baked potatoes with foil will save you a lot of time. However, the downside is that they won’t become nice and crispy like many people would want them to be.

Doneness Of The Potato

Last, and certainly not least, you have to consider the doneness of the potatoes.

For something like a potato salad, you want the potatoes to still have a firm shape. So, you would bake them for a shorter amount of time than if you would want to make mashed potatoes (that need to be extremely soft).

It may seem like a simple point to put on this list. But if you combine all of the factors we’ve mentioned so far, you can just imagine the massive difference they can cause in baking times when combined.

How Long To Bake Potatoes At 375 In Foil? 

So, one thing that won’t affect the baking times of potatoes today is the baking temperature. Baking these veggies at 375 provides the perfect amount of time to bake them quickly and evenly without drying them out. And the foil helps with that too!

On average, it will take between 20-30 minutes to make medium-sized baked potatoes at 375. And remember, the key to how to bake potatoes in foil is to wrap them individually.

A couple of tips that will ensure they all bake evenly and at the same time is to choose potatoes that are all the same size. And it helps to prick them with a fork all over their surface. It distributes the heat much more evenly.

And again, larger potatoes will take longer to bake, potentially even 40 minutes!

How Long To Bake Potatoes At 375 Without Foil? 

While foil doesn’t dramatically decrease the baking time of potatoes, it still does make a difference.

Unwrapped potatoes will take roughly 30-35 minutes to bake (for medium-sized potatoes). Large potatoes will definitely take at least 40-50 minutes to bake without foil.

How Long To Bake Potatoes At 400?

Believe it or not, potatoes will take about the same amount of time to bake at 400 than 375. That’s roughly 20-30 minutes for medium oven-baked potatoes in foil. The difference in temperature isn’t significant enough to make a massive impact.

At the very most, the potatoes will take 5 minutes less to bake. But because there are so many other factors that influence the baking times, it’s nearly impossible to say.

How To Make Foil-Baked Potatoes Crispy?

The biggest downside to baking potatoes in foil is that they don’t become crispy. 

The foil covering is an insulator of heat and basically helps trap moisture. And that’s the worse thing that can happen if you are trying to make crispy skin. A crispy texture is a result of drying up the moisture.

If you want to keep your foil-baked potatoes crispy, remove the covering during the final 10 minutes of baking. This won’t make them uber-crisp, but it will help reduce the boiled-potato flavor and texture.

How To Test The Doneness Of Baked Potatoes?

Potatoes are fully baked when their internal temperature has reached between 208-211ºF (97.8-99.4ºC).

You can also check out my guide on How Long You Need To Boil Potatoes For Potato Salad to see other signs of doneness.

Tips And Tricks For This Baked Potato Recipe

• The exact baking time for the potatoes can vary depending on how you want to use them. If you want to make uber-creamy and silky smooth mash, you have to bake the potatoes until they are completely soft. They should break apart easily!
• If you want to make stuffed potatoes, you can bake the potatoes for slightly less time. While they are still slightly undercooked, half the potatoes, scoop out some of their flesh and stuff the holes with the filling of your choice. When you place the potatoes back into the oven (with the filling), the leftover time will finish them off. This technique leaves you with tender stuffed potatoes, not overcooked ones.
• If you are pre-baking whole potatoes to make crispy fried potato wedges, you can also slightly underbake them. This makes them easier to slice into chips or wedges and deep-fry. They won’t break apart like completely soft potatoes would.
• When baking potatoes in foil, there isn’t any point in heavily seasoning the skin. The flavors won’t be absorbed as well as when baking wedges or cubes. They will mostly sit on the skin of the whole potatoes. So, at the most, I would add some oil, butter, fresh herbs, and maybe some spices.