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Let's load up some smoked baked potatoes with delicious toppings to pair with your favorite main course or AS a main course. The only thing better than baked potatoes? Traeger baked potatoes...
The United States tops the list for most potatoes eaten, so let's make some of those potatoes the best they can possibly be. I'll show you how; let's roll some smoke and get to it!

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Video - Step by step
These potatoes are KING
When you smoke potatoes and then top with smoked bacon, cheese, sour cream, chives, butter... Well, there isn't much else you can do to make it the best side dish EVER. The smoke flavor makes these potatoes the KING of side dishes.
Prepping the potatoes
Fire up your Traeger guys and gals, we are going to turn an already great tasting side into an AMAZING side. These are incredibly easy to make, just grab some russet or sweet potatoes and let's get them ready.
- Wash the potatoes under cold water with your hands
- Poke holes on all sides with a fork, about ½" deep to allow moisture to escape
- Coat entirely with some olive oil
- Sprinkle with a 50:50 salt and pepper mixture for seasoning
Smoking em'
The goal here is to get some smoke on these guys but not spend the whole day cooking some spuds. This is why we start nice a low for about 1.5 hours at 180°F and then kick up the temp to 400°F to finish off until nice and tender.
Smokers
A pellet smoker, such as a Traeger, are fantastic to use when making these potatoes because they hold temperature very well. There isn't much work trying to keep the smoker at the right temperature.
A stick burner like this Oklahoma Joe traditional smoker produce great tasting results. It's hard to beat the flavor you get from burning chopped wood in these offset smokers. They do require more attention, but work great.
Testing if finished
The best way to test whether a potato is finished is by poking it with a fork to see if it is tender inside. After smoking and then turning the temp up to 400°, start checking after about an hour.
If the fork slides into the potato with NO resistance, they are finished and ready to come off the smoker. Pull those bad boys off and let's top them with some delicious toppings.
Toppings
The more the better is my saying when it comes to Traeger baked potatoes. Here are some of the best toppings for baked potatoes.
FAQ
Give yourself about 3 hours to smoke these potatoes.
Russet or sweet potatoes will turn out fantastic.
Yes. It will help the smoke adhere to the potato and also help it from drying out.
Old pro tips
- It's better to leave yourself a lot of time, these can take a while to cook
- Wrap potatoes in aluminum foil after smoking and return to smoker before increasing temperature to keep the skin nice and soft
- Poke holes with a fork to allow steam to escape
Trying smoking these dishes!
Ingredients
- 4 russet or sweet potatoes
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 teaspoon sea salt
- 2 teaspoon black pepper
Toppings
- See list in post for ideas
Equipment
Instructions
- Wash the potatoes by hand under cold water to remove any dirt
- Using a fork, poke holes all over each potato about ½" deep
- Rub potatoes with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper
- Smoke at 180°F for 1.5 hours. Increase temperature to 400°F in smoker and bake until tender.
- Potato is finished when a fork is pierced through without any resistance.
- Top with desired toppings and enjoy!
Pro Tips
- It's better to leave yourself a lot of time, these can take a while to cook
- Wrap potatoes in aluminum foil after smoking and return to smoker before increasing temperature to keep the skin nice and soft
- Poke holes with a fork to allow steam to escape
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