Loaded Baked Potatoes Are Great. Chicken Sausage Makes Them Better.

Everybody loves a baked potato. Yet we seldom express this love aloud. In the grand scheme of potato appreciation, we’ll shout about potato chips or curly fries, or extol the virtues of tater tots. Yet the old, reliable, foil-wrapped baked potato remains faithfully by our side, ready to do all the heavy lifting so you don’t have to.

The baked potato is a workhorse in a way most potato preparations simply aren’t. Like fries, chips, mashed potatoes, and hash browns, it functions as the perfect side. But when it’s time to enter the entrée arena, the baked potato blows them all away. How often are loaded tots or even potato skins advertised as a full meal? Almost never. Yet the baked potato does it both ways: hit it with a pat of butter and you’ve got the perfect side. Load it with cheese, sour cream, and the protein of your choice and suddenly you’ve got an entrée worth celebrating.

We love you, baked potato. There, we said it. We always have. We always will. And to show our appreciation, we’ve crafted three delicious new ways to enjoy this classic, each featuring a different The Sausage Project flavor. They’re still simple—any baked potato should be—but each one is designed to pair our beloved spud with the juicy, bold flavor of chicken sausage.

But first: How to make the perfect baked potato

Before we start loading deliciousness on potatoes, let’s make sure the base is right. A perfect baked potato should have crispy, salty skin and a fluffy, steamy interior just waiting to soak up butter, cheese, chili, or whatever else you throw at it. Luckily, getting there is easy.

Start with a russet potato. They’re the gold standard for baking thanks to their thick skin and fluffy texture. Scrub the spud clean, dry it well, then rub it lightly with oil and sprinkle it with salt. This step is clutch— the oil helps the skin crisp up, and the salt makes sure every bite tastes like an actual potato instead of potato-shaped nothingness. 

Bake the potato directly on the oven rack at 425°F for about 50–60 minutes, depending on size, until the skin is crisp and a fork slides in easily. You can skip the foil, too: we know it’s how grandma did it, but wrapping traps steam and gives you a soft exterior instead of the crackly skin baked potatoes deserve.

When it’s done, slice it open right away and fluff the inside with a fork to let the steam escape. From there, you’re ready for butter, toppings, sausage, or all of the above.

Now that you’ve got the base down, you can really put anything on a baked potato. But don’t do that. Instead, try these three amazing flavors, courtesy of The Sausage Project.

The Italiano

Key ingredients: Parmesan, butter, Italian Herb Chicken Sausage, garlic, onion, crushed tomato, oregano, basil

This one brings some serious old-world, “my nonna has decided baked potatoes belong next to Sunday gravy” energy, and the potato proves to be the perfect vessel for this much flavor. Italian Herb Chicken Sausage brings Calabrian heat and fresh herbs to the party, while garlic, onion, tomatoes, butter, and Parm all add their own punch. This one’s a game changer.

The Cheddar Melt

Key ingredients: Melty Cheddar Chicken Sausage, shredded cheddar, chives, sour cream

When you picture your platonic ideal of a baked potato, you’re almost certainly picturing shredded cheddar, chives, sour cream, and maybe bacon. This one ditches the bacon and tags in Melty Cheddar Chicken Sausage, which adds creamy, juicy, smoky tenderness to every bite. And more cheese. Because there’s no such thing as too much cheese.

The Hot Chili Bomb

Key ingredients: Spicy Chicken Sausage Chili (recipe here), your favorite chili toppings

A chili-drenched baked potato is a classic for a reason, so we didn’t fix it. Unless by “fix” you mean “make it with an incredibly flavorful, lower-fat chili that comes together in under an hour and uses Classic Roasted Chicken Sausage.” In which case, we absolutely fixed it. Make your chili, drench your potato, and hit it with the toppings of your choice—avocado, sour cream, more sausage. Dealer’s choice.

More Ways to Load It Up

Still hungry? Good! Because one of the best things about a baked potato is that once you’ve nailed the base, the possibilities don’t stop there. Love cheese? Soak that spud in some homemade queso! Love pizza? Drizzle it with Pizza Beans. And if you want to pair it with a Caesar, we’ve got ideas there too. That’s sort of the beauty of a baked potato: it really does go with everything. Especially chicken sausage. Load it up.