The humble baked potato has always been an easy, low cost meal choice – but, until recently, it’s also been considered as a bit basic.
However, thanks to a heady mix of social media and a rise in jacket ‘connoisseurs’- the UK is experiencing a baked spud boom that’s seen it rocket up the food chain to become an elite foodie option.
So much so, 88% of Brits are now swapping shop-bought sandwiches, sushi and salads for a hearty baked potato, according to a recent survey by Nurrish.
The history of the humble spud
The concept of baking spuds with the skin actually harks all the way back to 6,500 BC, with the Incas in Peru. During the mid-19th century, they took off in the UK, with street food vendors making a nice profit selling them in the colder months.
By 1974, baked tatties had a dedicated franchise, SpudULike, which saw visitors load their potato up with beans and cheese, tuna and sweetcorn mayo, and chilli con carne. However, despite initial success, the brand became unprofitable as the high street started to struggle, suffering a slow and painful death and all the physical spaces were gone by 2019.
Back then it seemed that the jacket potato was destined to be in a supporting role forevermore – but suddenly, it’s returned for a main character moment.
Jacket potato revival
Vhari Russell, founder of The Food Marketing Experts, has worked in the food industry for over 20 years and tells Metro: ‘There’s a movement around this nostalgia food trend, and baked potatoes are very much part of that. Eating one takes many people back to a happy, safe place.’
There’s also another reason: the rise of the air fryer. ‘The appliance has played a part as they have made them even quicker to cook, which works well with our busy lives,’ adds Vhari.
The expert also lists other reasons, such as being a UPF antidote for a more health-conscious society, not to mention the purse-friendly price tag in a cost-of-living crisis. And, of course, social media.
Going viral
If you’re chronically online then you’re likely to have seen videos geared toward the baked spud movement.
Content ranges from TikTok star Becki Jones topping hers with everything aside from the kitchen sink, to MasterChef star Poppy O’Toole’s (who goes by the handle Poppy Cooks, and is referred to as potato queen) mouth-watering recipes such as french onion, cheese and caramelised onion, or the more bonkers like her Christmas pudding concoction.
Street food vendors have also turned serving jacket potatoes into national brands, such as Spudman – aka Ben Newman. He’s so big that some local businesses in Tamworth are complaining that he can’t cater for the speed of growth, so the customers are using their toilets and tables.
Then there’s SpudBros, run by siblings Jacob and Harley Nelson. If your algorithm hasn’t yet introduced you to the Preston-based brothers, let us catch you up.
Their journey began five years ago when their dad, Anthony, known as Spud Father to social media fans, took over a converted tram that had been trading in Preston Flag Market since 1955 after his friend Keith, who’d previously run it (and gave Jacob, 30, his first job) passed away.
Anthony asked Harley, 23, who was struggling at college due to dyslexia, dyspraxia and dyscalculia, to join him. It was a no-brainer as he’d always loved a baked spud.
‘I’ve got a vivid memory of having a jacket potato on Christmas Eve and then hearing something in the chimney and going to see if it was Santa,’ Harley excitedly tells Metro. (We quickly learn that whenever the brothers talk about tatties, happiness exudes from their every word.)
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After beingtold that people weren’t so fussed about baked potatoes as ‘they weren’t sexy enough and their mum made them at home’, the family started posting their food on social media to prove their spuds were worthy of customers’ cash.
In turn, Jacob, who worked in the food exportation market soon quit his job to help, and the brothers began live-streaming days at the van to their 500 followers and posting strangely hypnotic clips of them loading up one and a half potatoes.
It was a gamble that paid off, as today SpudBros has 4.2 million TikTok followers and another 1.5 million across YouTube and Instagram.
One of their most popular videos, which has been watched over 37 million times, shows Jacob befriending an elderly couple, one of whom had Alzheimer’s and had just suffered a fall.
‘I was just rolling with the camera. I was up to 45 minutes of footage when they walked past, and it was a real interaction,’ he explains. Our grandma’s got dementia as well, so we know how hard it is for the other person in the couple to deal with that. ‘It touched us, so we offered them free potatoes for life, as we love making people’s days.
‘People are missing those interactions nowadays, which I think is part of our videos’ appeal.’
Famous followers
The SpudBros brand now sells nearly 1,000 jacket potatoes every day from their two locations in Preston and London, and some of those buyers have been familiar faces – Mr Beast, Joe Jonas, and Jessie J have all sampled their delights. They have a scratch map to document the countries people travel from, and it’s almost complete. ‘We want to change the American people’s minds about baked beans. They just don’t get it,’ laughs Jacob.
There’s always a constant queue outside their van in Presto from 11am to 8pm, and a similar situation in London’s SpudBros Express that opened in Soho last year, too.
Like rock stars, the potatoes have groupies.
‘We have one girl called Amelia, who is in her late twenties and from Sheffield. Everywhere we go, she comes,’ Jacob tells us. ‘She visits Preston at least once a week, and travels down every other week to the London store and always messages us on Instagram. She’s definitely our number one fan, so we let her make her own potato the other week. She loved it.’
The feverish support means a third store is opening in Amsterdam, and there are talks for a Las Vegas spot. There are also hopes that a reality TV show could be in their future, and home meal kits are rumoured to be on their way.
‘We’ve got all sorts of crazy ideas coming,’ promises Jacob. ‘We want to inspire the generation and show that with determination and passion, you can achieve anything.’
So what exactly makes their spuds so good? ‘Our razzle dazzle,’ he teases. ‘There are over 4,000 varieties of potatoes, and we use just one, which is a secret. It’s really fluffy, and it makes a nice little crispy skin. There’s so much technical stuff that you would not imagine.’
Sampling the goods
As someone who has a jacket potato dinner at least once per week, I feel like a good judge of whether SpudBros is worth the hype.
On my way I spot Keira, 18, from New Zealand, walking down the street with a SpudBros brown cardboard takeaway tub and a big smile. Although she didn’t fly here specifically for the potato, she was adamant it would be part of the itinerary.
‘It’s a vibe,’ she says, adding that it was as important as seeing Big Ben.
As I reach the Soho venue, it is packed inside the small restaurant. From women in low-rise jeans and slicked-back buns to men carrying hard hats and enthusiastic teens scrolling their phones.
How to make the perfect jacket potato at home
‘The key to achieving the perfect potato jacket involves keeping things simple whilst exercising patience,’ says Tassy Goodall, Senior Innovation Chef at Sainsbury’s. ‘All you need is a large floury baking potato, olive oil and salt – that’s it. Pre-heat the oven up to 200°C (fan) and prick the potato with a fork, rub the surface with oil and salt generously all over. Bake for around an hour, until the skin is crispy and the middle fluffy, then add butter to the centre – it’s the perfect base to add your favourite toppings.’
If you need some topping inspiration, then Tassy has some ideas:
- Classic and comforting baked beans and cheddar cheese -but why not shake things up and try our new Taste the Difference Giant Butterbeans in Tomato Sauce . Top with crumbled feta and pink pickled onions for a Mediterranean twist.
- Chicken Caesar salad – simply shred some cooked chicken and stir in a dollop of Caesar sauce , top with chopped romaine lettuce for crunch, grated parmesan cheese and a handful of croutons for texture. Add anchovies if you’re feeling the full experience.
- We’re loving Korean flavours at the moment, so try a Kim-cheese twist on a jacket by piling in grated cheddar, a spoonful of kimchi, a quick gochujang mayo (combine 1/2tsp gochujang with 2tbsp mayo), chopped spring onion and a sprinkling of sesame seeds.
A few people I speak to are seemingly confused by their sudden fascination and why they are now paying double figures for a jacket potato. (Prices begin at £4.50 in Preston to £7–£12 in London, depending on your toppings).
‘When it was on the menu at school, I wasn’t that excited about it, but I’ve been back here twice in two weeks,’ says a perplexed Jay, 21. However, teenager and regular visitor Alice insists the spend is justified as they do the ‘world’s best jacket potato’.
Not one to waste an opportunity, I get a potato with all the toppings, with each of the four taking a different corner – baked beans, chilli con carne, tuna mayo, and rich bolognese sauce.
Digging my wooden fork into the spud, while appreciating he boys’ commitment to putting cheese first so it perfectly melts, it’s clear that this is like no jacket that I’d ever eaten before.
The potatoes were just the perfect amount of soft, the garlic butter slathered on added a nice tang, and their trademark tram sauce, which reminds me of a spicy mayo, gave it a wickedly hot kick. There’s no doubt a lot is going on with each of the flavours fighting for attention, but somehow it works.
24 hours later, I find myself still thinking about it and craving a second round. As I look at my diary to work out when I can next get my fix, I realise that I’ve just become a Spud Bros groupie too!
SpudBros in Preston and SpudBros Express in London will be doing a kids eat free day today (May 30) to celebrate the International Day of the Potato. Children 12 and under can claim a kids’ meal if with a purchasing adult (maximum two kids’ meals per paying adult). The offer will begin at opening and end when SpudBros have sold out.
*Nurishh
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