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How to Cook Potatoes in the Oven

Directions on how to cook potatoes in the oven including oven temperatures, times, and how to do it with and without foil.

Baked potatoes are always and forever going to be on my dinner rotation for a few reasons. They are cheap to buy, easy to make, and the family can customize them to their liking. Customizable meals (like tacos, burgers, and other things where the kids can dress the dish up how they prefer) are always a hit in this house. The kids love it, and I love that they don’t fuss about what’s being served.

I don’t know about you, but there is nothing more that I love than a loaded baked potato. Bring on the toppings: butter, sour cream, shredded cheddar, freshly cooked diced bacon, and chives from the garden. That is a complete baked potato in my mind. I also like warming up some leftover broccoli and cheese soup to spoon over the top of my potatoes – so good!

I know this recipe isn’t rocket science, but knowing how to cook potatoes in the oven, the right way, is a game changer. I’m here to tell you to put down the foil and roast those potatoes in their own skin, on a rack, slathered in oil and sprinkled with salt. Sometimes all you need is a few simple ingredients put together in the right order. This, my friends, is simplicity at its tastiest.

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How to Cook a Whole Baked Chicken

How to cook a whole baked chicken in a few simple steps to yield a moist, flavor-packed chicken that you can serve for dinner any night of the week.

Whole cooked chicken is one of my very favorite dishes to make. It’s great all year long, because it’s such a classic chicken main dish recipe that pairs well with all kinds of sides. I feel like a whole baked chicken might be a bit intimidating, so I’m here to show you that it’s really very simple. The moist and tender meat that you get is worth making, too. No more dried out chicken breasts for dinner.

We raised 36 broiler hens last fall with our neighbors and then the day before Thanksgiving we processed all of the birds. So I have lots of whole chickens in my freezer right now. The time and energy that it takes to humanely and respectfully raise your own meat isn’t lost on me. So I always like to treat the chicken in my freezer as something special. This recipe is a tried-and-true method for cooking a whole chicken that turns out well every time.

My family of 7 can eat a whole chicken for a meal. If your family is smaller, you should be able to make two meals out of a 5-pound chicken. If I’m wanting to stretch one chicken to two meals for my family, I’ll remove what meat I want for a later meal (normally a scant 2 cups) and serve the rest. We’ll enjoy the chicken and fill up on the sides when the chicken runs out. And then I save the bones and skins from this recipe and make stock out of them. So one chicken can be made into several meals this way which makes them very cost effective to cook whole. I’ll link to some of the recipes that I like to use my extra chicken for at the bottom of the post.

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Instant Pot Chipotle Chicken Taco Meat

Instant Pot Chipotle Chicken Taco Meat is made with just a few simple ingredients but packs tons of flavor and is done in about 25 minutes.

The easiest and most flavorful chicken taco meat made in the instant pot (or slow cooker) with chicken breast or thigh meat to turn Taco Tuesday into something to celebrate! Seriously – so much flavor, so fast. What’s not to love?! Chicken taco meat is something that I love to throw in the mix when we get tired of our standard ground beef tacos. This recipe is one of my favorites because it’s full of flavor thanks to chipotle sauce and it’s so simple – anyone could throw it together. Long live eating all the tacos! And fun fact, you can cook your corn on the cob to serve with (or on the tacos) right along with the chicken. Instructions follow.

I could write a whole lot about tacos because you know I love them. I love me some easy chicken tacos (think food truck), lentil tacos, and crispy pork tacos (made in the Instant Pot). There’s just something magical about wrapping up really flavorful food in a warm tortilla and slathering it with all the guacamole and salsa it can hold. Why is it so good?!

You know what else I love? My Instant Pot!

I contacted the folks at Instant Pot a while ago to see if we could work together. It was their busy season and I didn’t hear anything back so I just purchased two Duo 8 Quart Instant Pots so that I could start using them in my kitchen and develop recipes for you all. I have LOVED them. I have a few kitchen gadgets, but my Instant Pot gets used as much as my slow cooker and blender which is really saying something. It makes perfect hard boiled eggs (even from my fresh backyard chicken eggs which are normally a nightmare to peel), I use it to cook beans in bulk (and then freeze them for later use), and I love to make broths and stocks in it. It is awesome.

The folks at Instant Pot got back to me and I asked them if they would give away an Instant Pot to one of the readers here at Bless this Mess and they said YES!

YOU GUYS, you can win an Instant Pot! Keep reading!

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Sweet and Spicy Cucumbers and Vinegar

Sweet and spicy cucumbers and vinegar make the most delicious refrigeration pickles that only take about 5 minutes to make.

Making your own pickles sounds like a whole lot of work and you might even be thinking of hot water baths, canning, and boiling rings. I’m here to tell you that you can make the most amazing homemade pickles by simply adding cucumbers and vinegar and a few other ingredients together and letting them sit in the fridge. If you’ve never eaten quick pickles or refrigerator pickles, then you are missing out. They have so much flavor and the best texture. The cucumbers stay nice and crisp because they don’t go through much of a heating process. When you can pickles, you are boiling them in a hot water bath inside of the jars for a while, normally at least 10 minutes, which really changes the texture of the cucumber. When you make refrigerator pickles, the fresh cucumbers only get hot water poured over the top of them.

They have all the flavor and such a great texture with half the work! You do need to note that this is not a canning recipe. These pickles are meant to be stored in the refrigerator and eaten within a week. If you are looking for a shelf-stable pickle recipe, this isn’t it. I love that I can make a batch of these sweet and spicy pickles in the morning and they are ready to eat by the afternoon. They are even better if you let them sit overnight.

You’ll love how easy it is to make your own sweet and spicy cucumbers and vinegar!

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Perfect and Simple Grilled Fish Fillets

Ever wonder how to get perfectly flaky grilled fish fillets on the grill? This recipe is the simplest and best way to grill just about any firm white fish!

Welcome summer! When you combine a few pounds of beautiful fish fillets, amazing seasonal produce, and the grill, you are in for one simple yet perfect dinner. This recipe for simple grilled fish fillets is amazing. It takes about 5 minutes to prep, 7 minutes on the grill, and you are done. I can’t wait for you to try it. Add a side of watermelon, some corn on the cob, and fresh green beans and you’ll have dinner done in about 30 minutes with little to no effort! This is one of my ideal healthy simple meals and I could eat it once a week for the rest of my life and die a happy woman.

What I love too, is that you can literally pair it with just about anything that you have on hand and want to use. I like recipes like this because then I can hit up the farmer’s market or my garden, pick gorgeous fruits and vegetables and use them for the sides to this really simple but delicious main dish grilled fish recipe. It’s simple, it’s classic, and it’s always a hit in this house.

Ever wonder how to get perfectly flaky grilled fish fillets on the grill? This recipe is the simplest and best way to grill just about any firm white fish!

Tips and Tricks for Making Grilled Fish Fillets:

  • You have a lot of options when it comes to what kind of fish to grill. I tend to stick with less expensive fish like tilapia, catfish, cod, and pollock. All of these firm white fish are mild tasting and really easy to throw on the grill.
  • Don’t under salt this recipe and don’t forget the lemon. Because it is so simple, they really bring the needed acid and salt to a simple fish recipe.
  • When buying fish I like to find wild caught fish and I prefer when they are individually sealed if frozen. That way I can take just the few I need out of the freezer while the rest stay frozen. I have great luck buying high quality fish at Costco.
  • Don’t skimp on the oil. It help the fish to not stick the grill.
  • No outdoor grill? I’ve had great luck making this recipe on a grill pan inside.
  • I love this fish recipe with really simple sides like corn, green beans, and watermelon. It’s also great with a side of crusty bread, with some simple Santa Fe Rice, any of these 8 pasta salad recipe, or served with roasted vegetables. You can’t go wrong with any of those!

Craving more? Subscribe to Bless this Mess to get new recipes, meal plans, and a newsletter delivered straight to your inbox! If you try this recipe, let me know what you think! Leave a comment, pin it, and don’t forget to tag a picture #blessthismesseats on Instagram. I love to see your kitchen skills in action!

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Perfect and Simple Grilled Fish Fillets

★★★★★

5 from 1 reviews

Ever wonder how to get perfectly flaky grilled fish on the grill? This recipe is the simplest and best way to grill just about any firm white fish!

  • Author: Melissa Griffiths - Bless this Mess
  • Prep Time: 10
  • Cook Time: 10
  • Total Time: 20 minutes
  • Yield: Serves 4-6

Ingredients

  • 1 firm white fish, I used Louisiana Drum (about 4 large fillets)
  • 1 ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • Good quality olive oil, about ½ cup
  • Additional coarse sea salt
  • 1 or 2 lemons cut into wedges
  • ½ cup chopped parsley, optional

Instructions

  1. Rinse the fish and lay it onto paper towels. Use the paper towels to pat the fish dry and place the fillets on a wire rack (a baking or cooling rack placed inside of a baking sheet works great to catch any drips and spills).
  2. Sprinkle half the salt and half the pepper over the fish. Carefully drizzle half of the olive oil over the seasoned fish. Using a pastry brush or your fingers, evenly distribute the oil all over that side of the fish. Flip the fish over on the rack and repeat with remaining salt, pepper, and oil. Let the fish rest and marinade while you fire up the grill.
  3. Turn your grill on to high and allow it to heat for 5 to 10 minutes until the grill is very hot. Carry the fish out and open the lid to the grill, it should be very hot. Use a brush to scrap the grill grate clean and then lower the temperature to low. Place the fish on the grill, close the lid, and leave the fish to cook with the lid closed, without turning for 7 to 10 minutes (chances are really good your fish will be done right at 7 minutes unless it is very thick, check it 7 minutes!).
  4. The fish should be white and flakey when you test it with the end of a paring knife. Using a metal spatula remove from the grill.
  5. Sprinkle with additional sea salt and lemon juice before serving and then serve with additional lemon slices and chopped parsley to suit individual tastes (the first squeeze of lemon isn’t optional, it makes it amazing, but additional lemon and parsley are up to you or your guests. I didn’t feel like this tasty dish needed anything extra because it was excellent as it was).

Notes

  • You can use this cooking method for just about any firm white fish such as catfish, tilapia, pollock, and cod.

I can’t wait to hear how this simple grilling method turns out for you. I have done all kinds of things to fish from frying it (always tasty but a little labor intensive) to baking and cooking it in foil. These grilled fish fillets were by far the simplest and best tasting fish I have made. I can’t wait to make it again and plan on putting this into my meal rotation ASAP. Long live the simple and fool-proof yet crazy delicious recipes!

Grilled Fish Fillets

Quick Dilly Cucumbers in Vinegar

Quick Dilly Cucumbers in Vinegar are also called quick refrigerator pickles made with fresh cucumbers and a homemade brine. You won’t believe how crunchy and perfect these pickles are.

I have loved pickles for as long as I can remember, and making simple homemade pickles is one of my favorite treats. I know that homemade pickles might sound fussy but they are literally just cucumbers in vinegar. I LOVE this recipe. It makes a flavorful crunchy pickle that can be eaten almost right away but gets even better if you let them sit overnight.

Homemade fridge pickles are something that my grandma has been making for years and years (her refrigerator pickle recipe is here), and this recipes is a whole lot like it. The only difference is that you bring the brine to a boil before pouring it over your cucumbers. This does a few things. It heats up the spices and as they soak in the hot water they steep their flavor into the liquid. This also helps the salt to dissolve easily. These cucumbers aren’t cooked in the brine though (like pickles that you can and are shelf stable), which means they stay extra crispy and crunchy. This recipe only takes about 5 minutes to make and it does have a little waiting time, but that’s it. Once you make it, you are going to be whipping up a batch of homemade pickles every week. You just can’t get simpler than cucumbers in vinegar that only get better with time.

I like to make a batch of these for parties where I’d normally serve pickles, for instance if I’m planning on hamburgers or pulled pork sandwiches. It’s so fun to have people try a simple homemade pickle for the first time because they are SO good. I can’t wait for you to make these yourself.

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Unique Ideas for Cooking Baked Potatoes (oven, instant pot, slow cooker and more!)

Get great ideas for cooking baked potatoes in the slow cooker, oven, and instant pot so that no matter what, you are going to have awesome baked potatoes.

Long live perfectly cooked baked potatoes. It’s one of the simplest side dishes to make for just about any dinner and they are easy enough to turn into a main course of their own. Baked potatoes are one of those recipes that sound simple, but I’m always wondering if there’s a different/better/faster way to do it. So today I’m sharing with you how to bake, slow cook, and pressure cook a “baked potato” and the pros and cons of each method. Now you’ll be able to have baked potatoes no matter the time or tools you have in your kitchen!

I wanted to distinguish the difference between small to medium potatoes and large potatoes. Small to medium potatoes are generally the ones that come in a 10-20 pound bag. A small to medium potato will weigh between 5 and 8 ounces and will be a little longer than the palm of your hand. Large baking potatoes, often sold individually or marked as “baking potatoes”, will generally weigh 8-12 ounces and will be the size of your whole hand, palm to fingertip. The size of your potatoes doesn’t matter much – it’s consistency that matters when it comes to baking multiple potatoes at once. Big or small, it’s always best to find potatoes of a similar size to cook for your meal. That way, no matter the cooking method, they are all done at about the same time. If I have a mix of large and small potatoes, I’ll often cut my largest ones in half so that they are closer to the smaller ones in size.

Now onto the cooking methods for “baked” potatoes!

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The Best Oven Baked Chicken Leg Quarters

The Best Baked Chicken Leg Quarters made by simply roasting chicken leg quarters brushed with butter and seasoned at a low temperature for an hour and then raising the temperature at the end to crisp the skin.

I can’t wait for you all to make this super simple baked chicken leg quarter recipe because it’s simple, fool-proof, and the end result is simply delicious. Here’s why this recipe is awesome: you start with a simple and inexpensive cut of meat (I paid $.99 a pound for these) and you turn them into something amazing by seasoning them well and cooking them low and slow in the oven. After they bake for an hour, you crank up the oven heat, remove the foil they’ve been under, and let that skin get crisp and delicious.

When you are willing to buy and cook with the cuts of meat that seem like they take a little more time to make, you end up paying less and having a better tasting meal in the end. The skin and bones work their magic on the chicken meat. I know boneless skinless chicken breast is all the rage, but I’m here to convert you to chicken leg quarters (because you all already know my love of chicken legs). What I like about this meal, too, is that it is a set-it-and-forget-it meal. It’ll take you about 5 minutes to prep the chicken leg quarters for the oven and then you just let them cook. It’s a really hands-off recipe, which means you can be busy living life instead of being in the kitchen.

This recipe is great served with so many things. You can serve it with my favorite berry spinach salad and baked potatoes, you could serve it with any number of roasted veggies and potatoes au gratin, or you could keep it light and serve it with any of these 8 pasta salad recipes with a side of our favorite quick refrigerator pickles and some seasonal fruit. So many great options to pair with this simple chicken recipe.

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Broccoli Tots and 4 other Healthy Veggie Tots Recipes

Recipes for healthy veggie tots including broccoli tots, cauli-tots, sweet potato tots, zucchini tots, and mixed veggie tots! Perfect for making veggies fun for kids and adults both!

Broccoli tots are the most obvious vegetable tot in the bunch but my kids still loved them. The cauliflower and zucchini tots taste the most like a classic tater tot and those sweet potato tots are such a fun sweet and savory treat that we all loved. I’m positive you are going to find one you love even if you don’t make all 5 vegetable tot recipes. I think the fact that there is cheese included in these veggie tots is what sold my kids on them. Cheese goes really well with vegetables and when it’s all baked together into fun little dip-able pieces, they just can’t say no.

These are also a great recipe to prep ahead and stash in the freezer. I like to make them from start to finish (including baking them). Then just let them cool, pop them in a freezer safe container, and stash until you need a healthy side dish for dinner. I just pull them out and reheat them at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes. Works every time.

Vegetable tots are the perfect side to just about any meal. I like to serve them with baked chicken legs, grilled fish, or Slow Cooker Honey Teriyaki Meatballs. Just add a side of fresh fruit and call it a meal.

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Easy Crispy Instant Pot Pork Taco Recipe

The best Instant Pot pork taco recipe on the internet. The secret is a whole lot of seasoning cooked into the pork and then finishing the dish under the broiler in your oven.

I’m so excited to share this Crispy Instant Pot Pork Taco Recipe with you today because it is a staple in our house. This is the Instant Pot recipe that I make the most often because it’s so easy and so good! We love all things taco/Tex-Mex and I love finding great recipes that are easy to make and get us out of our ground beef taco rut.

I love making this Instant Pot pork taco recipe because it is fast. We are talking 4 pounds of meet cooked to shredding perfection in about an hour, start to finish. That’s the perk of using a pressure cooker! But don’t worry friends, if you don’t have an Instant Pot, you can find the slow cooker instructions in the recipe notes. I aim to please!

This is a fun recipe because it couldn’t be easier. This is a recipe that practically makes itself, and it lends to the most moist and flavorful meat around. A simple mix of seasoning and spices plus a little stock is all you need to make amazing pork tacos in the instant pot. No special ingredients or trips to the store for this recipe. The other unique aspect of this recipe is that you finish the meat under your oven broiler. You can skip this step of course, the meat is great right out of the Instant Pot, but broiling it reduces the remaining liquid and crisps up the edges of the meat perfectly. It’s one of my favorite tips for making flavor packed pork carnitas with a great texture. It takes a few extra minutes but I promise it’s worth the time.

This pork taco recipe is super versatile and you can serve it with just about anything. I like to serve it with a side of Slow Cooker Refried Beans, Easy Spanish Rice in the Rice Cooker, and The Best Blender Salsa Ever. All of these are super easy to make and go great with this recipe. I’ve added some great serving suggestions for the leftover taco meat in the tips and tricks section too.

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