Poppy’s method uses a star-shaped slicing technique to cut open an already baked potato. She then fills the crevices with a delicious-looking garlic butter cheese sauce and finishes off the baking process with another 10 minutes in the oven. The result is a perfectly crisp baked potato with the most appetizing display of bubbling cheese mixture you’ve ever seen. I couldn’t wait to make it myself, so I was off to the grocery store for supplies.
Get the recipe: “Star-Crossed” Garlic Baked Potatoes
How to Make the Viral “Star-Crossed” Garlic Baked Potato
To start, you’ll want to preheat your oven to 400°F and prep a baking sheet for the potatoes. Use a knife to poke a few quick holes in the surface of each potato, then cover each one in a bit of olive oil and salt before placing in the oven. Cook on the center rack for about 45 minutes, or until a knife or fork can pierce the center easily with no resistance.
While the potatoes bake, blitz 3 cloves of garlic with feta cheese, lemon juice, salt, and pepper — making sure to use enough oil to bind into a thick cream cheese-like consistency. On the side, melt butter in a bowl, and mix in chopped parsley and garlic. At this point the potatoes should be finished baking and ready for dressing.
Cut a star-crossed pattern into the potato, making sure to slice down about halfway into the potato. Fill the slits with the previously prepared cheese mixture, then douse the potato in garlic butter and parsley. Lastly, season with salt and place the potatoes back in the oven for an extra 10 minutes to get nice and crispy.
My Honest Opinion of the Viral “Star-Crossed” Garlic Baked Potato
First of all, I love this recipe because O’Toole employs a method that can be used on pretty much any potato, no matter the size. Cutting the potato with a six-star pattern allows the cheese and butter to coat the insides of the potato during the last 10 minutes of baking, a process that takes this recipe up to a whole new level.
In addition to the buttery cheesy goodness, I’m a big fan of the simple seasoning of salt and pepper as well as the addition of garlic and parsley. I love a short ingredients list and am always impressed by how true the statement “a little goes a long way” really is. This baked potato is not much different than others I’ve had, and certainly is not reinventing the wheel. What it does is utilize a few tried and tested ingredients, a creative approach, and the familiar tool for getting it all done: an oven.
I did learn a few things along the way that will definitely come in handy next time. I could have cut the potatoes deeper and I wish I had made double the cheese sauce (or more, because that sauce is so delicious). After officially cutting in for my first bite, I realized that I also could have left the potatoes in the oven for another 10 minutes, at least. Even in my shortcomings, I still enjoyed each bite, so we’ll call it a success.
