Baked Potatoes on the Grill

The mistake most people make when grilling potatoes is to leave the foil on the whole time. Take it off at the end and crisp up the skin! Here’s the whole procedure.

Prepping Potatoes For The Grill

I like to use Russet potatoes for my baked potatoes, look for similar sized ones so that they are ready at the same time. Poke each potato with a fork a few times and coat them with olive oil, salt, and pepper.

Yes, you should use aluminum foil when grilling your potatoes. The foil helps keep the steam and heat inside the potato to cook it through completely. We recommend using heavy duty or grill foil so it doesn’t rip when placed on the grill or when you use tongs to flip them over.

As an added bonus, the foil keeps the potatoes warm if they are ready before the rest of your meal. 

Indirect Or Direct Heat On The Grill?

Wrap the potatoes in foil and place them on the indirect heat side of your grill. Grilling with indirect heat means you’re cooking on the cooler side of your grill rather than over the flame or heat source. This will ensure the inside is slowly cooked without over cooking it and drying it out.

Time and Temperature

Generally, if you’re grilling potatoes, you are also grilling other foods. So I dislike giving you just one set of time and temperature here. You want to be able to fit these potatoes in with whatever else you’re cooking up.

Grill Temperature

As mentioned, you’ll have your grill set up for cooking over indirect heat. Then, for cooking most foods, your grill temperature is going to be between 350-450°F. You’ll take this reading from the thermometer display on your grill after the lid has been closed for at least 10 minutes.

Testing Grill Temperature: Motorboat Test

• If you don’t have a thermometer on your grill, you use the “motorboat test” which is to do the following:
• After the grill has been closed for 10 minutes, open it.
• Put your hands flat and palm-side-down 5 inches above the grill grates that are over the flames (not the indirect area).
• Count how many seconds you can leave your hands there before pulling them away. And be sure to not count too quickly – use real seconds “one motorboat, two motorboats, three motorboats,” thus the name of this test!
• If you pull your hands away in 2-4 seconds, it’s high temp. If you pull them away in 5-7 seconds, it’s medium.

How Long To Cook The Potatoes

If your grill is at a high temperature (around 450°F) and you are cooking your foil-wrapped, medium-sized baking potatoes potatoes over indirect heat, they’ll be done in 40-50 minutes.

If your grill is at a medium temperature (around 350°F) and you are cooking your foil-wrapped, medium-sized baking potatoes potatoes over indirect heat, they’ll be done in 50-60 minutes.

To be sure your potatoes are cooked through, the best way to test is with a thermometer, either an instant-read or a continuous read. If the temperature in the center of your potato is 210°, the potato is cooked through.

If you don’t have a meat thermometer, use a firm wooden skewer and stick it into the center of a potato. If it slides in easily, it’s done.

Then, the potatoes are ready and you can eat them right then, or take them off the grill and they’ll stay warm for a good 30 minutes. Or, and this is the best, unwrap the potatoes and put them over direct heat to get the skin crispy, which is explained next.

Crisping Up The Potato Skin On The Grill

To finish the potatoes with a nice crispy skin and extra flavor, unwrap the potatoes from the foil and put them on direct heat. It doesn’t matter if the grill is at 350°F or 450°F for this. They will get nice and crispy underneath in 3-5 minutes. Flip them and do the other side.

Note that if you crisp the skin up like this, don’t wrap them back in foil to keep warm because that will steam the crispiness away. This is therefore best to do just before serving.

Make-Ahead Potatoes for the Grill

Another great thing that you can do is to pre-cook the whole potatoes either in the microwave, in the oven, or wrapped in foil on the grill like we’ve been talking about. Then, you can chill them in the fridge until half an hour before you want to serve them. Yes, this means you can do them a day or two before you want them!

Then you’ll cut the potatoes in half. This is so that the heat of the grill can penetrate them more quickly. Brush them inside and out with cooking oil and sprinkle with salt. Put them over medium direct heat on the grill cut-side-down until starting to brown underneath4-5 minutes. Flip and cook them skin-side-down until the skin is crispy and the potatoes are heated through, another 3-4 minutes.

Then it’s time to add your toppings and enjoy! You can stick with some butter if you’d like, but I’m a big fan of adding shredded cheese, sour cream, and chives to mine.

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This post originally appeared in July 2023 and was revised and republished in April 2024.