Baked Potato with Tuna, Sweetcorn & Mayonnaise

Baked potatoes make a great simple supper, and this tuna sweetcorn filling is our go-to favourite. We’ve added other ideas for tasty toppings too. Get those potatoes baking!

When Emily was first at university, her college unfortunately had pretty awful food (though it’s really good there these days!). A combination of this and the fact that Emily would never stop talking at dinner meant she didn’t eat much in hall, and was always starving. Fortunately there was a kebab van outside the college that did really good, cheap baked potatoes. So Emily had her favourite – with cheese, sweetcorn and mayonnaise – several times a week!

We still really like that simple topping, but today we normally add tuna too – though leaving the tuna out is fine, especially if you want it to be vegetarian. You need to allow time to bake potatoes – normally over an hour. But apart from that this classic student supper dish is very quick and easy to make.

First bake your potato(es). You can make them with either crisp or soft skin, find out how in our Tip. Either way, pierce the potatoes with a fork and then rub with salt for crisp, or wrap in foil with butter for soft. Bake in a hot oven, 200C (180C fan), for between 1 hour and 1.5 hours, depending on size, until done. There’s much more detail here in our Tip!

While the potatoes are cooking, prepare the tuna sweetcorn filling. Drain the tuna – we prefer tuna in oil or spring water, not in brine, and steaks rather than chunks – then add some mayonnaise and mash thoroughly with a fork. We like to use a Light mayo, but any one you prefer is fine. One small can of tuna will generously fill two large potatoes.

Season with a little salt, and a generous grind of black pepper. Add a capful or two of vinegar (or lemon juice) to taste. We also like to add a little hot sauce – today we added green Tabasco, which goes well with tuna, plus a small shake of red Tabasco to add a little more heat. Stir well, taste, and adjust with any of the flavourings until you like it.

Now drain and add the sweetcorn, a small can per can of tuna. Mix well to combine. Your filling is ready, and it’s very good in sandwiches too! You can make it ahead and keep in the fridge until your potatoes are done.

Just before serving, grate the cheese. You can use any cheese you like, but today we used cheddar.

Jake sticks his nose in

Cheddar is a good choice, but Gruyere, Emmental, Gouda or red Leicester would be great too as they are all firm enough to grate, but still melt well.

When the potatoes are done, cut a cross in the top of them and push the sides together to open the potato and fluff up the flesh. See more details in our baked potato Tip. Your potatoes are ready to fill.