A baked potato “fully loaded” takes the lowly potato weighing in at around 160 calories for a cooked weight of 6 ounces into a gluttony of fat. Adding butter, sour cream and bacon bits is like taking a salad and drowning it in high caloric salad dressing. There is certainly a better way to go about this. Since I started dieting almost 50 years ago, I found that the condiment I liked for French fries was just as good on a baked potato. At 15 calories a tablespoon, ketchup is a much better choice than butter or sour cream which both come in at around 100 calories per tablespoon.

A crispy baked potato is much like a French fry except with more of the fluffy inside. Along with ketchup, I always add salt and maybe some chives or scallions. Close your eyes – a potato is a potato whether it’s fried or baked. If you like French fries with ketchup, you’ll enjoy a baked potato with ketchup.

Baked potato with scallions and ketchup