British TikToker has made jacket potato so viral Americans are trying it

Americans are becoming obsessed with the 'British' jacket potato - all thanks to a lifestyle influencer who has seen her cookery videos go viral after explaining how to make a tasty meal out of the humble spud.

Brittany Miller films herself making dinners for her and her husband - and each time she makes a jacket potato, millions of people tune in. Miller’s TikTok has 1.9 million followers, and her videos have a total of 65.7 million likes.

People who don’t know Miller often refer to her as the “unreal dinner girl” because she always rates food she has made or tried as "unreal". Her most viewed 'jacket potato' video has 7 million views.

The unexpected jacket potato trend is prompting some debate between Brits and Americans, with the latter trying out some unusual flavour combinations with their potatoes - from braised ribs to avocado and refried beans.

One TikTok user explained: “People living in the United States have been buying potatoes and trying out her recipes, and some of those people have posted videos of themselves taking their first bite of the jacket potato they have cooked.

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One American TikToker has joined in the trend, also seeing her jacket potato videos go viral, with 3.5 million views. Wadel Goyol, posting under @w.ads, shared her video in November. She said that, as a Nigerian, having a jacket potato didn’t sound too odd to her as some foods are already ‘heavily influenced’ by the UK.

She started off her jacket potato by putting butter on it and followed it with cheese, sausages, beans, and onions. Taking her first bite, Goyol said: “That's great. I like it a lot. As Brittany would say, unreal.”

The trend was mostly from the tail end of 2023, but just a week ago, Wishbone Kitchen posted a video making jacket potatoes. The influencer behind that username is Meredith Hayden, who is also credited with the resurgence of Americans trying jacket potatoes.

In her video, Hayden said: “Jacket potato is apparently what the Brits call a baked potato.” Her jacket potato is different from a typical jacket potato, she added creme fraiche and topped it off with braised short ribs.

Brooke Applegate posted a video of herself making a jacket potato four days ago. She said: “I learned about the jacket potatoes and I probably watched like 20 TikToks over these potatoes..”

She made her jacket potato more traditional, putting butter, cheese and beans on it. Right after her first bite, she said: “It literally feels like a warm hug, like this is what I needed. In this, look at that for the cheese.”

The comments are largely filled with Brits confused by the toppings Americans are choosing, and giving them tips on how they should be making the jacket potatoes, while other Americans are jumping on the bandwagon and are thinking of trying their hand at making a jacket potato.

The humble jacket potato isn't the only British staple that has caught on with enthusiastic Americans. Yahoo outlines the British food that's making a splash across the pond:

Teas in microwaves:

A couple of years ago, a TikToker went viral after filming herself making tea for her British husband the ‘American’ way, spraking outrage (mostly from Brits). In her video, user almurph18 put a cup of water and milk with a tea bag in her microwave. Although her video was initially a joke, it led to a number of Americans revealing that they do, in fact, use a microwave to make their tea - which led to more ridicule from Brits. A lot of people asked whether Americans had kettles, and others said: “They put everything in the microwave.”

Greggs sausage rolls

Sadly for Americans, the delights of Greggs have not made it across the pond. That said, a number of American tourists have managed to get their hands on everyone's favourite - Greggs sausage roll.

AJ Slambino tried a sausage roll after his followers urged him to buy one. He gave it a 10/10 and said: “You know what I liked best about it, though the pastry part is like buttery, buttery… that's delicious.” He’s not the only one to have filmed their reaction to the famous pastry; another American Tiktoker who moved to the UK took her first trip to Greggs, tried a sausage roll and called it “amazing”.

British Chinese takeaway

Last year, Americans went wild when they heard how British people describe their takeaways. For example, in a typical video, a Brit would say they were having “a” Chinese. This led to people discovering that Chinese takeaway food is completely different from the authentic Chinese food that Americans see across the pond.

As a result, Americans have been putting Chinese takeaway on their 'to-try' lists when they visit the UK. One New Yorker, who got 2.5 million views, sparked outrage with his review after claiming everything in a UK Chinese restaurant had “no flavour”. However, that wasn’t the consensus, as TikTok user Zafirah posted a video saying she was “pleasantly surprised” at how much she liked the British Chinese takeaway.

Deep-fried Mars bars

Some Americans came across a somewhat less than gourmet Scottish treat: deep-fried Mars bars. TikToker, Tlo, who loves British culture, has seen the treat online but had never tasted one before. He filmed himself trying one for the first time, breaking into a happy dance as a result.

“Whoever first did it, you a genius,” he said after trying the treat. One Scot said in the comments: “You are welcome, from Scotland.”

Many gave him suggestions of other British foods he could try at home - one being a chip butty, his react to which garnered a million views.