Potatoes come in a variety of shapes and sizes, with thousands of varieties. Potatoes with a starchy texture, such as Russet or Idaho, are excellent for mashing, frying, and baking. Red potato varieties, for example, have a waxy texture and are perfect for boiling and serving in salads. Purple potatoes, for example, are a kind of potato that provides even more health benefits than ordinary all-purpose potatoes.
True potatoes include sweet varieties like the red-skinned Japanese potato and Hannah sweet potato. There should be a variety of potatoes to suit everyone’s preferences, with roughly 4,000 types to choose from. Potatoes (also known as spuds) are a highly adaptable root vegetable.
Potatoes can be prepared in a variety of ways, such as mashed, boiling, baking, steaming, or frying. Potatoes are a wonderful source of vitamins, despite their high carbohydrate content. The most common varieties of potatoes available will be discussed in this article. You’ll discover why these tubers, which are healthy to eat, are beneficial.
Types of Potatoes (With Pictures and Names)
Depending on how they are cooked, potatoes (Solanum tuberosum) may be divided into three major groups. If you want to know the best variety of potato for your recipe, this vital data is essential.
Starchy types of potatoes
Starchy potatoes are high in starch and come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Starchy potatoes, such as Idaho Russet, take on a velvety look when cooked. These “mealy” potatoes are transformed into baked, mashed, fried, and boiling potatoes.
Waxy potatoes
Waxy potatoes have less starch and more moisture than starchy tubers, which makes them a good choice for potato chips. They’re ideal for roasting, boiling, or making potato salads because they have a solid flesh that holds its form well after cooking.
All-purpose types of potatoes
All-purpose potato types include varieties with a moderate amount of starch, sugar, and moisture. When cooked, potato cultivars like Yukon Gold and Marcy retain their form and have a fluffy texture. These all-purpose tubers are suitable for use in most recipes.
Types of Potatoes: Different Potato Varieties (With Pictures and Names)
Now, let’s investigate a few of the thousands of potato varieties that may be utilized for cooking:
Russet (Starchy Type of Potatoes)
One of the most common types of potatoes is the Russet potato (also known as Idaho potatoes). These are oval-shaped starchy potato varieties that are rather huge. Potatoes have a dark, leathery skin that ranges from light brown to black brown in color. Russet potato varieties lighten and fluffy when cooked, baked, or roasted. One of the most popular and delicious ways to cook French-fries is with Russet potatoes.
Since they absorb milk and butter well, Russet Idaho potatoes make excellent mashed potatoes. Russet potatoes have a lot of nutritional benefits. For example, one 300 g Russet potato with the skin has a vitamin C content of 38.6 mg, or 64% of your daily recommended intake (RDI). Potatoes are also high in other B-group vitamins and contain over half of your vitamin B6 RDI.
Russet potatoes have 64 g of carbohydrates, with 7 g of dietary fiber. This implies that one baked potato provides you with 28% of your daily fiber intake. Potassium, magnesium, iron, calcium, manganese, and copper are also abundant in potatoes. Russet potatoes come in about 200 different varieties!
Russet Burbank
The most common Russet potatoes are Burbank Russet potatoes. The potato’s white flesh is covered in dark brown skin and is referred to as a “mealy” potato. Burbanks are a popular potato because they taste so great in fast food restaurants.
Ranger Russet
The skin is brown and the flesh is white on this huge, oblong Idaho potato. Late in the season, Ranger Russets are gathered and eaten mostly as baked potatoes or fries.
Umatilla Russet
Umatilla Russet potatoes have white to yellow flesh and are long and oblong in shape. Russet potato varieties are often used to make frozen fries.
Sweet Potatoes and Yams (Starchy Potatoes)
Sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas) belong to the nightshade Solanum tuberosum variety, which is not a true potato. Starchy tubers from the Ipomoea batatas plant include different types of sweet potatoes, such as the Japanese sweet potato and Hannah sweet potato. Sweet potatoes have an irregular, long oblong shape when compared to ordinary potatoes. Sweet potatoes are grown in hundreds of different countries, and there are hundreds of types.
Yams, also known as cassava, are a starchy tuber that is cultivated in tropical and temperate areas. Yams are also known as sweet potatoes in some areas of the United States, despite the fact that they are not related. The Japanese sweet potato, for example, is sometimes referred to as Japanese yam.
Sweet potatoes with dark orange flesh are the most delicious types. Because of their high levels of antioxidants, these are also the healthiest potatoes. Anti-inflammatory, antioxidative, and anti-obesity properties are all present in sweet potatoes, a unique starchy root vegetable.
Sweet potatoes come in a rainbow of colors, from white to purple to even red. The vitamin A content of sweet potatoes is the most impressive nutritional feature. A single large baked sweet potato (180 g) contains 692% of your daily vitamin A requirement. Vitamin C (59%), vitamin B6 (26%), potassium (24%), and manganese (45%) are all present in sweet potatoes.
Sweet potatoes provide 37 grams of carbohydrates, with 6 grams of fiber and 11 grams of sugar. Due to anthocyanins in the vegetable, purple sweet potatoes are a healthy variant of “potato.” The color of dark fruit and vegetables is due to anthocyanins, which are antioxidants.
Beauregard variety of sweet potato
The most extensively farmed sweet potato in the United States is the red-skinned Beauregard variety. This type of sweet potato can be baked, mashed, fried, or boiled and is versatile in the kitchen. The orange flesh of Beauregard sweet potatoes has a rich, buttery flavor.
Jewel sweet potato variety
The skin of jewel sweet potatoes is copper or orange in color, and the flesh is deep orange. Some people claim that the Beauregard types are more flavorful than diamond sweet potatoes.
Purple sweet potatoes
Adding purple sweet potatoes to your meals provides nutrition, color, and flavor. Purple sweet potatoes have earthy-sweet flesh that is firm and purple in color. Purple sweet potatoes may be used to make french fries, mashed potatoes, or baked sweet potatoes.
Red Potatoes (Waxy Variety of Potato)
Red potatoes have less starch and are smaller than their starchy counterparts, according to the USDA. These crimson potato types are fantastic for roasting or chopping up because they hold together well when cooked. Red potatoes have a sweeter flavor than Russet potatoes or all-purpose potatoes. You’ll not just boost your fiber intake but also add some bright color to your supper if you cook them with their skins on.
Red potatoes are healthier than Russet potatoes if you wish to cut your carb intake. Red potato varieties have somewhat less carbs and calories than starchy potatoes, according to their nutritional properties. Cooking and eating potatoes with their crimson skins on provides you with more vitamins, fiber, and nutrients than peeling them.
Red Bliss waxy potatoes
The skin of a Red Bliss potato is smooth and the flesh is white. You may cook and consume Red Bliss potatoes in their skins because the skin is so thin. Since they are low in starch, red Bliss varieties aren’t best for making mashed potatoes. They’re fantastic in gratins or salads when sliced, chopped, or diced.
French Fingerlings
The shape of huge fat fingers is sometimes seen in French Fingerlings, a kind of red waxy potato. They have yellowish-white meat that has a particular waxy feel to it, and their rose-colored smooth skin covers it. When baked, fried, boiled, or roasted, French Fingerlings retain their shape similarly to other waxy potatoes.
Red Pontiac
The Dakota Chief, also known as the Red Pontiac, is a delicious red potato variety. The skin is dark red and the flesh is white on this kind of red potato. Cook it with the skin on if you want to avoid potato diseases, as you would with all varieties of potatoes.
Red Norland
Little red potatoes with an oblong shape are known as Red Norland potatoes. Salads are a fantastic way to use these waxy potatoes. Depending on the skin color, there are various sorts of Red Norlands. A typical example of this red-skinned potato is the Dark Red Norland.
White Potato (All-Purpose Kind of Potato)
White potatoes are a common variety of potato because of their versatility. White potatoes can be used in a variety of dishes. White potatoes have pale skin and lower levels of starch, unlike Russet potatoes. These tubers, on the other hand, are ideal for mashing, boiling, steaming, baking, and roasting since they still have enough starch.
They have comparable nutritional qualities when compared to red potatoes and Russet types. Baked white potatoes, for example, have 21 grams of carbs and the same amount as Russets. All-purpose potatoes are excellent sources of vitamins, minerals, and fiber when consumed with their skins, as they are with all potato varieties.
Yukon Gold potatoes
Yukon Gold potatoes have yellow flesh and are ideal for using in recipes since they are suitable for cooking. The starch and moisture balance in Yukon Gold potatoes is ideal. When cooked, they have enough starch to make them light and fluffy, but they still have a sweetness. Boiling, steaming, roasting, and baking are all good options with these potato types.
Marcy Potato
Another excellent potato is the Marcy potato, which can be used in a variety of recipes. Marcy tubers are somewhat flattened on the sides and have an oval shape. Compared to Russet potatoes, the skin is light, and the flesh is a light-yellow color.
All-Purpose Pike Potato
One of the most popular potatoes for making potato chips is pike potatoes. The light skin color of pike potato tubers has a flaky surface.
Superior Potato
The skin of this white “superior” potato variety is light in color, and the flesh is white. Superior potatoes are a popular all-purpose potato because of their yield.
White Rose
The White Rose potato variety is a huge, long white potato that yields a lot. It’s sometimes referred to as the American Giant. The starch content and waxy texture of these white-fleshed potatoes are relatively low. They’re ideal for making a delicious creamy mash by boiling them with milk and butter.
Purple Potatoes (All-Purpose)
Purple potatoes are a very healthy potato that has the same nutritional qualities as ordinary potatoes. The antioxidant content of this potato variety is therefore high due to its high levels of anthocyanins. Purple potatoes rank among the most nutritious potatoes available. Purple tubers’ antioxidant levels vary depending on their various hues, according to research. More anthocyanins may be seen in dark purple or black potato cultivars than in lighter purple potato cultivars, for example.
On a dinner plate, purple potatoes are unusual to come across. You might be pleasantly surprised by the flavor and color of a purple potato if you have never tried one. During your meal, the purple flesh will be a big hit.
Adirondack Blue: A Type of Purple Potato
Purple potatoes have an oval or pear-shaped form with a blue-purple color that covers their skin and flesh. Purple mash, chips, fries, baked potatoes, and salads can all be created using these purple tubers. These potatoes keep their purple color during cooking, unlike many other purple potato types.
Violette potato
This French potato variety, violette, is used in gourmet French cuisine and is cultivated in France. The dark purple skin of this type of elongated purple potatoes is almost black, and the flesh is likewise dark purple. They have a thick layer of skin and stay in form. They have a nutty flavor and retain their purple color when cooked.
New Potatoes
New potatoes are a younger form of full-grown potatoes that are occasionally referred to as “baby potatoes.” From April to July, fresh potatoes are available. The starch hasn’t had time to form because they are a younger variety of potato. As a result, new potatoes are sweeter and don’t have as much starch as other types of potatoes. Boiling new “baby” potatoes for 10 minutes in butter or olive oil is the finest way to savor them. New potatoes may be served as a side dish or in a potato salad.
What are Fingerling Types of Potatoes?
Due to their tiny, long oblong form and somewhat curled end, fingerlings are an uncommon kind of potato. White, red, and yellow-skinned fingerlings are among the different types of fingerlings available. Many people refer to these weird potatoes because of their unusual shape and knobby features. French Fingerling, Russian Banana, Swedish Peanut Fingerling, and Rose Finn Apple are some of the most popular fingerlings available.
What are Petite Kinds of Potatoes?
Petite potatoes are tubers of a small size, as their name suggests. They cook faster since they are little potatoes varieties. Petite potatoes have the same skin and flesh color as conventional potatoes.
How to Select the Right Kind of Potato
Depending on the variety of potato, you’ll need to pick the best kind for your recipe. Therefore, when cooking, which potatoes are the finest? Russets or white potatoes are the best choice for making delicious, healthy baked potatoes or mashed potatoes. Because of their high starch content, these potatoes are fantastic for baking or boiling. When cooked, starchy varieties of potatoes tend to lose their form and become fluffy.
Types of waxy potatoes that retain their form are the best variety for salads, soups, and stews. New potatoes are often served in a delicious, healthy salad during the early summer months. If you want the cubes, slices, or chunks of other varieties of red waxy potatoes to retain their form, they’re ideal for adding to other recipes.
Baked, mashed, fried, and grilled potatoes are examples of potato preparation methods.
How to Store Potatoes
To avoid potatoes from rotting or generating toxins, it is essential to store them correctly. Potatoes, like tomatoes, are a member of the nightshade family and develop green when exposed to bright light. When exposed to light, the green color turns toxic and produces solanine, a harmful chemical. Potatoes should be kept in a cool, dark spot between 50°F and 65°F (10°C and 18°C).
When potatoes are stored at temperatures less than 40°F (4°C), the starch converts to sugar. Nevertheless, if you fry or turn gray while cooking, this yields a sweeter potato; nonetheless, they might burn quicker. That’s why potatoes shouldn’t be kept in the fridge.