Are you a potato lover, and how many types of potatoes are there? Is a question in your thoughts? There are about 4,000 different potato varieties, including some popular kinds. In this article, we will highlight the most common types of potatoes.
The primary food in most homes is potato. It’s a simple vegetable that can be boiled, baked, or mashed and used in nearly any dish.
Potato varieties have distinct tastes, textures, colors, and best cooking uses. When you imagine a potato, it might be a normal one with a brown exterior and a white interior, but there are many different potatoes.
The nightshade plant Solanum tuberosum produces the tuberous root vegetable known as the potato, which ranks fourth in global food crop popularity behind maize, wheat, and rice.
Potato is nutrient-dense despite the criticism for its high carbohydrate content. The potato contains more protein than beef, calcium than milk, iron than spinach, and potassium than bananas.
Furthermore, potatoes are a fantastic source of vitamin B6, vitamin C, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, folate, pantothenic acid, magnesium, and phosphorus. They lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels.
Potato is the main ingredient of French fries, chips, hash browns, and other fried foods. Potato is used in baking, making mashed potatoes, and as a side dish.
1. Russet Potatoes
One of the types of potatoes is the Russet potato, also known as Idaho, bakers, or Burbank potatoes. Since they were first cultivated in the 1870s, these potatoes have gained popularity for their usage in French fries and account for around 70% of all potato sales in the US today.
The Russet potato is a starchy white potato that, when baked, becomes dry and mealy and has a high amylose content.
2. Japanese Sweet Potato
It is a well-known Satsuma-imo or sweet potato cultivar that is high in nutrients like vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. Its flavor can best be described as sweet and nutty.
3. Sweet Potato
Next on our list of types of potatoes is sweet potato. While sweet potatoes are technically classified as a root vegetable and a nightshade family member, all potatoes are tubers.
Because of its rough reddish-orange skin, most sweet potato dishes call for peeling either before or after cooking. Bright orange, creamy, and charming describe the inside, making it suitable for savory and sweet meals.
4. Jewel Yam
It is a form of sweet potato and a part of the morning glory family of plants and trees, not the genuine yam family. One of the most popular sweet potatoes on the market is this one.
5. Red Potato
Also known as red bless or redskin potatoes. One of the varieties of potatoes with the highest wax helps them keep their shape even after cooking.
Most recipes don’t call for peeling because of their skin’s reddish color and thinness. When cooked, the interior of the red potato has a thick texture and is dazzling white.
6. Hannah Sweet Potato
This sweet potato type, also known as the Sweet Hannah or Yellow Hannah, resembles the Jewel Yam but has paler skin and meat.
7. White Potato
Whitish potato is also one of the types of potatoes. White potatoes, so named because of their white skin and flesh, are similar to russet potatoes in flavor and texture.
Still, because of their much thinner skin, you may frequently omit the peeling process for many dishes because the skin will soften considerably during cooking.
8. Red Bliss
It is a typical red type with much sugar, moist, translucent flesh, and gummy when mashed.
9. French Fingerling
French Fingerling is also one of the types of potatoes. Fingerling potatoes have a size range of two to four inches and are roughly the size of a giant finger.
They are available in various hues, including white, purple, yellow, and red. The thin skins of fingerling potatoes are covered in a waxy core frequently spotted with colored veins. Because of how often their entertaining shape is highlighted in meals, they are commonly cooked whole or simply in halves.
10. La Ratte
It is a variety of French heritage fingerlings with a solid buttery flavor and high-fat content. French farmer Jean Pierre Clot initially cultivated it in the Swiss Alps.
11. Russian Banana
The Russian Banana is a well-liked small-sized potato cultivar with a rich flavor like a fingerling potato and is distinguished by a firm texture.
12. Yellow Potato
Next on our list of types of potatoes is the yellow potato. The fact that yellow potatoes are among the most popular potato kinds is not surprising, given their naturally buttery flavor and silky-smooth interior. Despite having a thin skin, when fried or roasted, it properly crisps up.
Yellow potatoes are occasionally called “golden potatoes”; however, this is probably because people mistake them for Yukon Gold potatoes, a marketed variety that boasts a reduced carbohydrate content.
13. Red Gold Potato
This medium-sized potato cultivar has its roots in the 1970s in North America. It tastes sweet and nutty and has a smooth, velvety texture.
14. Rose Finn Apple
Rose Finn Apple is an old heirloom potato cultivar from Ireland. Its name comes from the color of its skin, which looks like the skin of a rose apple. This potato is very nutritious and contains vitamin C.
15. Purple Peruvian
Last on our list of types of potatoes is Purple Peruvian. Purple Peruvian potatoes were first developed in Peru but can now be found in other countries. These potatoes are known for their dark purple skin and creamy texture.
Potatoes are one of the most important food crops worldwide. Potatoes are grown on over 40 million hectares (100 million acres) worldwide, making it the third largest food crop after corn and wheat.
To extend their shelf life, potatoes are typically “cured” underground for a few weeks after being harvested in the fall or early winter.
