Types of Potatoes – Choosing the Right One for You
types of potatoes are numerous which means there are a lot of different things that you can do with this delicious root vegetable. Potatoes have been around for hundreds if not thousands of years and have become a staple for most kitchens. Whether you’re looking to bake some delicious sweet potatoes or make some homemade potato chips, there’s a variety of potato that’s right for what you’re trying to accomplish. In addition to just knowing the different varieties, there are many other cooking tips and tricks that can teach you how to cook with potatoes a little better. If you’re wondering which potatoes to pair with your next meal, then you’ve come to the right place.
What are Starchy Potatoes
Starchy Potatoes are the ones that are used in baking, and they have a high starch content. They are great for making mashed potatoes, potato salads and even French fries. The starchy types of potatoes include Russet, Yukon gold, Idaho and Red Bliss. Starchy Potatoes or tubers have high starch content and form a fluffy interior when cooked. They’re used in dishes such as mashed potatoes, potato salad or scalloped potatoes. Their flavor is bland, so they’re often paired with salty ingredients like bacon bits or cheese to add more flavor. Starchy potatoes are also great roasted whole in their jackets until tender inside and crispy outside.
What are Waxy Potatoes
Waxy potatoes are the most popular type of potato in the U.S. Waxy types of potatoes are low-starch and low-sugar, which means they hold their shape when cooked and don’t brown or burn easily. That makes them ideal for potato salads, potato gratin or any dish that requires minimal preparation time.
Waxy potatoes are great for boiling, steaming, sautéing, and baking. They are more likely to hold their shape after cooking than other potatoes. These potatoes have a thin skin and very little starch in the flesh. These waxy potatoes are the best choice for potato pancakes because they won’t fall apart when boiled.
What are Colorful Potatoes
The colorful potatoes are a group of varieties that have been bred for their skins. These include purple potatoes, red potatoes and yellow spuds. The most common-colored potatoes are purple, which are a deep purple-red color when cooked. They’re also called blue potatoes, because they turn blue when exposed to air.
What Are Purple Potatoes?
Purple potatoes are some of the most popular in the world, with many different varieties available. They have a sweet flavor, which makes them good for eating raw or cooked. Purple potato skins can be eaten as well as the flesh inside the potato. The skin is mildly toxic when eaten raw, but cooking destroys this toxin.
Purple Potatoes Are Nutritionally Rich
The purple pigment in these types of potatoes comes from anthocyanin content in their cells’ walls (tissues). These pigments give them their coloration and protect them from sunlight damage by scavenging harmful free radicals produced by ultraviolet (UV) light exposure. Purple potatoes also contain high levels of potassium and vitamin C — two nutrients that help prevent high blood pressure, heart disease and stroke — along with a number of other nutrients like iron and magnesium that are important for healthy blood vessels and bones.
Other varieties include:
Adirondack Blue
This blue-colored spud comes from the Adirondack Mountains in upstate New York and was developed by Cornell University researchers in 2001
Pink Rose
A sweet-tasting pink rose-colored potato with a white interior that makes it perfect for roasting or boiling
Purple Peruvian
This purple-skinned potato tastes like a cross between a russet and Yukon Gold, but with more sweetness
What are Fingerling Potatoes
Fingerling potatoes are small, oval-shaped potatoes that are only about an inch long. They have a thin skin and a creamy flesh. Fingerling potatoes have a delicate flavor and are usually sold with the skins on, which is why they’re more expensive than other varieties.
Fingerlings are best eaten fresh, but you can also bake them in the oven or microwave them for a few minutes until soft. You can also boil them for about 10 minutes until tender or steam them for about 15 minutes until soft enough to pierce with a fork.
What are Red Potatoes?
Red potatoes are small round types of potatoes that range in color from red to purple-red or yellow when cooked. Red potatoes typically have thin skin and creamy texture when cooked. Some varieties of red potato include Yukon Gold, Ruby Red and Fingerling Rose. These potatoes are great for roasting because they hold their shape well when baked at high temperatures, which makes them perfect for pot pies or French fries. You can also use red potatoes as an ingredient in soups or stews because they hold up well during cooking without falling apart like white potatoes do when they are boiled for too long.
What are the newest types of potatoes available today
Newer varieties include purple and blue potatoes which are gaining popularity because they contain anthocyanin, an antioxidant that may help prevent cancer and heart disease by reducing inflammation in arteries and preventing blood clots from forming in blood vessels around the body, according to The Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry.
There are also russet Burbank potatoes that contain less sugar than other varieties which is good if you’re watching your sugar intake or if you’re diabetic. However, these may be less suitable for sweet potato dishes like candied yams.
Wrapping it up
Whether you are a first-time potato buyer, or you are simply looking to expand your potato horizons, there is some valuable information provided above. Not only did we introduce you to the wide variety of potatoes available in stores, but we also covered some important matters relating to selecting the right potato to pair with your next meal. We hope that this guide has prepared you well for your next trip to the grocery store. You never know… you may even get hooked on new varieties of spuds!
