If you ask us, potatoes should be their own food group! After all, we could have them at every meal. In the mornings, potatoes are the key ingredient in a hearty breakfast hash, while in the afternoon, they transform into tasty potato chips or potato salad. And for dinner, we can have potatoes any which way—mashed, roasted, baked, or turned into French fries.
But some potatoes are better suited for making potato skins versus creamy mashed potatoes. So how do you know which types of potatoes to use? Potatoes are generally classified based on their texture: either waxy or starchy. Waxy potatoes are lower in starch and higher in moisture. They tend to hold their shape pretty well, which makes them great for roasting. Starchy potatoes are high in starch but lower in moisture, which gives them a more crumbly texture—ideal for baked potatoes.
There are also all-purpose potatoes can do a little bit of everything. They have a good balance of both starch and moisture, and you can use them for just about any potato recipes you have in mind. Read on for a list of all different types of potatoes. And no matter what kind you choose, be sure to store them properly with our potato storage guide.
Russet
The russet potato is arguably the most most well-known type of potatoes in the United States. Russets have a brownish color and a sandy outer layer. The inside is white and starchy and crumbly when cooked, making them ideal for recipes like these pepperoni pizza stuffed potatoes.
Yukon Gold
The Yukon gold potato stands beside the russet as one of the most popular types of potatoes in the kitchen, and for good reason! As their "all-purpose" categorization indicates, Yukon golds are great for just about anything: baking, roasting, boiling, grilling, frying and especially mashing. They have a bright golden color on the inside and a smooth texture when cooked. If there's one place to get started when using Yukon golds, it's a classic mashed potato like Ree Drummond's creamy mashed potatoes.
Red Bliss
Characterized by smooth, red skins and a waxy yellow flesh, you'll often see these potatoes listed as "new potatoes." As the name implies, are harvested at an earlier point during the growing season; they have a smaller size and thinner skin than other potatoes which doesn't need to be peeled. They hold their shape well when cooked which is why Ree's Crash Hot Potatoes are a great example of how to use them!
Kennebec Potato
These potatoes look more like russets on the outside, but are shaped more like Yukon golds. They make for a great all-purpose option in the kitchen. They have a brownish outer layer and white flesh on the inside.
Caribe
Another versatile medium-sized potato, these reddish-purple skinned potatoes have a milky white flesh. They are considered starchy, but are actually more of an all-purpose potato that can make wonderfully fluffy mashed potatoes.
Purple Majesty Potato
The Purple Majesty is a medium-sized and oval-shaped potato with an instantly recognizable dark purple hue and a blueish purple interior that's fairly low in starch. Try switching things up with your cookout sides and make a perfect potato salad with a bright purple potato!
All Blue Potato
The name says it all! These beautiful heirloom potatoes are all blue—both inside and out. They're great for baking or boiling, and you can even use the leftover cooking water to dye your Easter eggs blue!
French Fingerling
French fingerlings are not as elongated in shape as your typical fingerling, but they have a dark red outer skin. If you slice into a French fingerling potato, you can often see some reddish streaks throughout the flesh.
Russian Banana Fingerling
These finger-shaped potatoes are smaller and more oblong in shape. They have a waxy texture and an almost golden flesh on the inside. Since they hold their shape pretty well, you could try cooking them on the grill like these poblano-potato bundles.
Purple Peruvian
Another figure in the fingerling family is the dark purple Peruvian, which originated in (you guessed it!) Peru. With a starchy interior that lightens a bit after being cooked, you'll still get a stunning hue with any application. Try roasting them for an easy and colorful side.
Beauregard Sweet Potato
If you go to grab your everyday, red-skinned, orange-fleshed sweet potato at the grocery store, that's a Beauregard. Ideal for mashed potatoes and as the center of attention in sweet potato pie and sweet potato casserole, the flesh is very soft and sometimes stringy once cooked.
Jewel Yam
This is another kind of sweet potato you will most likely find at the grocery store (technically a true yam is a starchy root that looks completely different from a sweet potato). The jewel yam is larger in size than other potatoes and has a dark reddish-orange color on the outside.
Hannah Sweet Potato
Hannah sweet potatoes have a shape and size similar to that of your average sweet potato, but they have more of a light brown outer layer. The most distinctive quality of the Hannah sweet potato is that it has white flesh on the inside. Because they are denser than other sweet potatoes, they are ideal for fries of any shape.
Japanese Sweet Potato
The Japanese sweet potato has a dark red color and, similar to the Hannah sweet potato, white flesh on the inside. These starchy sweet potatoes are great for baking and roasting with some of your favorite toppings.
