Types Of Potatoes - Which Ones To Use and When?
Three Categories of Potatoes
Starchy
You’ll probably have guessed it but starchy potatoes are high in starch. They’re also low in moisture, have quite a floury texture and often they have a creamy white flesh. Their texture makes them great for baking, mashing and deep frying – think crispy potatoes or hash browns. Because of their high starch content, they don’t hold together very well when cooked so please don’t use them in dishes that require boiling, roasting or slicing.
Waxy
Everything I just told you about starchy potatoes, well… waxy potatoes are pretty much the exact opposite. Waxy potatoes stand up to boiling, slicing and roasting where starchy potatoes may fall apart. Across the western world, waxy potatoes are mostly commonly seen in the potato salad.
All-Purpose
If you are the sort of person that uses potatoes in most dishes (I wouldn’t blame you) then grabbing a large bag of all-purpose potatoes is the answer for you. An all-purpose potato falls right in-between starch and waxy potatoes, they’re light and creamy when you bake them or light and fluffy when you mash them. Often hidden in a coarse skin, they are the perfect blend of the previous two potato categories.
Varieties of Potatoes
Russet
Russet is a wonderful name for a potato, but this type of potato is better known as the ‘baking potato’. Russets are mostly long and large with a thick and rough skin. They’re high in starch with a white and dry fleshy inside. These are the quintessential baking potato which are great for staples such as chips or eating by themselves with a filling but they won’t shine when boiled, trust me!
Rose Finn Apple
These are often one of the ‘prettiest’ variety of potatoes, they are mostly long with a slightly purple-yellow hugh which could add some great colour to a dish. As they’re waxy potatoes with a great creaminess, they’re perfect for salads.
Russian Banana
Their name does not explain what this potato is, so don’t worry – you’re still on the right article. Russian Banana potatoes are banana shapes that taste delicious and are ideal for roasting, boiling or baking. A typical creamy-yellow, they also have a subtle taste of nuttiness.
Red Thumb
This is a ‘new’ type of potato that has been developed within the past few decades. It is one of a kind as not only is its skin red but its flesh is too! It’s a favourite among chefs because it stands out in all dishes. If you want to show off then a small amount of red thumb in a dish will go a long way.
French Fingerling
These are small, stubby, long waxy potatoes, which are often mixed up with ‘new potatoes’. Due to their size and slight rarity, these potatoes are more expensive than other potato varieties and are commonly either halved and roasted in a side dish or used for salads.
LaRette
LaRette potatoes are sometimes called Rette – they’re creamy, earthy and rich with a hint of nut flavour. They’re a cousin of the ‘russet’ potato but these have a delicate skin means this potato doesn’t store as well as its russet cousins, but what you lose in storability, you make up for in taste. Great for roasting, sautéing, boiling, and braising!
Austrian Crescent
This interesting potato is also known as ‘Kipfel’, the German name for croissant. While I’m not sure why, I can tell you this variety is a medium maturing yellow potato. It is grown for specialty markets and is great for salads or roasting.
Red Gold
Red Gold is a potato with pink-red skin and a bright yellow flesh. They’re firm, moist and earthy and their alluring mild savour taste work best when boiled, steamed or baked.
Purple Majesty
This is another potato I love to use in the restaurant because it gets people talking at the dinner table! They are oval, blue-skinned potatoes which are deep violet purple inside, and they retain their colour well. With a slightly floury texture and a delicious flavour, they brighten up any salad.
Norland Red
These have a beautiful red skin. An attractive, medium long potato with shallow eyes and delicious white flesh. Norland Red is a simple potato that is good all-rounder for both boiling and baking.
Yukon Gold
You can easily identify a Yukon Gold by its smooth, slightly waxy skin, the Yukon gold is one of the most commonly found spud varieties. So much so, your local supermarket will probably just label this as ‘waxy potato’ – it’s great for everything that a waxy potato is known for.
Kennebec
Kennebec potatoes are long and oval with rounded ends. Rich and earth, they are especially great for frying when accompanied with meat – or for making has browns!
All Blue
This is a relatively new potato that is also called the ‘Adirondack Blue’, recently bred it’s a potato variety with blue flesh (yes, blue not purple) and a slightly purple tint. Great for salads or show off fries. They’ll taste similar to a standard al-purpose potato, but they are slightly more moist.
Sweet Potatoes
Beauregard
Sweeter than a traditional sweet potato! It is still orange fleshed, reddish-brownish-orangish but the taste is distinctive, and it contains a bit more water – perfect for making desserts with.
Jewel
The jewel sweet potato is traditionally used for baking dishes and within casseroles. It is orange on the outside and orange on the inside, it is sweet but not too sweet – some say it’s the perfect version of the sweet potato!
Garnet
This sweet tasting potato has a reddish skin and it is usually thicker and rounder than sweet potatoes many of us are used to, it’s shorter and thicker than the jewel potato I just described.
Hannah
Hannah is a type of sweet potato with a lightly coloured tan skin and inside it has a creamy white-coloured flesh. In many ways this is more like a traditional texture all-purpose potato, but it is definitely sweeter.
Satsuma-Imo
Satsuma-imo is one type of potato for us in the West but really, it’s used to describe many different varieties of sweet potatoes that come from Japan. It has a nutty flavor that’s dryer and starchier than most, it’s great for desserts.
Okinawa
Blue and sweet, like a smurf. This is a sweet and starchy root vegetable. Vibrant and versatile, these potatoes are great for sweet dishes or as a contrast to something savoury.