These Flavor-Packed Potato Recipes Are Seriously Easy to Make (2024)

FAQs

What is the most flavorful potato? ›

Yukon Gold potatoes were created in Canada, as a cross between the North American white potatoes and the yellow-fleshed South American potatoes. When cooked, these potatoes will have a buttery and earthy flavor.

Use freshly squeezed orange juice for the best flavor. In an absolute pinch, you could try bottled orange juice, but note it won't yield the same delicious result. For Greek roast lamb and potatoes, you want a creamy potato that almost melts in your mouth.

Waxy potatoes have less starch than Starchy potatoes and contain more moisture and sugar. They are often smaller with a waxy outer skin and a creamy, firm and moist flesh. When to use: Waxy potatoes hold their shape well after cooking so are great for boiling, roasting or slicing.

Potatoes are split into 3 different classifications: starchy, waxy, and all-purpose. These classifications are given based on their texture, starch content, and moisture. Every potato type falls somewhere along this spectrum.

The ideal potato for baking is low in moisture with a high starch content. These qualities allow a potato to bake up with a delightfully fluffy center and crispy skin. Because it has all of these features, Russet potatoes are the ideal potato for baking and the most commonly used choice.

Yellow potatoes are subtly sweet with a rich buttery taste and medium sugar content. Grilling, roasting, mashing or in salads are the best method of cooking this type of potato.

Cauliflower is probably the most common substitute for potatoes. Many people singing the praises of cauliflower mash and even cauliflower rice. It's easy to fry and roast cauliflower or throw into soups and stews. And it's the one vegetable that's most likely to pass as potatoes.

Solanine also causes a bitter flavor. If cooked potatoes taste bitter or cause a burning sensation in your mouth or throat, this can indicate high solanine levels, even if the potato does not look green ( 2 , 4).

Round White AKA Chef Potatoes

B is the most common in foodservice.

Possibly the most well-known potato variety, Maris Piper has a pale golden skin, with creamy white flesh. They're famous as the original all rounder potato as their texture lends itself to a range of cooking methods. From frying to boiling and roasting – they're great for chips, wedges, mash and roast potatoes.

Which potatoes don't fall apart? ›

Because waxy potatoes are relatively low in starch and high in moisture, their cells stay intact when they're cooked, meaning that slices or cubes hold up when boiled or baked. Waxy potatoes will hold their shape when boiled—and dressed with a ton of cheese and pepper.

And the clear winners are Idaho or russet potatoes.

These potatoes are dense and have less moisture, which is key to avoiding soggy fries. You can also use Yukon gold potatoes, which are an all-purpose potato that can be used for frying. You should avoid waxy potatoes like red-skinned, new, or fingerling potatoes.

A green tinge on the skin of a potato means that chlorophyll has formed. This can happen when a potato is exposed to light—especially fluorescent light, Muir said. Supermarkets often cover their potato bins overnight to block out the light and prevent greening.

Russet potatoes are versatile potatoes that are neutral in flavor and high in starch. They're available at almost any grocery store, any time of year. Russet potatoes are large with thick dark brown skins.

The Healthiest Potato is the Red Potato

But all potatoes, including sweet potatoes, make a great addition to any well-balanced diet! They are delicious, versatile, and worth including.

The russet potato, despite its low fiber content, has very low sugar content and ranks the best (as having the lowest) sugar-to-fiber ratio. See the snapshot of our analysis of the best potatoes for weight loss below, or use our interactive chart, here.

All-purpose potatoes like Yukon Gold and purple potatoes have moderate amounts of starch and moisture, so they can be used in most recipes (whether mashed, steamed, or roasted).

The Origin of Taste

So why are Idaho® potatoes so much better than the rest? Idaho's growing season of warm days and cool nights, combined with plenty of mountain-fed irrigation and rich volcanic soil, produce the unique texture, taste, and dependable performance that keep customers asking for more.

Potatoes come in a wide range of varieties, and each has a slightly different balance of starch, water content, and skin thickness. All of these factors can make a big difference in how tender they become when baked, as well as how crispy their skins get, among other details.