Potatoes might be a humble vegetable, but they’re a vegetable that unites everyone. We all love this staple food, served in thousands of different ways. If you’re a potato lover – aren’t we all? – you should try growing different potato varieties in your garden.
You might not realize that there are different potatoes. They all have various maturity rates and different colors, as well as textures and flavors. Regardless, the process for growing potatoes is similar for all the varieties.
Let’s take a look at some of the best potato varieties to grow in your garden.
14 Best Potato Varieties
Potatoes are a staple crop used in thousands of recipes across many cultures. Here are some of these best potato varieties to grow in your garden.
1. Adirondack Blue
Adirondack Blue potatoes have purple skins and blue flesh with a texture similar to an apple. These potatoes come in different shades of blue, ranging from lavender to almost black. Then, when you cook them, they change colors again; mashing turns these potatoes to a light blue, and roasting makes them darker.
Adirondack Blue potatoes are great for baking, boiling, mashed, or turning into a salad. These potatoes are known for having a rich, nutty flavor, and due to their rich color, they have more antioxidants than other potatoes. It takes 80-90 days for them to reach maturity.
2. Carola
If you love yellow potatoes, Carola is a great option; it’s a classic buttery flavored potato that is medium to large in size. These potatoes have an irregular, round shape.
Carola potatoes have a lower starch content than other potatoes, so these are great for salads, casseroles, baking, roasting, and frying. They aren’t ideal for soups, but you can use them for most other recipes.
Carola potatoes take 80-100 days to reach maturity. They need plenty of moisture, and they’re known for being fairly disease-resistant.
3. Daisy Gold
Daisy Gold is a Burpee potato exclusive, and if you’re looking for an all-around awesome potato variety, this is the one for you. It has flaky, moist flesh that works for boiling, baking, and mashing.
As the name suggests, Daisy Gold is a yellow potato known for growing on a vigorous plant. Since it’s a hybrid, Burpee developed Daisy Gold to be more virus-resistant than others.; it even resists nematodes.
Daisy Gold is a mid-season potato that matures in 80 days.
4. Kennebec
Kennebec is another all-purpose potato that has smooth, thin skin and a creamy texture that holds its shape well when cooked. It’s best used in salads, soups, stew, and other cooked dishes, but it also can be fried or mashed without a problem.
Kennebec is known for being one of the largest producing potato varieties; you’ll be overrun with potatoes. That’s a great thing because these spuds store well when kept at the right temperature.
Expect Kennebec potatoes to be ready to harvest in 80 days. This variety is resistant to late blight, black leg, and potato varieties A and Y. So, if these are problematic in your area, this variety is a great choice.
5. Magic Molly
If you want a show stopping potato, check out Magic Molly. Not only is the color rich, but the flavor is as well.
Magic Molly is one of the only potato varieties that are deep purple inside and outside, and the potato holds this beautiful color when boiled. When plated, these potatoes look magical; no wonder it has this name!
The flavor is warm and delicious with a bit of an earthy tone, so it pairs well with smoky flavors. If your family likes cooking on the grill, Magic Molly will become your new favorite potato.
The only downside to growing Magic Molly potatoes is that you have to wait longer to enjoy the harvest. These potatoes take around 100 days to reach full maturity due to their rich color.
6. Masquerade
If you want a potato that has a unique look, try growing Masquerade potatoes, a unique bicolor potato. These potatoes have marbled skin that is a mix of bright purple and white, so the name lives up to the look of these potatoes.
Masquerade potatoes are a low starch variety that does well baked, mashed, roasted, or in salads. Despite the purple color, these potatoes only take around 65 days to reach full maturity.
7. Princess Laratte
Here is a potato variety that is popular in France; it’s known for being one of the most popular potatoes for French and European dishes. Princes Laratte potatoes are known for having a sweet, mildly nutty flavor that is like a mixture of chestnuts, hazelnuts, and almonds.
Sounds delicious, right?
One downside to growing Princess Laratte potatoes is that they’re slow to mature. Expect these potatoes to take up to 110 days to reach full maturity, but they’re worth the wait. That flavor is delicious and worth growing in your garden if you have a long enough growing season.
8. Purple Majesty
Purple potatoes are becoming all the rage lately, and Purple Majesty is one of the best purple potato varieties to grow in your garden.
These potatoes have wine-dark purple skins with purple flesh. They’re ideal for frying, but they also work well for roasting, mashing, and boiling. Purple Majesty doesn’t hold its purple color as well as Magic Molly, but you can still tell the potatoes were purple.
These potatoes take around 85 days to reach maturity.
9. Purple Peruvians
Purple Peruvians are a brightly colored fingerling potato that has beautiful purple skin and flesh. Some are solid purple throughout the entire veggie, while others have a marbled appearance with white and purple.
Purple Peruvians are an all-purpose potato that works for roasting, boiling, drying, baking, and mashing. They have an earthy flavor that has a slightly nutty undertone. These potatoes grow best in colder climates, taking less than 85 days to reach a harvest.
10. Red Gold
Red Gold is one of the potato varieties that stands out because it has a unique flavor that other potatoes don’t offer. These potatoes have a nutty flavor that tastes nothing like the spuds you’ll find at the grocery store. They have yellow flesh and raspberry-red eyes, making them also one of the prettiest potato varieties.
Red Gold originates from Northern Europe, and it’s an all-purpose potato that tastes great mashed, roasted, boiled, baked, or fried. The spuds mature in 90 days, but they only work for short-term storage. Don’t expect these spuds to store all winter.
11. Red Pontiac
If you want an all-purpose red potato, consider growing Red Pontiac, an early-season potato that has thin skin. Gardeners love growing Red Pontiac potatoes because the thin skin means you can harvest at the new stage or at full maturity.
Red Pontiac has a waxy-textured flesh that makes it ideal for baking, boiling, mashing, and roasting. It’s best known for being an excellent potato for salads, but it’s not great for frying.
If you live somewhere that has droughts, Red Pontiac is an excellent choice because it’s drought-tolerant, and the potatoes are ready to harvest after 80 days.
12. Rio Grande Russets
Most people are familiar with russet potatoes, and Rio Grande Russets are an excellent option. They’re a highly nutritious potato that has a floury, fluffy texture with yummy skins. Best of all, these potatoes are known for being high-yielding, so by the time you harvest, expect to have tons of potatoes available.
Rio Grande Russets have a lower starch content when compared to other potatoes. That makes them idea for making salads, slicing, and drying or dehydrating. They make excellent homemade potato chips.
At full maturity, these potatoes measure four to five inches long with white flesh and brown skins that are ready to harvest in 65 days.
13. Swedish Peanut Fingerling
Fingerling potatoes make a fantastic addition to your garden, and Swedish Peanut Fingerling is a waxy, yellow flesh potato that has a rich flavor you’ll love. These potatoes are best when pan-fried or roasted, but they also work well when used in salads.
Swedish Peanut Fingerling potatoes are late-season potatoes that measure up to 1.5 inches long. It takes up to 90 days for these potatoes to reach maturity.
14. Yukon Gold
Out of all the potato varieties on this list, chances are the only one you immediately recognize is Yukon Gold, and that’s because they’re often sold in grocery stores. Yukon Gold potatoes originated in Canada, so they are good for cold climates with a short growing season.
These potatoes have a bit more wax than other varieties, so they work well for boiling. However, they make delicious mashed and roasted potatoes. The creamy flesh texture tastes so good when roasted in the oven.
These potatoes only take 65 days to reach maturity. If you’re worried about diseases, Yukon Gold is noted for being disease resistant, especially against scab, a common potato disease.
