Types of Potatoes: Russet, Red, White, Yellow and Fingerling

Shops sort the types of potatoes by skin color: russet, red, white, yellow, blue or purple, and the long fingerlings. NDSU Extension adds a caution: skin or flesh color does not necessarily decide how a cultivar cooks, because texture does, from mealy, high-starch potatoes to waxy, lower-starch ones. This guide describes the main potato varieties with NDSU and Penn State Extension, compares baked russet, white and red potatoes with USDA FoodData Central values, and shows what the skin adds. Our potato guide covers the vegetable as a whole.

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Types of potatoes by skin and flesh color

Extension guides group potato varieties by skin and flesh, then describe each group’s usual texture. The cultivar names below are the examples NDSU and Penn State Extension give.

• Russet: NDSU Extension says russet cultivars are characterized by their brown, netted skin, are mostly oblong to long and tend to have high dry-matter content. Penn State Extension describes russets such as Goldrush as having a dry, mealy flesh.
• Red-skinned: red cultivars tend to have lower starch and a waxy texture, NDSU Extension says, which suits boiling, roasting, salads, soups and stews; they are typically round, and several newer cultivars from Europe have yellow flesh.
• White-skinned: NDSU Extension notes these may be high or low in starch and typically have white flesh. Penn State Extension says white potatoes such as Kennebec, like round red potatoes such as Red Norland, have a moister, creamier texture.
• Yellow-fleshed: NDSU Extension calls Yukon Gold a yellow-fleshed cultivar that is widely adapted and the most popular in North America, and Penn State Extension calls it more of an all-purpose potato.
• Blue and purple: Penn State Extension names All Blue, with blue skin and flesh, and Purple Chief, with purple skin and white flesh.
• Fingerlings: Penn State Extension says fingerlings produce long, narrow tubers with varying characteristics; Russian Banana, for example, has yellow skin and flesh and a firm texture.

Potato varieties by texture: mealy, waxy and all-purpose

NDSU Extension says texture, not color, decides how a potato cultivar is used. In the NDSU Extension description, cultivars high in starch, or dry matter, are mealy, tend to bake with a fluffy texture and make excellent fries and chips because they absorb little oil. Waxy cultivars are lower in starch and specific gravity and frequently higher in sugar, NDSU Extension adds, and they hold together better during boiling, which is why they are preferred for salads, soups and stews.

• Mealy, high starch: most russets, per NDSU Extension, plus some white-skinned cultivars that NDSU calls most suited to chipping or frying.
• Waxy, lower starch: most red-skinned cultivars and the lower-starch white-skinned ones, which NDSU Extension says hold together better during boiling or roasting.
• In between: Penn State Extension places Yukon Gold here, with a balance between dry and moist flesh, and says fingerlings vary by cultivar.

Russet, white and red potatoes in USDA data

USDA FoodData Central SR Legacy has baked entries for russet, white and red potatoes, eaten with the skin; the table uses SR Legacy’s medium potato of 173 grams and ranks the rows by potassium. Each percent Daily Value (%DV) uses the FDA Daily Values for adults and children 4 and older: 28 grams of dietary fiber, 4,700 milligrams of potassium, 90 milligrams of vitamin C and 1.7 milligrams of vitamin B6. SR Legacy has no fresh yellow-fleshed, purple or fingerling entry, so those types have no row.

The three types are close in USDA data. Each medium potato lists about 941 to 952 milligrams of potassium, 20% of the FDA Daily Value. In USDA data the russet row lists the most carbohydrate, about 37.1 grams, and the most vitamin B6, about 0.61 milligrams, while the red and white rows list more vitamin C, about 21.8 milligrams against 14.4 for the russet. Our potassium list and vitamin B6 foods list rank more foods.

Skin on or off: what USDA lists per 100 grams

USDA SR Legacy also has generic potato entries that separate flesh from skin. The table compares them per 100 grams, with the same FDA Daily Values, ranked by dietary fiber.

With the skin, a baked potato lists about 2.2 grams of dietary fiber and 535 milligrams of potassium per 100 grams in USDA data, against 1.5 grams and 391 milligrams for the flesh alone. Among the boiled entries, flesh boiled in the skin lists about 379 milligrams of potassium per 100 grams in USDA data and flesh boiled without the skin about 328 milligrams. Cooked rows are without added salt; toppings and frying change the values, and the Nutrition Facts label is the figure for a packaged product.

Where potatoes sit in the Dietary Guidelines

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020-2025, list white potatoes as an example of the starchy subgroup, and sweet potatoes as an example of the red and orange subgroup, so the two are counted differently. Our guides to starchy vegetables and sweet potatoes explain those subgroups.

NDSU Extension also notes that potato tubers are botanically a modified stem, which is why our list of root vegetables places them with the underground stems, and our guide to resistant starch is a related read.

Green skin, sprouts and storage

• Why potatoes turn green: NDSU Extension says potato tubers turn green when exposed to sunlight or indoor lamps, the color comes from chlorophyll, and a compound called solanine forms along with greening or sprouting.
• What it means: Penn State Extension says tubers exposed to sunlight turn green and should not be eaten, and that solanine and chaconine give the potato a bitter taste and may cause gastrointestinal issues, headache and confusion.
• Where it builds up: Oregon State University Extension says glycoalkaloids concentrate in the skin, with even higher levels around the eyes, injured areas and sprouts, and that boiling and microwaving have a negligible effect on them.
• Trimming: NDSU Extension says to avoid eating the green skin and to trim and discard the green part before using the potato, while Oregon State University Extension says potatoes with pronounced greening or damage must not be eaten; our guide to green potatoes has more.
• Storage: NDSU Extension says not to keep potatoes where sunlight or lamps reach them, and Penn State Extension describes a dark, cool, moist storage spot.

For the other half of this pair, our guide to types of peppers covers sweet and hot peppers with USDA values, and our guide to nightshade vegetables covers peppers and potatoes together.

Frequently Asked Questions

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Last reviewed October 2026.

Related guides: Types of Peppers: Capsicum Species, Scoville Heat and USDA Data, Potatoes: USDA Nutrition, Calories, Green Potatoes and Cooking Facts, Sweet Potato Nutrition: Calories, Vitamin A and Sweet Potato vs Potato, Root Vegetables List: True Roots, Tubers and USDA Values, Types of Sweet Potatoes: Orange, White and Purple-Skinned.