Red potatoes are the stars of potato salads and a must-have if you love your potatoes roasted with nothing more than some olive oil, salt, and rosemary.
They are obviously defined by the color of their skin, but red potatoes also tend to hold their shape after cooking better than russets or goldens, thanks to their waxy coating.
Typically they also have a high moisture content, making them very versatile.
Roast, steam, boil, or fry them up into chips or fries. Red potatoes are adaptable and delicious, with a sweet, nutty flavor.
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They’re my go-to for my absolute favorite creation: salt and vinegar smashed potatoes. The skin crisps up so nicely but the flesh retains a soft, velvety texture that I love.
Whether you want to roast up some fingerlings or make a colorful potato salad, there are lots of options available to home growers.
Here are 17 of my favorites:
The same chemicals, anthocyanins, that give these tubers their color also provide lots of nutritious antioxidants.
Red potatoes are not just beautiful, they are extra good for you, too!
To start, let’s talk about a newer kid on the market that is quickly grabbing all the attention:
1. Adirondack Red
The skin of ‘Adirondack Red’ stands out because of the extra bright flesh, which is packed with antioxidants. The oval, medium sized tubers are endlessly versatile in the kitchen.
This cultivar was created by breeders Robert Plaisted, Ken Paddock, and Walter De Jong and released by Cornell University in 2004.
It is resistant to hollow heart, scab, and skinning, plus the skin isn’t prone to cracking. It’s susceptible to silver scurf, though.
This cultivar is ready to harvest as new potatoes in 65 days or fully mature in 90 days.
Early to mid-season ‘Adirondack Red’ will make your dinner table sparkle. You can find them in a variety of package sizes available at High Mowing Seeds.
2. Amarosa
‘Amarosa’ is a fingerling type, with chunky, long tubers that look like glorious rosy treats all the way through.
Released by the Tri-State Potato Breeding Program in Oregon in 2010, it’s ready to harvest mid- to late season after 90 to 110 days.
The flesh is as red as the skin and is smooth and velvety, retaining its color even after cooking.
The plants produce high yields but the tubers are prone to skinning. It’s highly resistant to scab.
You can find ‘Amarosa’ available in a variety of packet sizes from High Mowing Organic Seeds.
3. Baltic Rose
‘Baltic Rose’ could be the subject of a still life with its rosy skin. Cut open the tuber and find the deep golden flesh, and it’s even more of a feast for the eyes.
This cultivar is a mid-season type, ready in about 100 days with smooth, firm flesh, an oblong shape, and is versatile enough for roasting, boiling, and frying.
‘Baltic Rose’ is slow to get started, but it’s a high-yielding plant with lots of medium to large tubers.
Top that off with its resistance to scab, late blight, Rhizoctonia, black leg, and potato virus, and you have one tough but beautiful option.
It’s even resistant to some pests, like leafhoppers and golden nematodes.
4. Clancy
‘Clancy’ is new to the market, but he’s already making a splash. This cultivar was introduced in 2019 by Bejo Seeds.
This is a potato that you can truly grow from seed. It takes a different set of growing requirements to propagate these root veggies from seed and it takes a lot longer.
But if you have the patience, you’ll be treated to small, oblong tubers with pink to red skin and white to yellow flesh.
It’s a mid-season, creamy type, with a smooth texture, ready in 110 days from planting.
The plants are susceptible to scab, but they’re fantastic in all the other ways, enough that they snagged the 2019 All-America Selections award in the vegetable category, the first time a true seed-grown potato has ever won.
You can pick up a packet of 12 pelleted seeds at Botanical Interests.
5. Dark Red Norland
With their big, round shape and white-colored, creamy flesh, ‘Dark Red Norland’ tubers are picture-perfect.
Although it’s a mid-season type, ready after 90 days, you can harvest even earlier at about 60 days for cute little baby new potatoes.
The original ‘Norland’ was released by North Dakota State University in 1959 and has remained a favorite for making a killer potato salad or for boiling.
But ‘Dark Red Norland’ is even better, keeping its color during storage and cooking. It’s so much more popular than the original that ‘Norland’ is a rare find these days.
It’s also resistant to early blight, Rhizoctonia, and scab. It is prone to late blight.
You can find ‘Dark Red Norland’ available in a variety of packet sizes at High Mowing Seeds.
6. Desiree
Desiree is a late-season type that produces large, oblong tubers with glossy red skin surrounding dense yellow flesh that is low in moisture.
The starchy, floury texture and rich, earthy flavor makes it especially nice for baking.
Bred in the Netherlands in 1962, it’s extremely resistant to blight and moderately resistant to many other diseases like potato virus, blackleg, and fusarium.
It’s one of the most popular potatoes in Italy, where it’s known as ‘Patata Rossa di Colfiorito’ and even has a festival dedicated to it.
This high yielding cultivar is ready to harvest in about 140 days.
7. French Fingerling
‘French Fingerling’ is a popular cultivar, with thick, oblong tubers that grow about four inches long.
The spuds are wrapped in dusty-rose or dark pink skin with bright yellow, creamy flesh streaked with pink.
It was bred in Brittany in the 1950s, and is a cross between ‘Vale’ and ‘Rosa’ and released to market by the Sica Saint Pol de Léon.
It was renamed from its original moniker ‘Roseval’ to ‘French Fingerling’ in the US to appeal to buyers.
The small to medium tubers have thin skin, which makes them ideal if you like to roast your potatoes without peeling.
They’re ready in the mid-season between 95 to 110 days.
8. Mountain Rose
‘Mountain Rose’ has rosy skin that extends all the way through the flesh, making this gorgeous spud particularly nutritious.
It’s an early-season type that is resistant to early blight and hollow heart, with medium-sized, oval tubers.
The pinky-red flesh is smooth and moist and you’d better believe it’s a showstopper when roasted or mashed.
Better yet, make some Hasselback potatoes out of them and they’ll be the star of the table.
‘Mountain Rose’ came to us from the mountainous Mile-High State’s Colorado State University as a cross between ‘All Red’ and an unnamed cultivar.
It’s ready as new potatoes after about 70 days and 120 for full maturity.
9. Red Chieftain
If you’re looking for a mid-season variety ready in under 100 days, with large, round to oval tubers and floury, fluffy white flesh, you’ve found one of the best.
‘Red Chieftain’ came about as a collaboration between the Iowa Agriculture and Home Economics Experiment Station and the USDA in 1966.
It’s resistant to scab, verticillium wilt, and late blight, and is a reliably high yielder.
The downside is that it doesn’t have the right qualities to make good chips or french fries, but you can’t find a better option for roasting or baking.
Mouth watering? Mine too. Start your crop by grabbing some slips at High Mowing Seeds.
10. Red Gold
Named for its rosy flesh and sunny yellow flesh, ‘Red Gold’ is resistant to scab and potato virus and provides high yields of round, creamy tubers.
It’s ready after just 70 to 80 days for new potatoes or mid-season when full-sized. You might even be able to harvest two crops out of it, depending on where you live.
The downside, if you want to call it that, is that you have to eat them right away. These tubers don’t store well.
Guess that means you’ll need to be mashing, roasting, and frying to your heart’s content.
This cold-climate favorite came to us in 1970, bred by Agriculture Canada, the University of Guelph, and the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food.
You can find packets of 10 tubers available at Burpee.
11. Red La Soda
For southern growers or those in hot regions, ‘Red La Soda’ offers oblong tubers with deep, ruby-colored skin and waxy, white flesh while having good resistance to heat and drought.
The plants are extremely vigorous and ready in early- to mid-season, with an average maturation of 95 days.
The parent, ‘La Soda,’ was a cross between ‘Triumph’ and ‘Katahdin,’ bred as part of the Louisiana Agricultural Experiment Station breeding program in 1948.
Just a year later, a red mutant was discovered and released by the USDA and LAES in 1953.
You can pick up five pounds of seed potatoes via Amazon.
12. Red Luna
‘Red Luna’ was developed by Colorado State University as a high-yielding plant with tender, yellow flesh.
Both the low moisture content and the ruby skin makes it perfect for potato salads, so get yours in the garden for summer picnics!
Resistant to black spot, the oblong tubers are ready mid-season after about 80 days, but earlies are ready in about 65 days.
Planning your summer menu? Grab 10 tubers from Burpee and start getting ready to dig in.
13. Red Pontiac
‘Red Pontiac’ is the one to reach for when you are beginning your potato-growing journey.
It’s incredibly adaptable and tough, forgiving inexperienced mistakes like underwatering, to provide huge yields of large, ruby tubers with white flesh in the late season after 100 days.
Or you can opt to harvest them early for new potatoes.
While it’s susceptible to most of the common diseases, ‘Dakota Chief,’ as it’s also known, is the perfect all-around variety whether you’re craving fries, chips, a heap of mashed potatoes, or a bunch roasted in butter with salt.
It was registered in 1983 by the USDA after being developed from a mutation of ‘Pontiac’ discovered by grower J.W. Weston in Florida in 1945.
You can find packets of 10 tubers available at Burpee.
14. Red Thumb
You’ve probably guessed from the name that this is a fingerling type, producing long, oblong-shaped tubers that resemble thumbs. They can be up to four inches long and an inch wide.
It’s one of the earliest fingerlings, ready in under 90 days, plus it has some early blight and scab resistance.
Slice it open, and you’ll be greeted by creamy flesh shot through with rose red.
15. Sangre
‘Sangre,’ as you’d guess, has deep, blood-red skin wrapped around creamy white flesh.
It’s a little hard to find on the market, but it’s worth the search.
Colorado State Agricultural Experiment Station and USDA-Aberdeen Idaho bred this using ‘Viking’ and an unnamed cultivar, and it was released in 1982.
The medium, oblong tubers are flavorful and abundant. Start digging into this mid-season type after about 80 to 85 days.
No worries if you don’t want to eat them all right away, as they store well.
It resists early blight and potato virus, but is susceptible to verticillium wilt and fusarium rot.
16. Strawberry Paw
With ‘Strawberry Paw,’ the large, round, sometimes oblong tubers are a treat.
They store for a good, long time and the firm, sweet, creamy, bright white flesh is fantastic in all kinds of dishes.
‘Strawberry Paw’ is a mid-season type that was developed by Cornell University to be resistant to scab and late blight.
On top of that, it came out as one of the highest-yielding in Cornell University’s Schoharie County Potato Variety Trial in 2016.
17. Terra Rosa
With dark magenta skin and rose-pink flesh, ‘Terra Rosa’ is a beautiful cultivar.
This early-season type is marvelous both as a new potato, or when it’s allowed to fully mature, which takes up to 95 days.
When they’re ready, you’ll be treated to versatile, medium-sized oval spuds that work equally well as French fries or boiled.
‘Terra Rosa’ was bred by the Tri-State Research and Breeding Program of Idaho, Oregon, and Washington and released to the market in 2012.
In This Case, Red Means Go!
Red potatoes are versatile and nutritious. Many cultivars are disease-resistant and when they’re ready to harvest you can use the tubers in just about any potato dish.
If you’re thinking of growing potatoes, they should definitely feature in your garden! And by the way, if you need a refresher about how to grow potatoes, our guide can help you out.
Do you grow red potatoes? Which variety are you planting this season? Share your favorite in the comments section below!
And for more information about growing potatoes in your vegetable garden, put these guides on your reading list next:
