13 of the Best Purple and Blue Potato Varieties

13 of the Best Purple and Blue Potato Varieties

Mashed, smashed, roasted, or fried, I love potatoes.

I’d eat them even if they were the most unattractive color imaginable, but potatoes in jewel-like hues such as purple and blue are downright irresistible. I whip them out anytime I want to wow my guests.

I made a pile of smashed salt and vinegar potatoes using some ‘Huckleberry Gold’ recently, and my friends couldn’t stop raving about how beautiful they were. Apart from tasting insanely good, the dish was also a feast for the eyes.

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Blue and purple potatoes don’t just look good, these colorful tubers are also healthier than the standard spud.

We’ll talk about why that is and introduce you to 13 of the prettiest, tastiest options available for you to grow at home. Here’s the lineup:

Purple and blue potatoes contain flavonoid pigments called anthocyanins, which provide the unusual colors as well as a range of health benefits for our gut bacteria, cardiovascular system, and blood sugar management.

Plants develop this hue as a way to absorb light and protect the plant from UV light, and they are the same pigments you find in blueberries and purple cabbage.

Some colorful varieties only have the purple or blue coloration in their skins. Others have the coloring all the way through the flesh as well.

A lot of these vibrant potatoes won’t show their true colors until you scrub the heck out of the skin to remove the dulling dirt.

Japanese and Hawaiian sweet potato cultivars are often purple, so don’t confuse Solanum tuberosum with Ipomoea batatas when you’re shopping. They may look