Sweet potatoes are nutritional powerhouses and a year-round staple in many households. Sweet potatoes and yams offer exceptional versatility, a wide range of delicious recipes to choose from, and they remain affordable even when out of season. Learn how to make sweet potatoes a part of your household’s menu by choosing the right variety for every dish!
The Most Common Types of Sweet Potato
There are no fewer than five varieties of sweet potatoes, each of which is readily identifiable by its color. All four types of sweet potato offer unique characteristics that make it better for some recipes than others.
- Yellow sweet potatoes: Also known as Jewels, these are the orange, sweet and relatively watery spuds most folks think of when they think of sweet potatoes. They are best for boiling, baking, and for casseroles due to their higher moisture content.
- Red sweet potatoes: Often referred to as Garnets, red sweet potatoes have a dark red skin with orange flesh inside. They also have a lot of moisture and work well for mashing.
- Purple sweet potatoes: Usually light purple outside and dark purple inside, these are very dense and cook best as part of a roast or boiling. They are visually stunning and add color to any meal!
- White sweet potatoes: While not perfectly white, their grey-brown skins hide white flesh inside. They are dense and creamy, making them a great choice for roasting or mashing.
- Japanese sweet potatoes: Also known as Murasaki, these have purple skins but white flesh, which sets them apart from their purple through-and-through cousins. They are sweet and nutty and are ideal for braising, boiling, or stir-frying.
Is a Yam a Sweet Potato?
Yams are not sweet potatoes, which is often a surprise. The difference between a yam and a sweet potato lies in where they grow.
- Yams are tubers, which makes them more of a potato.
- Sweet potatoes are a root vegetable, which makes them closer to a carrot than a potato, despite the name!
You read that right: Sweet potatoes are not potatoes, and yams more certainly are!
Yams tend to be more cylindrical and have a scaly skin that tends to be thicker than a sweet potato’s.
Explore Our Favorite Sweet Potato Recipes
While certainly a seasonal staple, sweet potatoes deserve a place at your table year-round. Pair it with braised cabbage, add it to your corn muffins, or make it the centerpiece to your chili – you can’t go wrong! For more recipes, sign up for our weekly newsletter!
Some of our Favorite Sweet Potato Recipes:
You can search all our recipes featuring sweet potatoes on our website. We have too many to include here, so we’ve highlighted just a small handful. Want more sweet potato inspiration? Visit our recipe page and use the search bar to find your next recipe adventure.
