Growing Red Potatoes (17 Red Potato Varieties To Try)

If you are growing potatoes, reds are a popular choice – and there are lots of options, depending on the type of potato you want (flesh color, maturity, and so on).

So, what are some red potato varieties? Red potato varieties include Adirondack Red, Colorado Rose, Dakota Rose, Desiree, Mountain Rose, Red Chieftain, Red Gold, Red LaSoda, Red Luna, Red Maria, Red Norland, Red Pontiac, Sangre, Strawberry Paw, and Viking.

Of course, there are also some fingerling potatoes (like French Fingerling and Red Thumb) that have red skin.

In this article, we’ll talk about red potatoes and go into detail about 17 different potato varieties with red skin.

Let’s get started.

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17 Red Potato Varieties

Here are 17 red potato varieties for you to try growing (note that they vary in terms of flesh color and skin thickness – you can find more detail below, after the list).

Adirondack Red
Colorado Rose
Dakota Rose
Desiree
French Fingerling
Mountain Rose
Red Chieftain
Red Gold
Red LaSoda
Red Luna
Red Maria
Red Norland
Red Pontiac
Red Thumb
Sangre
Strawberry Paw
Viking

Garden Potatoes 3 — There are lots of red potato varieties to choose from. Many of them are early season types.

Adirondack Red

This mid-season potato variety has ruby red skin with pinkish purple flesh. It is good for roasting and in salads.

Adirondack Red is high-yielding and the tubers store well. They resist hollow heart, scab, and late blight.

You can find Adirondack Red potatoes from High Mowing Seeds.

Colorado Rose

This early to mid-season potato variety has pinkish red skin with white flesh. It is good for roasting, mashing, and frying.

Colorado Rose is high-yielding and the tubers store well. They resist hollow heart, blackspot bruise, and shatter bruise. They mature 80 to 95 days after planting.

You can find Colorado Rose potatoes from Renee’s Garden.

Dakota Rose

This early to mid-season potato variety has smooth tubers with reddish purple skin and white flesh. It is good for mashing and baking.

Colorado Rose is a high-yielding gourmet variety. They mature 70 to 90 days after planting.

You can find Colorado Rose potatoes from Carter Farms.

Desiree

This late season potato variety has rose red skin and creamy yellow flesh. The long, oval tubers were bred in the Netherlands.

Desiree is a high-yielding variety that tolerates drought and resists late blight, skin spot, and potato virus Y. However, they are somewhat susceptible to scab. They mature 70 to 90 days after planting.

You can find Desiree potatoes from Fedco Seeds.

French Fingerling

This fingerling potato variety has rose red skin and yellow flesh streaked with pink. You can harvest the tubers early for small and thin potatoes that you can cook without peeling.

French Fingerling shows some resistance to potato beetles, leaf hopper, and scab.

You can find French Fingerling potatoes from Fedco Seeds.

Mountain Rose

This early season potato variety has pinkish red skin with light pink flesh, making it high in antioxidants. It is good for adding color to a 4^th of July potato salad.

Mountain Rose was developed by Colorado State University. It produces medium to high yields, maturing 70 days after planting.

You can find Mountain Rose potatoes from Gurney’s.

Red Chieftain

This mid-season potato has thin pinkish-red skin and firm, moist, white flesh. It is good for boiling or for use as new potatoes (harvested before maturity).

It has better flavor than Dark Red Norland (and stores better). It also resists late blight.

You can find Red Chieftain potatoes from High Mowing Seeds.

Red Gold

This early season potato variety has pinkish red skin with yellow flesh. It is good for roasting, mashing, steaming, and frying.

Red Gold is high-yielding, maturing 70 days after planting. The tubers store for 3 to 4 months. They have moderate resistance to scab.

You can find Red Gold potatoes from Gurney’s.

Red LaSoda

This main crop heirloom potato variety has rosy pink skin with waxy white flesh. It is good for boiling, baking, or frying.

Red LaSoda is adapted to many soil types and climate conditions. It is a good choice for gardeners in the Southern U.S.

It withstands cold, heat, and drought, and it also stores well. Harvest is 80 to 100 days after planting.

You can find Red LaSoda potatoes from Gurney’s.

Red Luna

This mid-season potato variety has red skin and yellow flesh. Good for fries, chips, and potato salads.

Red Luna is a high-yielding variety that has good blight resistance. Plants are 45 inches tall and 35 inches wide at maturity.

You can find Red Luna potatoes from Burpee.

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Red Maria

This mid-season potato variety has red skin and sweet white flesh. The round tubers were bred in the Netherlands.

Red Maria is a high-yielding variety that stays dormant in storage. They mature 80 to 90 days after planting.

You can find Red Maria potatoes from Fedco Seeds.

Red Norland

This early season potato variety has pinkish red skin with white flesh. They are good for frying (such as potato pancakes).

Red Norland produces large tubers on compact plants. They are easy to peel and mature 70 days after planting.

Red Norland also shows some resistance to scab.

You can find Red Norland potatoes from Gurney’s.

Red Pontiac

This potato has thin pinkish-red skin and crisp, white flesh. It a good choice for mashing, or if you want new potatoes (harvested before maturity).

It performs well in heavy soil and stores well, making it a favorite.

You can find Red Pontiac potatoes from Gurney’s.

Red Thumb

This fingerling potato variety has red skin and pale red flesh. You can harvest the tubers early for small and thin potatoes that you can cook without peeling.

Red Thumb is an early variety, which probably helps it to resist early blight. Also has moderate scab resistance.

You can find Red Thumb potatoes from Fedco Seeds.

Sangre

This mid-season heirloom potato variety has red skin with creamy white flesh and a round shape. It was released by Colorado State University in 1982.

The plants are slow to emerge above ground, but once they do, they grow fast. Sangre is good for digging early potatoes.

You can find Sangre potatoes from Renee’s Garden.

Strawberry Paw

This mid-season potato has red skin and creamy white flesh. The tubers are large and round or oblong – excellent flavor.

It stores very well and also resists both scab and tuber late blight.

You can find Strawberry Paw potatoes from Johnny’s Selected Seeds.

Viking

This early season potato variety has pinkish red skin and white flesh. The plants are compact, and the tubers are 2 pounds.

Viking potatoes store well, and the compact plants are good for containers or grow bags. Also has moderate scab resistance.

You can find Viking potatoes from Hoss Tools.

What Are The Benefits Of Red Potatoes?

Potatoes are a nutrient-dense food, containing Vitamin C. Red potatoes contain antioxidants, and younger potatoes contain more of them.

small potatoes new potatoes — Red potatoes are nutrient dense, and younger ones have more antioxidants.

Also, if you eat red potatoes with the skins, then you will get an extra dose of fiber.

Do Red Potatoes Turn Green?

Red potatoes can turn green when exposed to sunlight, just like other potatoes. This will also lead to production of the toxin solanine, which makes the potato poisonous to eat.