Sweet Potato Information Page - Veritable Vegetable (2024)

Sweet Potato Guide

There are five main types of sweet potato that are commonly consumed today—Garnet, Hannah, Japanese, Jewel, and Purple Stoke. While all are delicious, each variety has its own distinct flavor and texture that lends itself to a variety of cooking applications. They are also high in vitamin A and potassium, and are a low glycemic food!

Garnet Sweet Potato

Sweetness:

Garnets have dusty brown maroon colored skin which happens to be the inspiration behind its name. Inside, the flesh is a brilliant golden orange. It is starchier and moister than other varieties and offers mild sweet flavor with savory earthiness. These are great for baking, casseroles, and mashing.

Hannah Sweet Potato

Sweetness:

Hannah Sweets are cream colored with fairly smooth skin. Inside, the flesh is cream-white that becomes more yellow when cooked. It offers a lightly sweet flavor with dry texture that is great mashed, roasted in pieces, or turned into fries.

Japanese Sweet Potato (Murasaki)

Sweetness:

Japanese sweet potatoes, which includes the Murasaki variety, have reddish-purple skin with whitish flesh that turns golden when cooked. Its shape is more round than cylindrical. The flavor is very sweet and the texture is fairly firm. We think these taste best roasted or steamed.

Jewel Sweet Potato (Covington)

Sweetness:

Jewels, which includes the Covington variety, have copper colored skin and deep orange flesh. When cooked, this sweet potato takes on a moist, fluffy texture and offers mildly sweet taste with subtle earthiness. This is a good all-purpose sweet potato. The moist flesh is good for boiling, baking, and adding to casseroles.

Purple Stokes Sweet Potato

Sweetness:

Purple Stokes have a vibrant deep purple skin and purple flesh inside. Dryer, denser and richer in texture than other varieties, it offers a balanced sweetness with floral notes. It contains high levels of antioxidants making it one of the most nutritious varieties. The dryer texture of this potato lends better to high moisture cooking methods such as steaming, boiling, roasting or frying. They can also be used for baking but note that recipes with baking soda may turn this purple potato green!