What Is Red skinned potatoes and How Can I Use It?

Red skinned potatoes is easier to cook with than it looks. Here's how to choose, use, and store it, what to substitute, and 173 recipes to get you started.

What are red skinned potatoes?

Red skinned potatoes are the workhorse waxy potato: thin red jackets over firm, white, low-starch flesh that holds its shape through almost any wet-cooking method.

They are the potato to reach for when you need the pieces to stay whole.

Where a starchy russet falls apart in water, a red potato stays intact and turns creamy rather than fluffy. That single difference, covered in more depth on the main potatoes page, is what makes reds the default for salads, boiling, and roasting.

Cooking With Red Potatoes

Boiling brings out their best. They keep their edges and a dense, moist bite, which is exactly what a potato salad needs. Cold German-Style Potato Salad and Dilled Potato & Grilled Corn Salad both rely on cubes that stay distinct instead of dissolving into mush.

They roast beautifully too. Cut into halves or chunks, tossed in oil and a hot oven, they crisp outside while staying creamy within. Garlic & Soy Roasted Potatoes with Scallions and Garlic & Parsley Roasted Potatoes are built on that texture.

Small reds also smash well. Boil them whole until tender, press each one flat, then crisp in a hot pan, the way Smashed Potatoes with Parsley & Scallions does.

Leave the Skin On

The thin red skin is the whole point. It is tender enough that there is no reason to peel it, and it adds color and a little structure that helps the cut pieces hold together. Just scrub them well under running water first.

The one thing reds do not do well is mash. Their low starch and firm flesh resist breaking down, so you fight the potato to get it smooth and often end up gummy.

For mash, a russet or a Yukon Gold is the better tool.

Buying and Storing

Choose red potatoes that are firm and smooth, with bright skin and few shallow eyes. Pass on any that are soft, wrinkled, cut, or tinged green under the skin, since green means light exposure and a bitter, mildly toxic compound called solanine.

Store them somewhere cool and dark, never in the fridge, where the cold turns their starch to sugar. Kept in a paper bag or basket with some air flow, they hold for a few weeks.

Smaller new-crop reds have thinner skins and are best used within a week or so.

Nutrition

Quick facts

Where to find red skinned potatoes: Red skinned potatoes are usually found in the produce section or aisle of the grocery store or supermarket.

Food group: Red skinned potatoes are a member of the Vegetables and Vegetable Products US Department of Agriculture nutritional food group.

In Chinese

红色皮肤土豆

British (UK) term

Red skinned potatoes

en français

les pommes de terre à peau rouge

en español

patatas de piel roja

How much do red skinned potatoes weigh?

Related

Vegetables and Vegetable Products

Recipes using red skinned potatoes

There are 173 recipes that contain this ingredient.

Arugula & Potato with Garlic Vinaigrette

Cooked and cubed potato is mixed with fresh arugula and tossed with garlic vinaigrette!

Red Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Red garlic mashed potatoes keep the skins on for rustic texture and layer in garlic three ways, boiled in the water, crushed, and as powder. A creamy, savory side with a hit of steak seasoning.

Comfy Corn & Potato Chowder

Corn and potato chowder simmers red potatoes, sweet corn, carrots, and celery in vegetable stock with a splash of sherry, then blitzes a cup of soup smooth to thicken the broth naturally. No cream, all comfort.

Dilled Potato & Grilled Corn Salad

A no-mayo potato salad tossed with smoky grilled corn, fresh dill, and a grainy mustard vinegar dressing. Light, tangy, and vegan, the perfect cookout side that won't wilt in the summer heat.

Pulled Pork Tacos

Grilled pulled pork tacos with sliced red potatoes and melted Monterey Jack folded into corn tortillas. Crisp grilled exterior, melty middle. Quesadilla-style.

Potato, Dill & Cheddar Pizza

Pizza with pizzaz, surprise your family with this unique version of a pizza. Carmelized onions as a base instead of the traditional sauce topped with potato slices, cheddar and dill.

Mâche & Chicken Salad with Honey Tahini Dressing

Quite tasty. The tahini dressing made the whole dish sing. We used arugula instead of spinach. Delicious!

Mom's Apple-Onion Soup with Celery Root

Granny Smith Apple-Onion Soup with Celery Root recipe

Braised Fennel With Onions & Red Potatoes

With It's Wonderful Smell Of Licorice And It's Fresh Sweet Taste.. This Braised Fennel Is Very Tasteful!!

Roasted Vegetables

These are very healthy vegetables, whenever it is a nice recipe, worth to keep.

Summer Corn Chowder

This is one of those recipes that is more of a guideline—I really encourage you to adapt the amounts and ingredients to your tastes. If you like it chunky, don’t puree it. If you like a thinner soup, add more chicken broth. If you don’t like heat, omit the cayenne.

Oven Roasted Chicken With New Potatoes

Easy to prepare, and the chicken comes out succulent. A delicious weekend meal.

Smashed Potatoes with Parsley & Scallions

Low-fat plain yogurt, chopped fresh parsley and scallions make the dish creamy and tasty. An excellent way to cook mini potatoes.

Colorful Roasted Fresh Vegetables

Roasted vegetables are always a great side dish with grilled or roasted chicken, beef or fish. It's so easy to make, and fresh veggies taste delicious once roasted at its peak.

Roasted Chicken & Vegetables

What an easy and tasty dish! Don't forget to let the breasts rest for about 10 minutes after you take them out of the oven, which ensures that all the delicious juices are secured inside the breasts. The roasted veggies were also very flavourful. Definitely a wholesome meal.

Garlic & Parsley Roasted Potatoes

Roasted potatoes with a crispy exterior with a creamy interior are a hit using this simple technique combined with simple ingredients.

Low Fat Potato & Leek Casserole

Simple and perfectly matched flavors that let the potato shine through brightly.

Cold German-Style Potato Salad

While this cold salad has some elements of a traditional warm German potato salad, it is totally Americanized to suit my family's tastes. Great with grilled burgers, dogs, meats and poultry.

Octoberfest Sausage Dinner

This belly filling one dish meal is perfect for Octoberfest or a cool fall or winter day. It is sure to warm the belly.

Garlic & Soy Roasted Potatoes with Scallions

These easy and tasty Asian garlic roasted potatoes are kicked up a notch with the addition of soy and sesame. Our best oven roasted potatoes with bold punchy flavor.

Fish & Potato Platter

Microwave salmon and potato platter with broccoli, lemon juice, and a fresh dill-yogurt sauce. A complete one-platter dinner cooked in about 10 minutes with no oven needed.

Grilled Salmon with Potato & Watercress Salad

Grilled salmon with potato and watercress salad, a smoky indirect-grilled salmon served over pickled red onion potato salad and peppery watercress. Low-fat summer dinner for six.

One Serving Boston Clam Chowder

Lightened-up single-serving Boston clam chowder built on chicken broth and low-fat milk instead of cream, with leek, celery, red potato, canned clams and a handful of shredded spinach folded in at the end. Ready in about 30 minutes.

Liz Yehling's Potato Pancakes

Liz Yehling's potato pancakes blend grated red potatoes with raw pork sausage, eggs, and a touch of flour. Fried golden and crispy, served with cool applesauce. A hearty country-breakfast classic.

Red Potato Salad

Great potato salad for those who love red potatoes like I do. A perfect, creamy, crunchy potato salad.

Calico Potato Salad

A vibrant, mayo-free potato salad tossed with corn, bell peppers, olives, and carrots in a spicy chili-vinaigrette. Feeds a crowd and travels well to cookouts.

Barbecued Beef Brisket Dinner

Oven-braised beef brisket marinated overnight in ketchup, horseradish, mustard, and cider vinegar. Carrots and red potatoes join the pot. One-dish Sunday dinner.

New Year's Day Chowder

New Year is coming, this moment is always excited, it means a lot. But we always need some good recipes to celebrate it, this chowder is a great one to keep!

Microwave Chicken & Potato Casserole with Swiss Cheese

Layers of tender chicken, sliced red potatoes, carrots, and sweet peas blanketed in creamy Swiss cheese sauce. Made entirely in the microwave for a fast weeknight dinner.

Potato, Parmesan, & Anchovy Focaccia

Potato focaccia with paper-thin red potato slices, Parmesan, rosemary, and anchovy paste baked into a soft, pillowy dough made with mashed potatoes for extra tenderness.

Red Potato Colcannon

Red potato colcannon keeps the skins on, steams the potatoes, and mashes them with browned cabbage and onion softened in milk. Irish comfort food done lighter.

Carrot, Leek & Olive Stew

Rustic vegetarian stew with carrots, leeks, red potatoes, and briny olives simmered in herbed vegetable broth. A one-pot meal that's naturally low in fat and full of earthy flavor.

Curried Vegetables & Beans

A quick vegan curry with chickpeas, potatoes, tri-color peppers, and apples over brown rice. Weeknight-friendly and ready in 40 minutes.

Chilled Garbanzo & Potato Salad

Chilled garbanzo and potato salad tosses boiled red potatoes with chickpeas, roma tomatoes, red onion, and spinach, then marinates for hours in the fridge. A lighter twist on picnic potato salad.

Old-Fashioned Potato Salad

Low-fat old-fashioned potato salad with red-skinned potatoes, hard-boiled eggs, celery, onion, and pickle relish in a nonfat sour cream and fat-free mayonnaise dressing with dry mustard.

Vegetable Kabobs

Grilled vegetable kabobs: pre-cooked eggplant, carrots, and potatoes plus raw zucchini, peppers, onions, and mushrooms threaded onto skewers, herb-marinated and grilled low and slow. Vegetarian BBQ win.

Potato Salad...Best EVER

This is not your ordinary potato salad...which I don't like. This is quite different and yummy!

Warm Caesar Potato Salad

Warm Caesar potato salad with red-skinned potatoes tossed in Caesar dressing and Parmesan, served over romaine with bacon and croutons. Ready in 30 minutes.

Hot Potato Salad with Ranch Dressing

Quick hot potato salad with red potatoes, scallions, and creamy ranch dressing. Toss warm spuds with ranch, dust with paprika, garnish with chives for easy summer sides.

Pecan Pancake with Grilled Shrimp & Cucumber Salsa

Crispy pecan-potato pancakes topped with cilantro-marinated grilled shrimp, cool cucumber salsa, and a roasted red pepper cream sauce. A restaurant-style appetizer.

Prevention's Perfect Kabobs

Prevention's perfect kabobs: chicken and scallops marinated in yogurt-mint, skewered with vegetables and dried fruit. A balanced, colorful, Mediterranean-leaning grill plate.

Succulent Salmon

Pan-seared salmon with orange juice and herbs, served over red potatoes, carrots, and broccoli. A complete one-pan dinner ready in 50 minutes.

Sage Pot Roast

Sage pot roast braised in beef broth with red potatoes, carrots, and onions until fork-tender. A one-pot Sunday dinner with a thickened pan gravy from the drippings.

Hearty Minestrone

Hearty minestrone: vegetable soup with leeks, potatoes, white beans, zucchini, orzo pasta, and spinach in chicken broth. Lighter weeknight take on the Italian classic in 30 minutes.

Grilled Sesame Crab Hash

Sesame crab hash cakes: crab and red potato bound with egg, brightened with lime and cilantro, broiled golden, served over black bean sauce. A lighter, Asian-leaning take on the crab cake.

Best Potato & Red Onion Roast

Roasted red potatoes and red onions tossed with olive oil, rosemary, and parsley, then crisped in a hot oven until edges turn golden. A vegan side that pairs with everything from roast chicken to grilled steak.

Lemon-Pepper Potatoes

Lemon pepper potatoes are oven-roasted red-skin potato chunks tossed with butter-flavored mix, lemon pepper, and fresh chives. Five-ingredient, low-fat side dish ready in an hour.

Pesto Potato-Sausage Salad

Pesto potato-sausage salad with red potatoes, browned kielbasa, cherry tomatoes, and a basil pesto-vinegar dressing. Served warm or at room temperature with just 5 ingredients.

John's Potato Salad

Blue cheese potato salad with red-skinned potatoes, sour cream, scallions, and celery salt. A tangy, creamy potato salad with no mayo, skins on, and bold peppery flavor.

Vlf Italian Potato Salad

Very low-fat Italian potato salad with red potatoes, cucumber, tomato, red onion, and olives tossed in fat-free Italian dressing. A lighter, mayo-free take on potato salad.

All 173 recipes