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Potato selector: which variety for your needs

Potatoes in a black pan

Growing your own potatoes is an incredibly satisfying way to try unusual varieties that you can’t buy in a supermarket. Some of the most flavoursome potatoes are rarely produced commercially. But by choosing and planting your own seed potatoes, you can savour exceptional flavours and textures, transforming your culinary efforts. 

Whether you’re after tasty new potatoes, smooth mash, crisp roasties or the perfect chips, use our quick potato selector below to find the right variety for your needs.

What are the different types of potato?

Before you focus on specific varieties, it’s important to understand the main types of potatoes. Each type needs to be chitted, planted and harvested at a different time of year. These are:

To learn more about each type, read our full guide to the potato season.

How to choose the best potato for you

Red skinned tomato
Potato ‘Sarpo Mira’ is a versatile main crop variety that produces very high yields
Image: Potato ‘Sarpo Mira’ from Suttons

There’s a huge range of seed potatoes from which to choose, so to help you narrow down the field, ask yourself a few questions. How do you want to grow your potatoes – in the ground or containers? How much space do you have in the garden? What size potatoes do you want to grow? And most importantly, how do you like to eat them?

If you have a large plot then you may decide to grow several different varieties. If you have limited space, then select a general purpose potato such as Maris Piper and maybe squeeze some salad potatoes into a container.

The following chart shows which varieties are best suited to each cooking method. We’re not saying, for example, that you can’t make chips from Pentland Javelin, but we are saying that your chips would be better if you used Desiree or Kestrel.

Potato selection chart

BoilChipSteamSauteRoastMashBakeNew
AnyaAnya seed potatoes  
Arran PilotArran pilot potatoes from Suttons  
CasablancaCasablanca potatoes from Suttons      
CharlotteCharlotte potatoes from Suttons    
DesireeDesiree potatoes from Suttons    
ForemostForemost potatoes from Suttons    
International kidney potatoes from SuttonsInternational Kidney    
JazzyJazzy potatoes from Suttons    
KestrelKestrel potatoes from Suttons       
King EdwardKing edward potatoes from Suttons       
Lady Christl potatoes from SuttonsLady Christl   
maris peer potatoesMaris Peer    
Maris piper potatoes from SuttonsMaris Piper       
Pentland Javelin potatoes from SuttonsPentland Javelin    
Picasso potatoes from SuttonsPicasso   
Pink Fir Apple potatoes from SuttonsPink Fir Apple  
Red Duke of York potatoes from SuttonsRed Duke of York      
Rocket potatoes from SuttonsRocket    
Rooster potatoes from SuttonsRooster      
Sarpo mira potatoes from SuttonsSarpo Mira    
Sarpo mira potatoes from SuttonsSetanta    
Swift seed potatoes from SuttonsSwift     
Vivaldi potatoes from SuttonsVivaldi     

We hope our chart has helped you to choose the best potatoes for your needs. Once you’ve placed your order, read our guide on how to grow potatoes and pick up some top tips.

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