Wild potato species can be found from the southern United States to southern Chile. Genetic studies show that the cultivated potato has a single origin, in the area of present-day southern Peru and extreme northwestern Bolivia. Potatoes were domesticated there about 7,000–10,000 years ago from a species in the S. brevicaule complex. Many varieties of the potato are cultivated in the Andes region of South America, where the species is indigenous.

The Spanish introduced potatoes to Europe in the second half of the 16th century from the Americas. They are a staple food in many parts of the world and an integral part of much of the world's food supply. Following millennia of selective breeding, there are now over 5,000 different varieties of potatoes. The potato remains an essential crop in Europe, especially Northern and Eastern Europe, where per capita production is still the highest in the world, while the most rapid expansion in production during the 21st century was in southern and eastern Asia, with China and India leading the world production as of 2023.

Like the tomato and the nightshades, the potato is in the genus Solanum; the aerial parts of the potato contain the toxin solanine. Normal potato tubers that have been grown and stored properly produce glycoalkaloids in negligible amounts, but if sprouts and potato skins are exposed to light, tubers can become toxic.

The English word "potato" comes from Spanish patata, in turn from Taíno batata, which means "sweet potato", not the plant now known as simply "potato".

The name "spud" for a potato is from the 15th century spudde, a short and stout knife or dagger, probably related to Danish spyd, "spear". Through semantic change, the general sense of short and thick was transferred to the tuber from around 1840.

At least seven languages: Afrikaans, Dutch, Low Saxon, French, (West) Frisian, Hebrew, Persian and some variants of German, use a term for "potato" that means "earth apple" or "ground apple", from an earlier sense of both pome and apple, referring in general to a (apple-shaped) fruit or vegetable.



There are two major subspecies of S. tuberosum. The Andean potato, S. tuberosum andigena, is adapted to the short-day conditions prevalent in the mountainous equatorial and tropical regions where it originated. The Chilean potato S. tuberosum tuberosum, native to the Chiloé Archipelago, is in contrast adapted to the long-day conditions prevalent in the higher latitude region of southern Chile.

Following the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire, the Spanish introduced the potato to Europe in the second half of the 16th century as part of the Columbian exchange. The staple was subsequently conveyed by European mariners (possibly including the Russian-American Company) to territories and ports throughout the world, especially their colonies. European and colonial farmers were slow to adopt farming potatoes. However, after 1750, they became an important food staple and field crop and played a major role in the European 19th century population boom. According to conservative estimates, the introduction of the potato was responsible for a quarter of the growth in Old World population and urbanization between 1700 and 1900. However, lack of genetic diversity, due to the very limited number of varieties initially introduced, left the crop vulnerable to disease. In 1845, a plant disease known as late blight, caused by the fungus-like oomycete Phytophthora infestans, spread rapidly through the poorer communities of western Ireland as well as parts of the Scottish Highlands, resulting in the crop failures that led to the Great Irish Famine.

It had been thought that most potato cultivars derived from a single origin in southern Peru and extreme Northwestern Bolivia, from a species in the S. brevicaule complex. DNA analysis however shows that more than 99% of all current varieties of potatoes are direct descendants of a subspecies that once grew in the lowlands of south-central Chile.

There are some 5,000 potato varieties worldwide, 3,000 of them in the Andes alone — mainly in Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Chile, and Colombia. Over 100 cultivars might be found in a single valley, and a dozen or more might be maintained by a single agricultural household. The European Cultivated Potato Database is an online collaborative database of potato variety descriptions updated and maintained by the Scottish Agricultural Science Agency within the framework of the European Cooperative Programme for Crop Genetic Resources Networks—which is run by the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute. Around 80 varieties are commercially available in the UK.

For culinary purposes, varieties are often differentiated by their waxiness: floury or mealy baking potatoes have more starch (20–22%) than waxy boiling potatoes (16–18%). The distinction may also arise from variation in the comparative ratio of two different potato starch compounds: amylose and amylopectin. Amylose, a long-chain molecule, diffuses from the starch granule when cooked in water, and lends itself to dishes where the potato is mashed. Varieties that contain a slightly higher amylopectin content, which is a highly branched molecule, help the potato retain its shape after being boiled in water. Potatoes that are good for making potato chips or potato crisps are sometimes called "chipping potatoes", which means they meet the basic requirements of similar varietal characteristics, being firm, fairly clean, and fairly well-shaped.

Immature potatoes may be sold fresh from the field as "creamer" or "new" potatoes and are particularly valued for their taste. They are typically small in size and tender, with a loose skin, and flesh containing a lower level of starch than other potatoes. In the United States they are generally either a Yukon Gold potato or a red potato, called gold creamers or red creamers respectively. In the UK, the Jersey Royal is a famous type of new potato.

Potato dishes vary around the world. Peruvian cuisine naturally contains the potato as a primary ingredient in many dishes, as around 3,000 varieties of the tuber are grown there. Chuño is a freeze-dried potato product traditionally made by Quechua and Aymara communities of Peru and Bolivia. In the UK, potatoes form part of the traditional dish fish and chips. Roast potatoes are commonly served as part of a Sunday roast dinner and mashed potatoes form a major component of several other traditional dishes, such as shepherd's pie, bubble and squeak, and bangers and mash. New potatoes may be cooked with mint and are often served with butter. In Germany, Northern Europe (Finland, Latvia and especially Scandinavian countries), Eastern Europe (Russia, Belarus and Ukraine) and Poland, newly harvested, early ripening varieties are considered a special delicacy. Boiled whole and served un-peeled with dill, these "new potatoes" are traditionally consumed with Baltic herring. Puddings made from grated potatoes (kugel, kugelis, and potato babka) are popular items of Ashkenazi, Lithuanian, and Belarusian cuisine. Cepelinai, the national dish of Lithuania, are dumplings made from boiled grated potatoes, usually stuffed with minced meat. In Italy, in the Friuli region, potatoes serve to make a type of pasta called gnocchi. Potato is used in northern China where rice is not easily grown, a popular dish being 青椒土豆丝 (qīng jiāo tǔ dòu sī), made with green pepper, vinegar and thin slices of potato. In the winter, roadside sellers in northern China sell roasted potatoes.

For other starchy staples see the entries on potatoes, sweet potatoes, yams, taro/eddoes/cocoyam, tannia, cassava, green banana/plantain and breadfruit.

The alphabetical list of all the potato-based recipes on this site follows, (limited to 100 recipes per page). There are 1271 recipes in total:

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Spicy Pumpkin Soup      Origin: British	Swahili Aubergine Curry      Origin: East Africa	Teisen Nionod â Chig Oen (Welsh Onion Cake with Lamb)      Origin: Welsh
Spinach and Potato Croquettes      Origin: Ireland	Swamp Soup with Witches' Scabs      Origin: British	Teisenau Tatws (Potato Cakes)      Origin: Welsh
Spinach and Yoghurt Soup      Origin: Britain	Swiss Soup      Origin: Britain	Teisenau Tatws Sawrus (Savoury Potato Cakes)      Origin: Welsh
Springbok Potjekos      Origin: South Africa	Swordfish Steaks with Chermoula      Origin: South Africa	Teisennau Eog Dyfrdwy (Dee Salmon Fish Cakes)      Origin: Welsh
Srpska Corba ot Graha (Serbian Bean Stew)      Origin: Serbia	Swper 'Sgadan (Welsh Herring Supper)      Origin: Welsh	Teisennau Tatws (Welsh Potato Cakes)      Origin: Welsh
St Helena Curry and Rice      Origin: St Helena	Tajin Sibnekh (Chicken and Egg Tagine)      Origin: Tunisia	Tfina Camounia (Potatoes and Bean Stew)      Origin: Tunisia
St Helena Fishcakes      Origin: St Helena	Tajine Maadnous (Tunisian Tajine with Eggs, Parsley and Chicken)      Origin: Tunisia	Tharoi Thongba (Water Snail Curry)      Origin: India
Staff Chicken Curry      Origin: Britain	Tamales de pollo salvadoreños (Salvadoran Chicken Tamales)      Origin: El Salvador	The Broon's Clapshot      Origin: Scotland
Stamppot (Potato-kale Mash with Sausage)      Origin: Netherlands	Tamarillo and Beef Curry      Origin: Fusion	The Ultimate Chips      Origin: Britain
Steak and Ale Pie      Origin: Britain	Tamil Nadu Sambar Curry      Origin: India	Thiou Curry au Boeuf (Senegalese Beef Curry)      Origin: Senegal
Steak Frites (Steak and Chips)      Origin: France	Tanrogans and Cheese Sauce      Origin: Manx	Thukaree Riha (Maldives Vegetable Curry)      Origin: Maldives
Stegt Flæsk (Danish Roast Pork with Potatoes and Parsley Sauce)      Origin: Denmark	Tanzanian Meat Curry      Origin: Tanzania	Thyme-scented Lamb with Almond Skordalia      Origin: Australia
Stew Soup I      Origin: British	Tanzanian Meat Stew      Origin: Tanzania	To Dress Pig's Fry      Origin: British
Stew Soup II      Origin: British	Tapas de Hongos y Patatas      Origin: Britain	To dress potatoes      Origin: British
Stew Soup of Salt Meat      Origin: British	Tarhonyaleves (Pastina Pasta Soup)      Origin: Hungary	Tomatillo and Beef Curry      Origin: Fusion
Stiw Cig Oen Cymreig (Welsh Lamb Stew)      Origin: Welsh	Tariwala Murgh (Home-style Chicken Curry)      Origin: India	Tomato and Egg Curry      Origin: India
Stiw Eidion Cymreig (Welsh Beef Stew)      Origin: Welsh	Tarten Cig Moch â Thatws (Bacon and Potato Pie)      Origin: Welsh	Tomato Keema (Tomato and Beef Curry)      Origin: Pakistan
Stoved Chicken      Origin: Scotland	Tarten Eidion Tun (Corned Beef Pie)      Origin: Welsh	Torta di patate e Funghi selvatici (Wild Mushroom and Potato Cake)      Origin: Italy
Stovies      Origin: Scotland	Tattie Hash      Origin: England	Torten Oen a Thatws (Welsh Lamb and Potato Torte)      Origin: Welsh
Stovies II      Origin: Scotland	Tattie Scone with Bacon and Field Mushrooms      Origin: Scotland	Tortilla (Classic Spanish Tortilla)      Origin: Spain
Straw Fries      Origin: Britain	Tatties an' Herrin'      Origin: Scotland	Tortilla à la Payesa (Spanish Vegetable Omelette)      Origin: Spain
Stuffat Tal-Fenek (Rabbit Stew)      Origin: Malta	Tatws â Chig yn y Popty (Meat and Potatoes in the Oven)      Origin: Welsh	Tortilla de Patatas (Spanish Potato Omelette)      Origin: Spain
Stuffed Aubergines      Origin: Anglo-Indian	Tatws a Chig Mewn Popty Araf (Potatoes and Meat in the Slow Cooker)      Origin: Welsh	Tortilla Española      Origin: Costa Rica
Stwns (Mash)      Origin: Welsh	Tatws Ffrio (Sauté Potatoes)      Origin: Welsh	Toshikoshi Soba (New Year's Eve Soba)      Origin: Japan
Stwns Rwdins (Swede Mash)      Origin: Welsh	Tatws Popty (Potatoes in the Oven)      Origin: Welsh	Tourchi Batata (Potato Salad with Cumin)      Origin: Tunisia
Suaasat      Origin: Greenland	Tatws Popty Eidion (Beef and Potatoes in the Oven)      Origin: Welsh	Traditional Cornish Pasty      Origin: Cornwall
Summer Lamb Casserole      Origin: Britain	Tatws Popty Porc (Pork and Potatoes in the Oven)      Origin: Welsh	Traditional Irish Boxty      Origin: Ireland
Summer Soup      Origin: British	Tatws Pum Munud (Five-minute Potatoes)      Origin: Welsh	Traditional Vegetable Bake      Origin: Ireland
Sun-dried Tomato Bread      Origin: Ireland	Tatws Rhost a Bacwn (Baked Sliced Potatoes with Bacon)      Origin: Welsh	Traybake Sea Bass with Asparagus and New Potatoes      Origin: Britain
Suomalaisruisleipa (Finnish Rye Bread)      Origin: Finland	Tatws Stwns Cennin gyda Garlleg a Chennin Syfi (Mashed Potatoes with Leeks, Garlic and Chives)      Origin: Welsh	Trinxat (Cabbage and Potato Cake)      Origin: Andorra
Super-speedy Microwave Lamb Curry      Origin: Britain	Tatws Trwy Crwyn (Potatoes in Their Skins)      Origin: Welsh	Tripe Soup      Origin: Britain
Suqaar (Somali Beef Stew)      Origin: Somalia	Teisen Datws Pob (Baked Potato Cake)      Origin: Welsh	Tunisian Chicken and Pumpkin Couscous      Origin: Libya
Şurpa (Shurpa)      Origin: Turkmenistan	Teisen Datws wedi Ffrio (Fried Potato Cakes)      Origin: Welsh
Svinekødsuppe (Skerpikjøt Soup)      Origin: Denmark	Teisen Nionod (Welsh Onion Cake)      Origin: Welsh

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