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.

The alphabetical list of all the potato-based recipes on this site follows, (limited to 100 recipes per page). There are 1125 recipes in total:

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Cawl Blodfresych Rhost (Roast Cauliflower Soup)      Origin: Welsh	Chicken and Dumplings      Origin: Ireland	Colombo de Poulet (Colombo Chicken Curry)      Origin: Martinique
Cawl Cennin a Thatws (Leek and Potato Soup)      Origin: Welsh	Chicken and Leek Hotpot      Origin: Ireland	Comfrey Aloo      Origin: Fusion
Cawl Cig Oen (Lamb Broth)      Origin: Welsh	Chicken and Vegetable Curry      Origin: Senegal	Congre à la bretonne (Breton-style Conger Eel)      Origin: France
Cawl Cocos gyda Draenogiad y Môr wedi Ysmygu dros Fwg Derw (Cockle Broth with Oak-smoked Sea Bass)      Origin: Welsh	Chicken Baked with Potatoes and Garlic      Origin: Ireland	Corn and Potato Chowder      Origin: Ireland
Cawl Letysen (Lettuce Soup)      Origin: Welsh	Chicken Curry with Coconut Milk      Origin: Seychelles	Cornish Cauliflower and Cheese Soup      Origin: England
Cawl Llysiau'r Gaeaf (Winter Vegetable Soup)      Origin: Welsh	Chicken Curry with Potatoes      Origin: Malaysia	Cornish Crab Chowder      Origin: England
Cawl Tatws a Chennin Syfi (Potato and Chive Soup)      Origin: Welsh	Chicken Curry with Potatoes (FChicken Curry with Potatoes)      Origin: Cocos Islands	Cornish Cutting Pie      Origin: England
Cawl Tregaron (Tregaron Broth)      Origin: Welsh	Chicken Curry with Potatoes      Origin: Christmas Island	Cornish Fish Cakes      Origin: Britain
Cawl y Carolwyr (Carollers' Broth)      Origin: Welsh	Chicken Sautéed with Potatoes, Olives, and Lemon      Origin: Britain	Cornish Fish Pie      Origin: England
Cawl y Gaeaf (Winter Broth)      Origin: Welsh	Chicken with Potatoes, Tomatoes and Fennel      Origin: Ireland	Cornish Pasty Pie      Origin: England
Caws a Thatws wedi Pobi (Potato and Cheese Bake)      Origin: Welsh	Chicken, Herb and Lemon Pie      Origin: Ireland	Cornish Potato Cakes      Origin: England
Cayman Style Curry Chicken Roti      Origin: Cayman Islands	Chicken, Leek and Celery Soup      Origin: Britain	Cornish Seaside Chowder with Saffron      Origin: England
Cazuela de Mariscos Chilena (Chilean Seafood Cazuela)      Origin: Chile	Chicken, Leek and Cider Gratin      Origin: England	Cornish Under-roast      Origin: England
Cepelinai (Lithuanian Meat-filled Potato Dumplings)      Origin: Lithuania	Chili-topped Jacket Potato      Origin: America	Cottage Pie      Origin: Britain
Ceviche de Pollo (Chicken Ceviche)      Origin: Peru	Chocolate Roll      Origin: Britain	Country Style Guinea Fowl Potje      Origin: Southern Africa
Château Potatoes      Origin: France	Cholent Dafina (Moroccan Sabbath Stew)      Origin: Morocco	County Cork Irish Stew      Origin: Ireland
Châteaubriand with Portobello Mushrooms and Madeira Wine Jus      Origin: France	Chorba      Origin: Tunisia	Cozido à portuguesa (Portuguese Meat Stew)      Origin: Portugal
Chakhchoukha      Origin: Algeria	Christmas Sweet Chestnut Soup      Origin: Britain	Crème Verde      Origin: France
Champ 2      Origin: Ireland	Chuchkella (Grape and Walnut Candies)      Origin: Azerbaijan	Crab and Potato Soup      Origin: Scotland
Chana Chaat Puri      Origin: Britain	Chuño Phuti      Origin: Bolivia	Cream of Potato Soup      Origin: American
Char-grilled Venison Steaks      Origin: Britain	Cider Cake      Origin: Ireland	Creamed Garlicky Potatoes      Origin: France
Charquicán (Traditional Chilean Stew)      Origin: Chile	Claare Dyn Jishig (Fatherless Pie)      Origin: Manx	Creamy Garlic Mash      Origin: Britain
Chayote-potato Cakes      Origin: French Guiana	Clam Stovies      Origin: Scotland	Creamy Monkfish and Shellfish Potpie      Origin: Britain
Cheese and Fish Pie      Origin: Britain	Clapshot      Origin: Scotland	Creamy Potato and Vegetable Pie      Origin: Ireland
Cheese and Vegetable Champ      Origin: Northern Ireland	Clapshot II      Origin: Scotland	Creamy Potato Gratin      Origin: Britain
Cheese and Vegetable Champ with Common Mallow Cheeses      Origin: Northern Ireland	Classic Cornish Pasty      Origin: England	Cregyn Bylchog wedi Gradellu (Grilled Scallops)      Origin: Welsh
Cheese Chips and Gravy      Origin: Manx	Classic Potato Salad      Origin: Ireland	Cregyn Cylchog wedi Grilio (Grilled Scallops)      Origin: Welsh
Cheese Crumble Topped Mash      Origin: Britain	Cod and Cockles      Origin: Ireland	Crème ou chaudrée de moules aux agrumes (Mussel Chowder in Citrus Cream)      Origin: Saint Pierre
Cheesy Potato and Fennel Layer      Origin: Ireland	Coda di rospo al forno con patate (Baked Monkfish with Potatoes)      Origin: Italy	Crisp Paupiette of Sea Bass in Red-wine Sauce      Origin: France
Cheesy Potato Bread      Origin: Britain	Colcannon      Origin: Ireland	Crispy Feta Chicken      Origin: Fusion
Cheshire Soup      Origin: England	Colcannon II      Origin: Ireland	Crispy Potato Skins      Origin: Britain
Chestnut Flour Noodles      Origin: Fusion	Colcannon Soup      Origin: Ireland	Crockpot Brunswick Stew      Origin: American
Chevra      Origin: South Africa	Colombo de Porc (Pork Colombo Curry)      Origin: Sint Maarten
Chicken Afritada      Origin: Philippines	Colombo de Porc (Pork Colombo Curry)      Origin: Saint-Martin

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