Yams vs Sweet Potatoes

Restored from the Empower Network archive (2011–2017), lightly edited to meet our current advertising standards. Views are the original author’s.

So What is the difference between yams and sweet potatoes?

One of my favorite side dishes served at both Thanksgiving and Christmas Day feasts is baked yams soaked in lots of brown sugar and butter, with a layer of mini-marshmallows on top, cooked to perfection with a crispy golden brown crunchy crust on top. I typically get canned yams to make this festive dish but sometimes go for the fresh yams found in the produce section at the market.

Last time I went shopping for yams, I looked at the sweet potatoes in the next bin on the produce isle as well and wondered what’s the difference between these two potatoes? After talking with the produce guy, I found out that what I’ve been calling yams all these years is actually sweet potatoes, not yams!

Did you know there’s actually a difference between the two; I didn’t. I always thought sweet potato and yam were the two different names for the same savory root so being the inquisitive fellow I I’m, I did a little research just to satisfy my own curiosity and fond some interesting facts about these two similar looking and tasting foods.

Most people have been making the mistake of calling sweet potatoes “yams” simply because, like myself, they didn’t know there really was different. I discovered yams and sweet potatoes aren’t even cousins. Turns out that yams and sweet potatoes come from two different species of root vegetable with very different backgrounds and uses.

Then why are we so confused about the difference between the two? Even the fellows that process the sweet potatoes into the cans we find on supermarket shelves label the outside of the can as “yams”. It’s no wonder that as a long time aficionado of the yam that even I’ve didn’t know the difference between the two.

So here’s what I found out for all of you with inquiring minds that want to know:

There are actually two types of sweet potatoes, one with creamy white flesh and one with orange. The canners and produce marketers, with the approval of the United States Drug Administration, have labeled the sweet potatoes with the orange colored insides as “yams” to distinguish them from the lighter color variety. So now we can actually see the difference between the two but why call the ones with the orange colored insides “yams” in the first place?

In order to understand the difference between yams and sweet potatoes, we have to look a little further.

Photos courtesy: Getty/Jupiterimages

For a more descriptive analysis, you can look at the Sweet potatoes that come in two main varieties here in the United States. The one variety of sweet potatoes has a golden skin with creamy white inside and almost grainy texture. The other has a richer copper colored skin with an orange inside that is soft and sweet without adding additional sweeteners. Don’t be confused by the size because all sweet potato varieties generally speaking have the same general shape and size but are typically smaller than yams.

Yams, on the other hand are native to some tropical areas as well as in Asia but largely from Africa. Yams are starchy and have a skin with the texture of bark and have white, purple or reddish insides which come in a multiplicity of varieties. These yams can be upwards of 5 feet in length or as small is the average potato in size.

You ever wondered where the word yam originates like so many odd words in the English language. You probably guessed that since it largely comes from Africa that its origins would be from the African language and you would be right. Yam in African means “to eat.”

Being that yams can be stored for extended periods of time, they have always been a considerably important staple in some societies in seasons when food is a scarcity. Yams are usually prepared for eating by peeling to remove the rough exterior, boiled and mashed. They can also be dried and ground into a powder that can be cooked into porridge. Yams can be found in most grocery stores today but especially where there are international markets that specialize in Caribbean foods.

If you’d really like some additional information regarding sweet potatoes, go online to the North Carolina Sweet Potato Commission where you’ll find all there is to know about sweet potatoes. Also, if you like to know something about the nutritional value of sweet potatoes vs. yams, a good source can be found online at Livestrong.com.

I’ll bet next time you shop for “sweet potatoes” or you’re in the middle of fixing that “yam” dish that everyone likes so much, you’ll think twice about what it is that’s actually on your plate – sweet potato or yam?