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95 free Potatoes trivia questions with answers — food & drink quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
27 free potatoes trivia questions with answers. How well do you know potatoes? From their origins in the Andes to their role in global cuisine, potatoes are one of the world's most important crops. Test your knowledge with our engaging 95-question potato trivia quiz and discover surprising facts about this versatile and beloved vegetable.
30 of 95 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Where were potatoes first domesticated?
The Andes Mountains of South America
The potato was domesticated in the Andes Mountains of South America: genetic and archaeological evidence places its origin near Lake Titicaca, in southern Peru and northwestern Bolivia.
Q 02To which plant family do potatoes belong, a family that also includes tomatoes and eggplants?
Solanaceae
Potatoes belong to Solanaceae, the nightshade family, alongside tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, tobacco and petunias; the family is named for its bitter alkaloid-bearing nightshades.
Q 03Botanically, what part of the potato plant is the edible potato itself?
A stem tuber
Potatoes are underground stem tubers, which are thickened parts of the stem that store nutrients.
Q 04Which European country first introduced potatoes to Europe in the late 16th century?
Spain
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.
Q 05What plant disease caused Ireland's Great Famine in the 1840s?
Late blight
The lack of genetic diversity in potatoes grown in Europe made the crop vulnerable to diseases, with late blight disease destroying potato crops in Ireland and leading to the Great Famine of the 1840s.
Q 06Which country grows more potatoes than any other?
China
China is the world's largest potato producer, harvesting roughly 90 million tonnes a year through the 2010s and 2020s, well ahead of India and Russia.
Q 07Potatoes contain more of which mineral than a medium banana?
Potassium
Potassium: a medium potato has around 620 milligrams against a banana's 422, so the fruit's famous reputation is beaten by the humble spud.
Q 08Which chef is widely credited with inventing the potato chip in Saratoga Springs, New York?
George Crum
The invention of the potato chip is widely attributed to George Crum, a chef at Moon's Lake House in Saratoga Springs, New York, in 1853.
Q 09Which high-starch, dry-fleshed potato is ideal for baking and french fries?
Russet potatoes
Russet potatoes are characterized by their high starch content and dry, mealy flesh, making them excellent for baking and frying into crispy french fries.
Q 10Which of these potato types is 'waxy' and best for potato salads because it holds its shape?
Red Bliss
Waxy potatoes, such as Red Bliss, have low starch content and hold their shape well during cooking, making them ideal for boiling and use in salads or stews.
Q 11What natural toxin is found in all green parts of the potato plant?
Solanine
Like the tomato and other nightshades, the aerial parts of the potato plant contain the toxin solanine, which can also develop in tubers if they are exposed to light and turn green.
Q 12Roughly how long ago were potatoes first domesticated?
7,000–10,000 years
Genetic studies suggest that cultivated potatoes have a single origin in southern Peru and northwestern Bolivia, where they were domesticated about 7,000–10,000 years ago.
Q 13What are the 'eyes' on a potato primarily used for in terms of plant reproduction?
Sprouting new plants
Q 21What type of organism caused the potato blight behind Ireland's Great Famine?
Water mould
Phytophthora infestans is an oomycete, or water mould: it looks and behaves like a fungus but belongs to a separate lineage, and it thrives in cool, wet weather.
Q 22Which Irish dish mashes potatoes with cooked kale or cabbage?
Colcannon
Colcannon is Irish mashed potato beaten with cooked kale or cabbage, butter and milk; it was traditionally eaten at Halloween, when charms such as a ring were hidden inside.
Q 23Which Swiss dish is a pan-fried cake of coarsely grated potato?
Rösti
Rösti is a Swiss cake of coarsely grated potato fried in butter until golden; originally a Bernese farmers' breakfast, it lent its name to the 'Röstigraben', the German-French language divide.
Potatoes are vegetatively propagated, meaning a new plant can grow from a potato or a piece of potato (called a 'seed potato') that contains at least two 'eyes', which are buds that sprout into new plants.
Q 14To which botanical family does the sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) belong?
Morning glory family (Convolvulaceae)
While both are tubers, sweet potatoes belong to the morning glory family (Convolvulaceae), whereas regular potatoes are part of the nightshade family (Solanaceae).
Q 15Which year did the United Nations declare the International Year of the Potato?
2008
The United Nations declared 2008 the International Year of the Potato; the FAO led the campaign to highlight the crop's role in food security and poverty reduction.
Q 16The potato is the third most important food crop in the world, following which two staple grains?
Rice and Wheat
Rice and wheat: the International Potato Center ranks the potato third among food crops for human consumption, behind rice and wheat, with roughly 370 million tonnes harvested worldwide each year in the early 2020s.
Q 17Which classic French dish features thinly sliced potatoes baked in cream, often with garlic and cheese?
Gratin Dauphinois
Gratin dauphinois, from the Dauphiné region around Grenoble, bakes thinly sliced potatoes in cream with garlic; the traditional version has no cheese, though many modern recipes add Gruyère.
Q 18Which German potato dish is traditionally dressed with vinegar, oil and hot broth?
Kartoffelsalat
Kartoffelsalat is German potato salad; the southern, Swabian style dresses sliced boiled potatoes with vinegar, oil, onion and hot meat broth instead of mayonnaise.
Q 19Who invented the first sealed wax paper potato chip bags in 1926?
Laura Scudder
In 1926, Laura Scudder revolutionized the potato chip industry by inventing the first sealed wax paper bags, which kept chips fresher and prevented crushing.
Q 20What is the scientific name for the common cultivated potato?
Solanum tuberosum
Solanum tuberosum is the cultivated potato, a perennial of the nightshade family Solanaceae named by Linnaeus in 1753 and grown for its underground tubers.
Q 24Which US vice president corrected a schoolboy's 'potato' to 'potatoe' at a 1992 spelling bee?
Dan Quayle
Dan Quayle, George H. W. Bush's vice president, told a Trenton, New Jersey pupil to add an 'e' to 'potato' at a June 1992 spelling bee, a gaffe that dogged the campaign.
Q 25The earliest known potato chip recipe appeared in 1817 in William Kitchiner's The Cook's Oracle, published in which city?
London
London had the recipe more than three decades before the Saratoga Springs legend of 1853, and The Cook's Oracle was a bestseller on both sides of the Atlantic.
Q 26In which year did the potato blight behind Ireland's Great Famine first appear in Irish fields?
1845
1845 was announced in print: The Gardeners' Chronicle stopped its presses on 13 September to report that the potato murrain had 'unequivocally declared itself in Ireland'.
Q 27Which New Brunswick town, home of frozen-fry giant McCain Foods, calls itself 'the French fry capital of the world'?
Florenceville-Bristol
Florenceville-Bristol also hosts a museum called Potato World; McCain, founded there in 1957, is the world's largest maker of frozen fries.
Q 28An early mashed potato recipe using milk, salt and butter appears in whose 1747 cookbook?
Hannah Glasse
Hannah Glasse's The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy (1747) boils and peels the potatoes, then mashes them in a saucepan with milk, salt and butter.
Q 29Which railroad's dining cars made the 'Great Big Baked Potato' famous from 1909?
Northern Pacific
Northern Pacific served oversized Yakima Valley potatoes as its 'Great Big Baked Potato' from 1909; its 1914 Seattle commissary was topped by a 40-foot electric baked potato whose eyes winked.
Q 30The English word 'potato' comes via Spanish patata from a word in which language?
Taíno
The Taíno word batata actually meant the sweet potato; Europeans simply transferred the name to the Andean tuber.