Yesterday I discovered something that still has me baffled today. How did I make it 32 years in life without knowing that there are purple potatoes?!

Quick backstory here...

Last night, I was at the Reba concert at the Ford Center in Evansville. In the area outside of the suites, there was a buffet. So, my mom and I were getting our food when I saw a sign that said "Cheddar Bacon Potatoes". I opened up the lid to discover something that literally made me take a step back. The potatoes that were being served were purple! Never in my life have I seen a purple potato. When I say that these potatoes were purple, I am not just talking about the skin. No, the inside of these potatoes was legit purple.

I began to question what exactly it was that they were serving. I've been to the grocery store several times and not once have I seen purple potatoes. Did they use food coloring or something for the Evansville Aces maybe? As it turns out, purple potatoes are a real thing but I am just too Boonville to have ever heard about them.

What Are Purple Potatoes?

I know that I am not the only person who had no idea that purple potatoes are a real thing. While their color will clearly throw you off, to my surprise, they taste pretty similar to a normal white or yellow potato. I decided to do a little digging on purple potatoes and I found out that they have quite a few health benefits too. Healthline says that some of these benefits include:

  • They are better for your blood sugar than regular potatoes.
  • Purple potatoes have two to three times more antioxidant activity than white or yellow potatoes.
  • Purple potatoes have been found to improve blood pressure.
  •  Some of the compounds in purple potatoes may slow the growth of — or even kill  certain cancer cells.

All of these are pretty interesting. However, the question still remains why haven't I ever seen purple potatoes before?!

Where To Find Purple Potatoes

I usually shop at the local IGA or Walmart for my groceries. You will not typically find purple potatoes there. However, in the Evansville area, you can most likely find purple potatoes at stores like ALDI, Kroger, and Meijer. I am sure that other stores in the area such as Fresh Thyme, Fresh Market, and maybe Schnucks might carry them too. The next time that I go to any grocery store, I am going to keep an eye out for them because I am now really curious if I have just been overlooking them all of these years or if they really are hard to find in this area.

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