Potatoes are the leading carbohydrate on American menus

On Independent Restaurant Menus, Potatoes of all kinds account for 44% of all carbs, according to MenuMine.

Potatoes Beyond Fries

As you might expect, Fries are the leading form of Potatoes, followed by Mashed, Hash Browns, Potato Salad, Baked and Chips.

Others including au gratin, scalloped, fingerling potatoes, gnocchi, new potatoes, red bliss, red skinned, potato wedges, potato puree, potato pancakes, sweet potatoes, homestyle, crisps, fried potatoes, sauteed potatoes, vesuvio, home fries, potatoes o’brien and more.

Potatoes lead because of versatility

• Overall, 88% of Casual, Midscale and QSR Independent Operators have some form of potato on the menu. They average 17 Items with Potatoes per Operator.
• Fries are on the menus of 62% of Independent Operators, and they average 11.4 Items per Operator.
• 46% of Independents menu Mashed Potatoes, with an average of 5.0 items. Most of the Mashed is menued by Casual and Midscale Independents.
• Baked Potatoes are on 26% of Independent menus and they average 4.3 items. The skew is toward Casual and Midscale Independents.
• Hash Browns are on 17% of Independent menus, averaging  6.6 items. Hash Browns are most heavily menued by Midscale Independents.
• Potato Salad is menued by 17% of Independents, Chips by 21%, Roasted Potatoes by 6% and Potato Skins by 9%.

Trends in Forms of Potatoes: Cutting Edge Independent Restaurants

• On Cutting Edge independent restaurant menus, one in six menu items with potatoes are not specified other than to say served with “Potatoes”.
• Generally, this means several selections are offered
  including mashed, fries, baked and others.
• Fries have a 19.8% menu listing share, up 1.8 share points compared to five years ago.
• Mashed have a 15.6% share, down 2.0%. Baked Potatoes, are at a 5.7% share, down 1.2 share points. While hash browns at 2.6% are up 0.8 points.

Potato forms by Application

• Sandwiches 23%, and Burgers 16% of the time.
• Mashed Potatoes accompany Entrees 85% of the time, and are Stand Alone Sides 13% of the time.
• Baked Potatoes are Entrée Accompaniments on 52% of items, or Stand Alone Sides on 42%.
• Hash Browns are 74% Entrée Accompaniment oriented and 20% as Stand Alone sides.
• Potato Salad is entree oriented (45% of menu items), versus sandwiches at 24%.
• Potato Chips are an Entree Accompaniment (28%), Sandwich Accompaniment (27%) and Appetizer Accompaniment (27%).

Types of Proteins Used When Potatoes Accompany Entrees

• In cutting edge/fine dining restaurants, when Fries, Mashed or Baked potatoes are served with entrees, the leading proteins are Beef, Chicken and Fish at varying levels as shown below.
• When Hash Browns are used with Entrees, Pork Products (46%) and Beef Products (24%) are leading accompaniments.

Compiled with information from the MenuMine database a service by Foodservice Research Institute on behalf of the Idaho Potato Commission.