Taro Root substitute

Best substitute

Waxy Potato (Yukon Gold or Red)

Use the same amount by weight, added 5 to 10 minutes later in the cook than the recipe says for taro as the taro root you are replacing

Best for godere wot

Different taste

Taro is doing two jobs: it is the starchy body of the dish, and it releases a slightly slippery starch that thickens the liquid around it. Waxy potato, such as Yukon Gold or red potato, is the everyday swap at 1:1 by weight, though it breaks down sooner so add it 5 to 10 minutes later than the recipe says. Malanga or yautia is a near-identical stand-in if your grocer has it. For Caribbean and West African stews where you want firmness, use cassava (yuca) at 1:1. Never taste any of them raw, and cook taro through completely.

Other taro root substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Malanga (Yautia)
Close match
Use the same amount by weight
The closest botanical relative on any shop shelf, sold in Latin American and Caribbean grocers alongside taro itself.
What changes
Best for
godere wot, sancocho and Caribbean stews, fritters, soups, mashing
Essentially interchangeable, which makes this the best swap if you can find it. Malanga is a little nuttier and finer-grained than taro and slightly less slippery, so a soup thickens marginally less. Peel and handle it the same way as taro, under running water or with gloves, because it carries the same irritant sap.
3Cassava (Yuca)
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount by weight
A dense, fibrous tropical root that holds its shape better than potato in a long simmer.
What changes
Best for
Caribbean and West African stews, boiling and serving in chunks, frying, long braises
Cassava turns glassy and translucent rather than fluffy, and it is firmer, denser and more fibrous than taro, with a woody central cord you have to cut out. It contributes almost no slipperiness, so it will not thicken a broth. Important: cassava must be peeled thickly and cooked all the way through, because raw cassava is toxic. Do not taste it raw and do not undercook it.
4Sweet Potato or White-Fleshed Boniato
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount by weight, or half sweet potato and half regular potato in savoury stews
A sweeter, more widely available root that works where taro is providing bulk and softness rather than neutrality.
What changes
Best for
fritters, soups, roasting, coconut-based stews
Orange sweet potato is far sweeter than taro and will noticeably shift a savoury dish; in godere wot the sweetness fights the berbere, so cut it half and half with regular potato. White-fleshed boniato is much closer, being drier, starchier and only mildly sweet. Sweet potato also softens faster and can go mushy, so add it near the end.
5Celeriac (Celery Root)
Different taste
Use the same amount by weight
A Western-pantry root that holds its shape beautifully in liquid, for when no tropical roots are available.
What changes
Best for
brothy soups, stews where firmness matters, low-starch cooking, purees
Celeriac keeps its shape through a long simmer better than any potato, which is genuinely useful, but it tastes unmistakably of celery and parsley and adds almost no starch, so a soup will not thicken at all. It works in a clear-broth soup where taro was providing chunks; it is completely wrong for poi, taro fritters or anything where taro's stickiness is the point.
6Water Chestnut or Lotus Root
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount by weight, added in the last few minutes
Crunchy options that only work in the narrow case where taro is being stir-fried and you want bite rather than starch.
What changes
Best for
stir-fries, dishes where taro is cut in batons, adding texture and crunch
This is a texture-only substitution and it will not work in a braise. Both stay crisp no matter how long you cook them, contribute no starch and no thickening, and taste sweet and watery rather than nutty. Use them if a stir-fry called for taro batons; do not use them where taro was meant to go soft.

What is Taro Root?

Taro Root is a starchy tropical tuber with rough brown fibrous skin and white-to-lilac flesh, sold either as large barrel-shaped roots or small egg-sized eddoes, and known as godere in Ethiopia, dasheen in the Caribbean and kalo or kelo in the Pacific.

Cooking tips

Peel taro under running water or wear gloves. Raw taro contains needle-like calcium oxalate crystals that make bare hands itch and burn for hours, and rinsing the peeled pieces washes off the loose surface starch as well.
Never taste taro raw, and cook it until a knife slides in with no resistance. Those same oxalate crystals sting the mouth and throat raw, and cooking breaks them down completely.
Taro drinks liquid. In godere wot or any braise, add a splash more water than you think you need and check the seasoning at the very end, because the tuber blunts both salt and berbere as it cooks.
Match the size to the dish: small eddoes are gummier and stickier and better in stews and soups, while the big barrel taro is drier and starchier and better for chips, fries and mash.
Buy roots that feel heavy and firm with no soft or grey patches, and check the cut end if there is one. It should be crisp and white, not pinkish-grey or spongy, which means it has started to go.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use potato instead of taro?

Yes, for most cooking, and it is what most people do. Use a waxy potato such as Yukon Gold or a red potato, swap 1:1 by weight, and add it a little later in the cook because it softens faster than taro. Expect a plainer flavour without taro's faint nutty sweetness, and a slightly thinner sauce, because taro's slippery starch was doing some of the thickening.

Is taro the same thing as eddoe, dasheen or godere?

They are all the same plant or a close relative, sold under different names. Dasheen usually means the large barrel-shaped root, eddoe means the small egg-sized corms that grow around it, godere is the Ethiopian name, and kalo or kelo is the Pacific name. Eddoes are gummier and better in stews; the large ones are drier and better fried or mashed. If a recipe calls for one and your shop has the other, use it.

Can I leave taro out of godere wot?

Not really, because godere means taro and the tuber is the dish. What you can do is swap in potato, at which point you have essentially made dinich wot, the potato version, which is a standard Ethiopian dish that plenty of people prefer anyway. The berbere, onion base and niter kibbeh do most of the work, so nobody will feel short-changed.

Why does taro make my hands itch?

Raw taro sap contains microscopic calcium oxalate crystals that physically irritate skin, and the itch can last hours. Peel it under running water, or wear gloves, and avoid rubbing your eyes. Cooking destroys the crystals entirely, which is why cooked taro is completely fine and why you should never eat any part of it raw.

Can I use taro flour or taro powder instead of fresh taro?

Only for a narrow set of uses. Taro flour and taro powder will thicken a liquid and are what bubble tea, taro milk and some baked goods are made with, but they cannot give you chunks of tuber in a stew. If your recipe wants pieces of taro that hold their shape, use a fresh root or a substitute root; if it wants taro flavour in a drink or a cake, the powder is the right product.

Related substitutes

More vegetables & aromatics substitutes

Taro Root substitute

Other taro root substitutes

2Malanga (Yautia)

3Cassava (Yuca)

4Sweet Potato or White-Fleshed Boniato

5Celeriac (Celery Root)

6Water Chestnut or Lotus Root