No, Sweet potatoes and yams are not the same. Sweet potatoes and true yams are completely different vegetables.
How Sweet Potatoes and Yams Compare
Appearance:
Sweet Potatoes have smooth thin skin, usually an orange-ish color. Their flesh ranges from white to orange to purple and sweet potatoes have a blocky shape and tapered ends.
Yams have rough and scaly type skin, usually brownish or blackish. Their flesh color ranges from white, yellow, purple, or pink and yams are long cylindrical in shape with toe-shaped ends.
Taste and Texture:
Sweet Potatoes are sweet and moist and when cooked become creamy and fluffy.
Yams are dry, starchy, and much less sweet.
Origin and Availability
Sweet Potatoes are native to Central and South America and common in U.S. supermarkets.
Yams are native to Africa and Asia and aren't as common in U.S. supermarkets.
To Sum It Up
Not only are sweet potatoes and yams different vegetables, they look, taste, and originate in different parts of the world. Supermarket mislabeling and cultural misidentification has led to the wide confusion in the United States.
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