Vegetables

Spinach

A tender, dark leafy green rich in iron, folate, and vitamin K, equally good raw in salads or wilted into cooked dishes.

Baby Spinach

Young, small-leaved spinach picked early for a milder flavour and more tender texture, popular eaten raw in salads.

Water Spinach / Kangkung

A hollow-stemmed leafy green common in Southeast Asian cooking, typically stir-fried with garlic and chilli.

Curly Kale

The classic ruffled-leaf variety of kale, sturdy enough to hold up well in soups, stews, and long roasting.

Tuscan Kale / Cavolo Nero

A dark, blistered-leaf Italian kale variety with a slightly sweeter, more tender bite than curly kale.

Swiss Chard / Silverbeet

A leafy green with colourful stalks and a flavour between spinach and beet greens, good sauteed or added to soups.

Beet Greens

The leafy tops of the beetroot plant, tasting similar to chard and often cooked instead of being discarded.

Turnip Greens

The leafy tops of the turnip plant, with a peppery bite similar to mustard greens.

Dandelion Greens

A pleasantly bitter wild leafy green, often eaten young in salads or cooked to mellow its sharpness.

Amaranth Greens / Bayam

A tender, mild leafy green common across Asian and African cooking, cooked much like spinach.

Malabar Spinach

A vining tropical leafy green with a slightly mucilaginous texture, used as a spinach substitute in warm climates.

Fenugreek Leaves / Methi

The fresh leaves of the fenugreek plant, with a distinctive bitter-sweet flavour common in Indian cooking.

Moringa Leaves

Small, nutrient-dense leaves from the moringa tree, used fresh or dried across South Asian and African cuisines.

Sweet Potato Leaves

The edible leafy tops of the sweet potato vine, mild in flavour and popular in African and Southeast Asian cooking.

Cassava Leaves

The leaves of the cassava plant, cooked to break down naturally occurring toxins before eating, common in West and Central African cuisine.

Pumpkin Leaves

The tender young leaves and shoots of the pumpkin vine, cooked as a leafy green in African and Southeast Asian dishes.

Radish Leaves

The leafy tops of the radish plant, with a peppery bite similar to the root, often cooked rather than discarded.

Pea Shoots

The tender vine tips and young leaves of the pea plant, with a sweet, delicate pea flavour.

Sunflower Shoots

Young sunflower seedlings harvested for their crunchy texture and nutty flavour, usually eaten raw.

Microgreens

Tiny, immature seedlings of vegetables and herbs, harvested just after sprouting for a concentrated burst of flavour.

Lettuce

A broad family of crisp, mild-flavoured leafy greens that form the base of most salads.

Romaine Lettuce

A crisp, elongated lettuce with sturdy leaves, the classic base for a Caesar salad.

Iceberg Lettuce

A tightly packed, very crisp lettuce with a mild flavour and high water content, common in classic salads and burgers.

Butterhead Lettuce

A soft, loosely headed lettuce with tender, delicately sweet leaves.

Oak Leaf Lettuce

A loose-leaf lettuce named for its lobed, oak-leaf-shaped leaves and mild, slightly nutty flavour.

Cos Lettuce

Another name for romaine lettuce, valued for its crisp texture and sturdy leaves.

Endive

A slightly bitter leafy vegetable, sold as curly frisee or the more compact, torpedo-shaped Belgian endive.

Escarole

A broad-leaved variety of endive with a milder bitterness, often used in Italian soups and braises.

Radicchio

A deep red-purple, cabbage-like leaf with a distinctly bitter flavour, often grilled or used in salads.

Chicory

A bitter leafy vegetable related to endive, eaten raw in salads or cooked to mellow its flavour.

Sorrel

A leafy green with a sharp, lemony tartness from natural oxalic acid, used sparingly in soups and sauces.

Purslane

A succulent, slightly tangy leafy green that grows wild in many climates and is unusually rich in omega-3 fats for a vegetable.

Baby Bok Choy

A smaller, more tender version of bok choy, often cooked whole rather than chopped.

Chye Sim / Choy Sum

A Chinese leafy vegetable with tender stems and small yellow flowers, typically stir-fried or blanched.

Tatsoi

A small, spoon-shaped Asian leafy green with a mild, slightly mustardy flavour.

Mizuna

A feathery-leaved Japanese green with a mild peppery bite, often used raw in salads.

Komatsuna

A Japanese leafy green similar to spinach and mustard greens, mild enough to eat raw or cooked.

Shungiku / Chrysanthemum Greens

The edible leaves of the garland chrysanthemum, with a distinctive fragrant, slightly bitter flavour used in East Asian hot pots.

Broccoli

A tree-shaped vegetable from the cabbage family, prized for its fibre, vitamin C, and cancer-protective plant compounds.

Tenderstem Broccoli / Broccolini

A cross between broccoli and Chinese broccoli, with long tender stems and small florets.

Romanesco

A striking, spiral-patterned relative of broccoli and cauliflower, with a similar but slightly nuttier flavour.

Cauliflower

A mild, versatile cabbage-family vegetable that takes on flavour well and is often used as a low-carb stand-in for rice or grains.

Green Cabbage

The classic pale-green cabbage, dense and crisp, used raw in slaws or cooked in a wide range of dishes.

Red Cabbage

A purple-red cabbage variety with a slightly peppery flavour and a colour that turns pink with an acid like vinegar.

Savoy Cabbage

A crinkly-leaved cabbage with a milder, more tender texture than green cabbage.

Napa Cabbage / Chinese Cabbage

A mild, crinkly-leaved cabbage central to Chinese and Korean cooking, including as the base for kimchi.

Bok Choy / Pak Choy

A mild Chinese cabbage with crunchy white stalks and tender green leaves, common in stir-fries.

Gai Lan / Chinese Broccoli

A Chinese leafy vegetable with thick stems and a flavour similar to broccoli, popular blanched or stir-fried.

Brussels Sprouts

Small, cabbage-like buds that grow along a tall stalk, with a nutty flavour when roasted.

Kale

A hardy, curly-leaved cabbage relative known for its dense concentration of vitamins A, C, and K.

Collard Greens

Large, broad leafy greens with a mild, slightly bitter flavour, traditionally slow-cooked in Southern U.S. cuisine.

Mustard Greens

A leafy green with a distinctive peppery, mustard-like bite, common in Southern U.S. and South Asian cooking.

Rocket / Arugula

A peppery, slightly bitter salad green popular in Italian cooking and often paired with rich or fatty foods.

Watercress

A fast-growing aquatic green with a sharp, peppery bite, traditionally used in soups and salads.

Radish

A crisp, peppery root vegetable eaten raw in salads or pickled.

Daikon / White Radish

A large, mild white radish common in East Asian cooking, eaten raw, pickled, or simmered.

Red Radish

The small, round, bright red radish most commonly found sliced into salads.

Black Radish

A radish with tough black skin and a notably sharp, pungent bite, milder once cooked.

Turnip

A round root vegetable with a mild, slightly peppery flavour, good roasted, mashed, or added to stews.

Rutabaga / Swede

A dense, slightly sweet root vegetable, a natural cross between turnip and cabbage.

Kohlrabi

A bulbous, pale green or purple vegetable with a crisp texture and mild flavour similar to broccoli stems.

Chinese Mustard Greens

A pungent, peppery leafy green used widely in Chinese pickling and stir-fries.

Wasabi

A pungent, bright green root traditionally grated fresh as a sharp, sinus-clearing condiment for sushi.

Horseradish

A sharp, pungent root usually grated and mixed into a condiment for its intense heat.

Garden Cress

A fast-growing, peppery salad green often harvested as tiny seedlings.

Carrot

A sweet, crunchy root vegetable rich in beta-carotene, eaten raw, cooked, or juiced.

Purple Carrot

An older carrot variety with deep purple skin, containing anthocyanin antioxidants not found in orange carrots.

Baby Carrot

Small, young carrots harvested early for extra tenderness and sweetness.

Beetroot

An earthy, deep red-purple root vegetable, eaten roasted, pickled, or juiced.

Golden Beet

A milder, less earthy beet variety with a bright golden colour that avoids the staining red beets are known for.

Parsnip

A cream-coloured root vegetable related to carrots, with a sweet, slightly nutty flavour that intensifies when roasted.

Watermelon Radish

A radish with a plain white-green exterior and a surprising bright pink interior, mild and slightly sweet.

Celeriac / Celery Root

A knobbly root vegetable with a mild celery flavour, good mashed, roasted, or grated raw into salads.

Potato

A starchy tuber and one of the most widely eaten staple vegetables in the world, prepared in countless ways.

Jicama

A crisp, faintly sweet root vegetable often eaten raw, sliced into sticks with lime and chilli.

Jerusalem Artichoke / Sunchoke

A knobbly tuber with a nutty, slightly sweet flavour, unrelated to the globe artichoke despite the name.

Chinese Water Chestnut

A crunchy aquatic tuber that stays crisp even after cooking, common in Chinese stir-fries.

Lotus Root

A perforated, crunchy aquatic root vegetable with a mild flavour, often sliced to show its distinctive pattern.

Burdock Root

A long, earthy root vegetable popular in Japanese cooking, known there as gobo.

Ginger

A pungent, aromatic root used fresh, dried, or pickled to add warmth and spice to both savoury and sweet dishes.

Turmeric Root

The fresh root form of turmeric, with a deep orange colour and earthy, slightly bitter flavour before it is dried and ground.

Galangal

A ginger relative with a sharper, more citrusy and piney flavour, essential to Thai and other Southeast Asian cooking.

Konjac Root

A starchy tuber processed into a low-calorie, gel-like flour used to make shirataki noodles and similar products.

Garlic

A pungent bulb made up of individual cloves, foundational to savoury cooking across nearly every cuisine.

Elephant Garlic

A much larger, milder relative of true garlic, closer botanically to a leek.

Black Garlic

Regular garlic slowly aged under heat and humidity until it turns black, sweet, and syrupy.

Onion

A pungent bulb vegetable and one of the most widely used aromatics in cooking worldwide.

Snow Peas

Flat, thin-podded peas eaten whole, pod and all, while the peas inside are still tiny.

Sugar Snap Peas

A cross between snow peas and garden peas, with plump, sweet, edible pods.

Yellow Onion

The classic all-purpose cooking onion, with a balanced sweetness and pungency once cooked.

Red Onion

A milder, slightly sweet onion with vivid purple-red skin, often eaten raw in salads and salsas.

White Onion

A sharper, crisper onion than the yellow variety, common in Mexican and Latin American cooking.

Sweet Onion

A mild, high-sugar onion variety, such as Vidalia or Walla Walla, mild enough to eat raw.

Pearl Onion

A small, mild onion often pickled whole or roasted and glazed.

Shallot

A small, mild member of the onion family with a delicate, slightly sweet flavour, prized in French cooking.

Leek

A mild, sweet allium with long white and green stalks, often used in soups like vichyssoise.

Spring Onion / Scallion

A young onion harvested before the bulb fully forms, with a mild flavour used raw or as a garnish.

Green Onion

Another name for spring onion or scallion, used interchangeably across recipes.

Garlic Chives

A flat-leaved chive variety with a distinct garlic flavour, common in Chinese cooking.

Chinese Chives

Another name for garlic chives, used widely in Chinese dumplings and stir-fries.

Ramps / Wild Leeks

A foraged wild allium with a strong garlic-onion flavour, available only briefly each spring.

Welsh Onion

A perennial onion relative that forms clusters of slender stalks rather than a single bulb.

White Button Mushroom

The most common cultivated mushroom, mild in flavour and versatile in almost any dish.

Cremini Mushroom

A slightly more mature, browner version of the button mushroom with a deeper, earthier flavour.

Portobello Mushroom

A fully matured cremini mushroom, large enough to grill whole as a meaty, savoury centrepiece.

Shiitake Mushroom

A savoury, umami-rich mushroom central to East Asian cooking, available fresh or dried.

Oyster Mushroom

A delicate, fan-shaped mushroom with a subtly sweet flavour and tender texture.

King Oyster Mushroom

A thick-stemmed oyster mushroom variety prized for its meaty, almost scallop-like texture when seared.

Enoki Mushroom

A cluster of long, thin white mushrooms with a mild flavour and satisfying crunch.

Shimeji Mushroom

A small clustered mushroom with a firm texture and mild, slightly nutty flavour, common in Japanese cooking.

Maitake Mushroom

A frilly, layered mushroom also known as hen-of-the-woods, with a rich, earthy flavour.

Wood Ear Mushroom

A dark, ear-shaped mushroom valued mainly for its crunchy, jelly-like texture rather than strong flavour.

Black Fungus

Another name for wood ear mushroom, common in Chinese soups and stir-fries for its texture.

Straw Mushroom

A small, delicate mushroom common in Southeast Asian cooking, often sold canned.

Morel Mushroom

A prized wild mushroom with a distinctive honeycomb cap and rich, nutty flavour, available only in spring.

Chanterelle Mushroom

A golden, trumpet-shaped wild mushroom with a fruity aroma and peppery flavour.

Porcini Mushroom

A prized wild mushroom with a deep, nutty flavour, often dried and used to intensify sauces and risottos.

Truffle

A rare, intensely aromatic underground fungus, shaved sparingly over dishes for its powerful flavour.

Lion's Mane Mushroom

A shaggy, white mushroom with a texture often compared to crab or lobster when cooked.

Reishi Mushroom

A hard, woody mushroom used mainly in teas and extracts rather than eaten whole.

Turkey Tail Mushroom

A fan-shaped, striped wild mushroom too tough to eat directly, typically brewed or extracted instead.

Cordyceps Mushroom

A distinctive fungus traditionally used in East Asian tonics and broths.

Pumpkin

A large, sweet winter squash famous for pies and roasting, and the source of pumpkin seeds.

Butternut Squash

A sweet, dense-fleshed winter squash with a distinctive elongated, bulbous shape.

Acorn Squash

A small, ridged winter squash usually halved and roasted, with a mild, slightly sweet flesh.

Kabocha Squash

A Japanese winter squash with a dense, sweet, chestnut-like flesh.

Spaghetti Squash

A winter squash whose cooked flesh separates into long strands, often used as a pasta substitute.

Delicata Squash

A small, sweet winter squash with thin, edible skin, so it needs no peeling.

Hubbard Squash

A large, hard-skinned winter squash with dense, slightly sweet flesh.

Buttercup Squash

A very sweet, dense winter squash with a flavour often compared to sweet potato.

Zucchini / Courgette

A mild, tender summer squash that cooks quickly and takes on other flavours well.

Yellow Squash

A summer squash similar to zucchini but with yellow skin and a slightly sweeter flavour.

Pattypan Squash

A small, scalloped-edge summer squash, often cooked whole when young and tender.

Chayote

A mild, crisp gourd common in Latin American and Asian cooking, used much like a summer squash.

Cucumber

A cool, watery, mild vegetable eaten raw in salads or pickled.

Pickling Cucumber

A smaller, firmer cucumber variety bred specifically for pickling into gherkins or dill pickles.

English Cucumber

A long, thin-skinned, nearly seedless cucumber variety often sold shrink-wrapped.

Bitter Gourd / Bitter Melon

A distinctively bitter gourd popular in Asian cooking, often salted or blanched to soften its sharpness.

Bottle Gourd

A mild, pale green gourd shaped like a bottle, common in South and Southeast Asian curries.

Ridge Gourd

A ridged, mild-flavoured gourd popular in Indian cooking, peeled before use.

Sponge Gourd / Luffa

A gourd that is tender when young and eaten as a vegetable, but becomes the fibrous sponge when left to mature.

Snake Gourd

A very long, pale green gourd with a mild flavour used in South and Southeast Asian curries.

Ash Gourd / Winter Melon

A large, mild gourd with a waxy skin, commonly used in Asian soups and preserves.

Ivy Gourd / Tindora

A small, crunchy gourd common in Indian cooking, similar in texture to a mild cucumber.

Pointed Gourd / Parwal

A small, mild green gourd popular in Bengali and North Indian cooking.

Korean Zucchini / Aehobak

A pale green, tender summer squash used widely in Korean stews and pancakes.

Oppos Gourd

A regional gourd variety used similarly to bottle gourd in South Asian cooking.

Vegetable Marrow

A large, mature type of summer squash with a mild flavour, popular in British cooking.

Asparagus

A spring vegetable harvested as young shoots, prized for its tender texture and distinctive earthy flavour.

Celery

A crunchy, watery stalk vegetable with a mild, slightly salty flavour, often used as an aromatic base.

Fennel

A crisp, anise-flavoured bulb vegetable, good raw in salads or roasted to mellow its liquorice notes.

Rhubarb

A tart, pink-red stalk vegetable almost always cooked with sugar and treated like a fruit in desserts.

Bamboo Shoots

The young, tender shoots of the bamboo plant, with a mild flavour and satisfying crunch in Asian cooking.

Bean Sprouts

The crunchy young sprouts of mung beans, used raw or briefly cooked in stir-fries and salads.

Alfalfa Sprouts

Delicate, thread-like sprouts with a mild, slightly nutty flavour, usually eaten raw.

Mung Bean Sprouts

Another name for the common bean sprout, grown from mung beans and prized for their crunch.

Broccoli Sprouts

Young broccoli seedlings with a peppery bite, eaten raw as a concentrated, nutrient-dense garnish.

Palm Hearts

The tender inner core of certain palm trees, mild and slightly tangy, often served in salads.

Artichoke

A thistle flower bud with tender, edible inner leaves and a prized, meaty heart.

Cardoon

A thistle relative of the artichoke, with edible stalks similar in flavour to artichoke hearts.

Tomato

A juicy, acidic fruit used as a vegetable in cooking, foundational to sauces, salads, and countless dishes worldwide.

Cherry Tomato

A small, sweet tomato variety often eaten whole, raw, in salads.

Beefsteak Tomato

A large, meaty tomato variety with a high flesh-to-seed ratio, good for slicing.

Heirloom Tomato

An open-pollinated tomato variety grown for flavour and character rather than shelf life or uniform appearance.

Eggplant / Aubergine

A glossy purple fruit used as a vegetable, with a spongy flesh that soaks up flavour and fat when cooked.

Thai Eggplant

A small, round, firmer eggplant variety common in Thai curries.

Japanese Eggplant

A slender, thin-skinned eggplant variety with fewer seeds and a milder, sweeter flavour.

Bell Pepper / Capsicum

A mild, sweet pepper eaten raw or cooked, with colour indicating ripeness and sweetness.

Green Pepper

The least ripe, most bitter stage of the bell pepper.

Red Pepper

The fully ripened bell pepper, at its sweetest and highest in vitamin C.

Yellow Pepper

A bell pepper picked partway through ripening, sweeter than green but milder than red.

Orange Pepper

A bell pepper variety with a bright orange colour and a sweetness between yellow and red peppers.

Chilli Pepper

Any of a wide family of peppers bred for heat rather than sweetness, ranging from mild to blisteringly hot.

Jalapeño

A medium-heat green chilli pepper, one of the most widely used chillies in Mexican cooking.

Serrano Pepper

A small, thin chilli pepper hotter than jalapeno, common in Mexican salsas.

Habanero

A small, intensely hot chilli pepper with a distinctive fruity, floral flavour.

Poblano

A mild, dark green chilli pepper often roasted and used whole, as in chiles rellenos.

Okra / Lady's Finger

A ridged green pod vegetable that releases a natural thickening mucilage when cooked, key to gumbo.

Tomatillo

A small, tart, husk-covered green fruit central to Mexican salsa verde.

Sweet Corn

The sweet, tender variety of corn eaten as a vegetable, fresh off the cob or kernelled.

Green Beans

Young, tender bean pods eaten whole, before the beans inside fully mature.

French Beans

A slender, tender green bean variety, also known as haricots verts.

Long Beans / Yardlong Beans

A very long, slender bean pod common in Southeast Asian and Chinese stir-fries.

Runner Beans

A larger, flatter fresh bean pod, popular in British cooking, typically sliced before cooking.

Wax Beans

A pale yellow variety of green bean with a similar crisp texture and mild flavour.

Broad Beans / Fava Beans

Large, fresh beans that are shelled from their pods and often peeled again before eating.

Cluster Beans / Guar Beans

A slender, slightly bitter bean pod common in Indian cooking.

Nori

Thin, dried sheets of seaweed best known for wrapping sushi rolls.

Wakame

A mild, silky seaweed often used in miso soup and seaweed salad.

Kombu

A thick, umami-rich kelp used to make the Japanese stock dashi.

Hijiki

A dark, wiry seaweed with a strong flavour, usually simmered with soy sauce and other seasonings.

Dulse

A reddish-purple seaweed with a naturally salty, slightly smoky flavour, often eaten dried as a snack.

Kelp

A large brown seaweed used fresh, dried, or ground into a natural seasoning.

Sea Lettuce

A bright green, delicate seaweed with a mild flavour, used fresh in salads or dried as a garnish.

Sea Grapes

A seaweed with small, caviar-like beads that burst with a briny pop, popular in Okinawan and Filipino cuisine.