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Macadamia Nut
A buttery, exceptionally rich nut from an Australian rainforest tree — the only commercial food crop native to Australia, with the hardest shell of any commonly eaten nut.
If you've been searching for foods that start with M, you'll find 28 detailed foods below. We're not interested in giving you only a list of names — every entry on this page links to a full profile with the kind of detail you'd actually want to know.
For foods, that means origin, cuisine, meal type, ingredients, and nutrition.
List of Foods That Start With M
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Macadamia Oil
A buttery, mild oil pressed from macadamia nuts — naturally high in monounsaturated fat, with a distinctively soft nut flavor and a high smoke point.
3
Macaron
A delicate French sandwich cookie of almond meringue shells with a smooth filling — visually iconic, technically demanding.
4
Macaroni and Cheese
The most beloved American comfort food — elbow macaroni in a thick, creamy cheese sauce; made from scratch with a béchamel base, or from the iconic bright-orange powdered cheese packet that defined American childhoods.
5
Mace
The lacy red aril surrounding a nutmeg seed — a more delicate, less sweet, more complex spice than its sibling nutmeg, used in fine baking, charcuterie, and traditional British and French cuisine.
6
Mackerel
A small oily fish with rich savory flavor — heavily eaten across North Atlantic and Pacific cuisines, prized for its omega-3 content, abundance, and traditional preservation methods like smoking and salting.
7
Madeleine
A small, shell-shaped French sponge cake from the Lorraine region — light, buttery, and flavoured with lemon zest, baked in a distinctive shell-shaped mould; the madeleine owes its extraordinary cultural fame to Marcel Proust, whose narrator in In Search of Lost Time triggers a rush of involuntary memory upon tasting one dipped in tea, making it the literary symbol of nostalgia and sensory memory.
8
Mahi-Mahi
A vivid blue-green-and-gold tropical game fish, also called dolphinfish or dorado — fast-growing, mild-flavored, firm-fleshed, and a staple of Hawaiian and Caribbean fish tacos.
9
Mahlab
An aromatic spice made from the cherry-pit-like seeds inside Saint Lucie cherry stones — a defining flavor of Greek, Turkish, Lebanese, and Egyptian Easter and holiday breads.
10
Malt Vinegar
A dark vinegar made from fermented malted barley — the signature condiment for British fish and chips, with distinctive caramel-malty flavor that distinguishes it from grape, rice, or apple-based vinegars.
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Maple Syrup
The boiled-down sap of North American sugar maple trees — concentrated to 60+ times its volume into a sticky golden-amber syrup that's the definitive pancake topping and a Quebecois cultural icon.
12
Margarine
An emulsion of vegetable oils and water designed as a butter substitute — invented in 19th-century France for naval rations and now a global pantry staple.
13
Marigold
An edible flower (specifically Calendula officinalis or Tagetes species) used historically as "poor man's saffron" for color, with a slight peppery flavor — featuring in salads, garnishes, soups, and Mexican Day of the Dead celebrations.
14
Marjoram
A Mediterranean herb closely related to oregano but milder and sweeter — central to French herbes de Provence, Italian sausage seasonings, German bratwurst, and ancient Greek aphrodisiac traditions.
15
Marmalade
The bittersweet British breakfast preserve — a citrus jelly made from bitter Seville oranges, with shreds of peel suspended throughout; distinguished from jam by its bitter edge, its orange peel texture, and its exclusive association with citrus; Dundee in Scotland became the global capital of marmalade production, and Keiller's Dundee marmalade has been made since the 1790s; Paddington Bear's devotion to it is the most famous brand association in British food.
16
Mayonnaise
An emulsion of oil, egg yolk, and acid — invented in 18th-century France, now the foundation of countless dressings, dips, and sandwich spreads worldwide, with strong cultural variations in preferred formulations.
17
Meringue
A confection of whipped egg whites and sugar — baked low and slow to produce crisp shells, piled on lemon tart, or swirled into soft peaks on pavlova and baked Alaska; three distinct types with different ratios and techniques.
18
Milk
A nutritious liquid from mammals — primarily cow, goat, sheep, buffalo — consumed worldwide as both fluid drink and base for cheese, yogurt, butter, and countless other dairy products.
19
Mince Pies
Small, enclosed pastry tarts filled with mincemeat — a sweet mixture of dried fruit, suet, spices, and brandy or spirits — eaten throughout the Christmas season in Britain; traditionally containing actual minced meat in medieval times, today the filling is entirely fruit-based; served warm or cold, dusted with icing sugar, and considered obligatory at Christmas parties and carol services.
20
Minestrone
Italy's great peasant vegetable soup — a thick, hearty broth with seasonal vegetables, beans, and pasta or rice; every Italian region has a version, and there is no single authoritative recipe.
21
Miso
A fermented Japanese paste of soybeans, salt, and koji mold — central to Japanese cuisine, with hundreds of regional varieties ranging from sweet white *shiro* to deep-aged red *aka*.
22
Mochi
Japanese rice cakes pounded from sticky rice into a chewy, glutinous mass — eaten as snack, soup ingredient, or stuffed sweet across many traditions.
23
Moussaka
The definitive dish of Greek cuisine — layers of fried eggplant, spiced ground lamb or beef, and tomato sauce, topped with a thick béchamel and baked until golden; related versions exist across the Balkans and Middle East.
24
Mousse
A light, airy dessert or savoury preparation made by folding whipped cream or beaten egg whites into a flavoured base — chocolate mousse is the most celebrated version, with its intense dark chocolate flavour suspended in a barely-set, cloud-like texture; salmon mousse is the classic savoury counterpart.
25
Muffin
Two completely different foods share this name — the American muffin is a quick-bread cake baked in a cup mould, sweet and domed, sold in coffee shops worldwide; the English muffin is a flat, yeast-leavened bread cooked on a griddle, split and toasted, and used for Eggs Benedict; they are unrelated.
26
Mulled Wine
Warm spiced red wine — the definitive drink of European Christmas markets and winter celebrations, made by simmering wine with cinnamon, cloves, star anise, orange peel, and sugar until fragrant and warming; known as Glühwein in Germany, vin chaud in France, and glogg in Scandinavia.
27
Mushy Peas
A British comfort staple of dried marrowfat peas soaked and simmered until broken down into a thick, vivid green purée — served alongside fish and chips as an essential side dish, with pie and mash in London pie shops, and at chip shops throughout the North of England; the colour comes from mint or a small amount of food dye.
28
Mustard
A sharp condiment made from ground mustard seeds, vinegar, and water — one of the world's oldest cultivated spices, with regional traditions ranging from yellow American hot dog mustard to coarse French moutarde to fiery English variants.
About foods starting with M
That's our current list of foods starting with the letter M. We add new entries every week — if you have a favorite food starting with M that isn't on this page, let us know and we'll write it up.
Looking for more? Try foods that end with M, or contain M anywhere in the name.