Vegetables that contain E — 65 detailed entries

Below are vegetables that contain the letter E anywhere in the name. Each of the 65 vegetables below opens to a full profile.

Table of contents 65 entries

List of Vegetables That Contain E

Artichoke

Cynara cardunculus var. scolymus

The unopened flower bud of a giant Mediterranean thistle, eaten by stripping leaves dipped in butter or vinaigrette and arriving at the prized tender heart.

Beetroot

Beta vulgaris

A deep crimson taproot with an earthy, sweet flavor, rich in nitrates and folate; the same plant gives us chard from its leaves.

Bell Pepper

Capsicum annuum

A large, mild, hollow nightshade fruit grown in green, red, yellow, and orange — the same plant changes color with ripeness, the green ones being immature versions of the others.

A tropical vine vegetable with intensely bitter flesh — the most bitter of all commonly eaten vegetables; used across Asia and the Caribbean for its medicinal properties and its role as a flavour counterpoint to rich, fatty dishes.

Broad Beans

Vicia faba

Ancient beans from the Mediterranean and Middle East — large, flat, pale green beans in thick pods; eaten fresh in spring as a delicacy; dried as dried fava beans, the basis of ful medames, bissara, and dozens of traditional dishes.

Brussels Sprouts

Brassica oleracea var. gemmifera

Tiny cabbage-like buds growing along a tall stalk — the most-divisive vegetable of the 20th century, transformed in the 21st through high-heat roasting and dramatic genetic improvement.

Butternut Squash

Cucurbita moschata

A winter squash with smooth tan skin and dense, sweet orange flesh — one of the most versatile and widely eaten squash varieties; roasts to a caramelised sweetness and blends to a silky soup.

Cabbage

Brassica oleracea var. capitata

A leafy brassica forming dense round heads, eaten raw, fermented, or cooked across nearly every cuisine in the temperate world.

Caper

Capparis spinosa

The unopened flower bud of the caper bush, pickled or salt-cured to develop its sharp, briny, faintly lemony flavor — an indispensable accent in Mediterranean cooking and classic sauces from piccata to tapenade.

Catsear

Hypochaeris radicata

A common dandelion-lookalike weed often called "false dandelion" — its leaves are edible like dandelion (with a milder flavor) and its roots have been roasted as a coffee substitute in foraging traditions.

Cauliflower

Brassica oleracea var. botrytis

A pale, dense flower-bud cluster of the same species as broccoli, marketed in recent years as a low-carb stand-in for grains and starches.

Cavolo Nero

Brassica oleracea var. palmifolia

Black Tuscan kale — the darkest, most robustly flavoured of all kale varieties, with long, deeply crinkled, almost black-green leaves that become sweeter after the first frost; the essential leaf in ribollita and other Tuscan winter soups; more tender and less bitter than curly kale, it is now a staple of artisan cuisine worldwide.

Celeriac

Apium graveolens var. rapaceum

An ugly knobby celery root with creamy off-white flesh — a hidden European winter staple, eaten roasted, mashed, or grated raw into the French classic *céleri rémoulade*.

Celery

Apium graveolens

A pale-green, fibrous, intensely aromatic stalk used as both vegetable and aromatic base — a key member of French *mirepoix* and the *holy trinity* of Cajun cooking.

Celtuce

Lactuca sativa var. asparagina

A Chinese variety of lettuce grown for its thick fleshy stem rather than its leaves — sliced into matchsticks or chunks for stir-fries, with a crispy mild flavor between celery and lettuce.

Chayote Squash

Sechium edule

A pale green Mexican squash with a single seed and crisp watery flesh — a staple across Latin America, the Caribbean, and Asian diasporas, eaten in soups, stir-fries, and salads.

Chickpea

Cicer arietinum

The world's most widely eaten pulse — a round, beige legume cultivated for 10,000 years; the foundation of hummus, dal, chana masala, falafel, and dozens of dishes across the Middle East, Mediterranean, and South Asia.

Chives

Allium schoenoprasum

Slim hollow grass-like onion relatives — the mildest member of the *Allium* family, used as fresh herb garnish for soups, eggs, baked potatoes, and countless other dishes.

Collard Greens

Brassica oleracea var. viridis

Large, flat, dark green brassica leaves with a mild-bitter flavour — slow-braised for hours in the American South with smoked pork until silky; also eaten across Africa, Brazil, and Portugal.

Cucumber

Cucumis sativus

A crisp, watery fruit (botanically) eaten as a vegetable — sliced fresh, pickled, or blended into cold soups, with cooling associations everywhere it grows.

Dabberlocks

Alaria esculenta

A long brown-olive Atlantic seaweed (also called winged kelp or badderlocks) — a traditional Scottish and Icelandic food eaten as a salad green, soup ingredient, or chewy snack.

Dandelion

Taraxacum officinale

A common lawn weed worldwide that's also a respected leaf vegetable — bitter spring greens used from Italian cucina povera to Korean kimchi to American foragers' first wild green of the year.

Delicata Squash

Cucurbita pepo

A small, oblong, cream-and-green-striped winter squash with thin edible skin and rich sweet flesh — a 1990s revival of a forgotten 1894 American heirloom that's become a fall farmers'-market favorite.

Dulse

Palmaria palmata

A purple-red Atlantic seaweed eaten as a salty mineral-rich snack and umami ingredient — Maritime Canadian and Irish-Scottish coastal traditions, with a recently-discovered "tastes like bacon when fried" property.

Eggplant

Solanum melongena

A glossy purple nightshade fruit treated culinarily as a vegetable, central to cuisines from the Mediterranean to South and East Asia.

Endive

Cichorium endivia (curly endive / escarole); Cichorium intybus var. foliosum (Belgian endive)

A chicory-family vegetable with crisp, pale, tightly packed leaves and a pleasant bitterness — Belgian endive is grown in darkness to blanch it white; curly endive (frisée) is the salad green with frilled, pale yellow-green leaves.

Fennel

Foeniculum vulgare

A bulb-and-frond vegetable with a delicate anise flavor — eaten raw in salads, roasted whole, or braised with citrus, and producing seeds used as a fragrant spice.

Ginger

Zingiber officinale

A pungent, peppery rhizome from a tropical Asian plant — used fresh, dried, candied, or pickled in nearly every cuisine, with strong digestive and anti-nausea uses in folk and modern medicine.

Green Bean

Phaseolus vulgaris

The immature pod of common bean — harvested before the seeds inside develop, eaten whole as a crisp, mild vegetable; one of the most widely grown and versatile vegetables in the world.

Horseradish

Armoracia rusticana

A sharp, eye-watering root in the brassica family — the active ingredient in prepared horseradish and wasabi-style condiments, with chemistry similar to mustard.

Iceberg Lettuce

Lactuca sativa var. capitata

A tightly headed crisphead lettuce with cool, watery, mild leaves — the wedge-salad workhorse, the burger-topping standard, and the most-shipped lettuce in the U.S.

Jalapeño

Capsicum annuum var. jalapeño

Mexico's most recognised chilli pepper — a medium-heat, thick-walled green or red chile with a bright, vegetal flavour, grown in Jalapa, Veracruz, and eaten fresh, pickled, smoked (chipotle), or as nacho topping worldwide.

Japanese Eggplant

Solanum melongena (Japanese cultivars)

A long, slim, deep-purple eggplant with thinner skin and creamier flesh than the globe eggplant — the standard in East Asian cooking, ideal for quick stir-fries and miso preparations.

Jerusalem Artichoke

Helianthus tuberosus

A knobby, nutty tuber unrelated to artichokes and not from Jerusalem — a North American sunflower relative producing crisp, sweet roots eaten roasted, raw, or in soup.

Kale

Brassica oleracea var. sabellica

A hardy leafy brassica with crinkly or flat dark green leaves, packed with vitamin K and tolerant of cold weather long after other greens have given up.

Leek

Allium ampeloprasum

A long, thick-stemmed cousin of onion and garlic — milder, sweeter, and used as both vegetable and aromatic in soups, gratins, and the classic French *vichyssoise*.

Lemongrass

Cymbopogon citratus

A tropical grass with an intensely citrus-lemony fragrance from its stalks — essential in Thai, Vietnamese, Indonesian, and Malaysian cooking; the bottom white section is finely sliced or pounded into pastes, while the whole stalk is used to infuse soups and curries.

Lentil

Lens culinaris

One of humanity's oldest cultivated plants — small lens-shaped legume seeds that cook quickly without soaking, providing exceptional plant protein; the foundation of Indian dal, French lentilles du Puy, and Middle Eastern mujaddara.

Lettuce

Lactuca sativa

A crisp leafy green grown in dozens of varieties from delicate butterhead to crunchy iceberg, the foundation of cold salads everywhere.

Mâche

Valerianella locusta

The tenderest of salad leaves — small, velvety rosettes with a mild, nutty, slightly sweet flavour; a classic French winter salad green harvested when almost everything else in the garden has died back; sold as lamb's lettuce in Britain and corn salad in North America.

Mung Bean

Vigna radiata

A small green legume native to South Asia — dried mung beans cook quickly and are used in dals and porridges; sprouted they become bean sprouts; split yellow they make the silkiest dal; whole in Ayurvedic cooking they are considered the most easily digestible pulse.

Nettles

Urtica dioica

The sting that becomes a virtue in the pot — stinging nettles are one of Britain's most nutritious wild vegetables, with young spring tips packed with iron, vitamin C, and protein; blanching removes the sting completely and leaves a deep green, earthy leaf used in soups, risotto, pasta, tea, and beer.

Oregano

Origanum vulgare

A pungent Mediterranean herb essential to Italian, Greek, and Mexican cooking — closely related to marjoram but more assertive, with the dried form actually more intense than fresh.

Padrón Pepper

Capsicum annuum 'Padrón'

Small, thin-skinned Spanish peppers from Galicia that are blistered whole in olive oil and served with sea salt — mild and grassy in flavour, but with one famous quirk — roughly one in ten is unexpectedly hot; a classic Spanish tapas dish requiring almost no preparation.

Pea

Pisum sativum

Small, round green seeds in a pod — garden peas are one of the most ancient cultivated vegetables, providing a bright, sweet flavour that peaks when eaten minutes after picking; also available as mangetout (sugar snap) and split dried peas.

Perilla

Perilla frutescens

An aromatic herb-leaf with a complex, distinctive flavour somewhere between basil, mint, and anise — red and green varieties are central to Japanese, Korean, and Southeast Asian cuisines; the green variety (*shiso*) wraps sashimi and flavours rice; the red variety colours pickled plums and sesame oil in Japanese cooking.

Red Leaf Lettuce

Lactuca sativa var. crispa

A loose-leaf lettuce variety with deep red-purple leaf tips — used widely in mixed salads, sandwich layers, and decorative plates for its visual contrast against green lettuces.

Ricebean

Vigna umbellata

A small olive-green Indian Himalayan bean — once a major food crop in the Eastern Himalayas, now a "lost crop" being revived for its drought-resilience and unique nutritional profile.

Romanesco

Brassica oleracea (Botrytis Group)

The mathematically perfect vegetable — romanesco broccoli (or Roman cauliflower) forms a head of tightly packed, spiralling chartreuse-green florets that arrange themselves in a precise Fibonacci spiral; each smaller cone is a perfect miniature of the whole, making the vegetable a textbook example of a natural fractal; milder and nuttier in flavour than broccoli or cauliflower, it has become a favourite of chefs for its visual impact.

Rosemary

Salvia rosmarinus (formerly Rosmarinus officinalis)

A pine-scented woody Mediterranean shrub that's beloved in roast meats, breads, and Mediterranean grilling — extraordinarily long-lived and traditionally associated with remembrance.

Runner Bean

Phaseolus coccineus

A long-podded climbing bean from the Mexican highlands — grown across British and Eastern European gardens for its prolific harvest, eaten as fresh long pods rather than dried beans.

Samphire

Salicornia europaea (marsh samphire / glasswort); Crithmum maritimum (rock samphire)

A distinctive sea vegetable with an intense salty, maritime flavour — marsh samphire (glasswort) is a bright green succulent harvested from tidal mudflats in summer, blanched briefly and served with butter and fish; rock samphire has a more pungent, aromatic taste and grows on coastal cliffs.

Sea Kale

Crambe maritima

A British coastal native cultivated as a luxury spring vegetable — the young shoots are blanched by covering the crowns in early spring to exclude light, producing ivory-white, tender spears with a mild, nutty, slightly bitter flavour reminiscent of asparagus; once highly prized at Victorian tables, it fell out of fashion but has been revived by chefs and kitchen gardeners seeking heritage vegetables.

Snap Pea

Pisum sativum var. macrocarpon

A cross between the garden pea and mangetout — the entire crisp, sweet pod is eaten whole, including the small, developed peas inside; one of the sweetest raw vegetables and a favourite for snacking and stir-frying.

Sorrel

Rumex acetosa (common sorrel); Rumex scutatus (French sorrel)

A sharp, lemony herb-leaf vegetable with one of the most intensely sour tastes in the vegetable garden — its oxalic acid content gives it a flavour like lemon juice with green leafy notes; used in French sorrel soup, as a sauce with fish, wilted with cream, or raw in salads where it cuts through richness.

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