VEGETABLES

Vegetables that contain I

52 vegetables containing the letter I — each with origin, classification, and notes.

List of Vegetables That Contain I

    1

    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.

    2

    Basil

    Ocimum basilicum

    A fragrant Mediterranean herb central to Italian, Thai, and Vietnamese cuisines — with dozens of varieties from sweet Genovese to lemon to holy Thai basil, each with distinct flavor profiles.

    3

    Bitter Melon

    Momordica charantia

    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.

    4

    Broccoli

    Brassica oleracea var. italica

    A green flowering brassica with tightly clustered florets, descended from wild Mediterranean cabbage and prized for its fiber and vitamin C.

    5

    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.

    6

    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*.

    7

    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.

    8

    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.

    9

    Cilantro

    Coriandrum sativum

    A polarizing fresh herb that's central to Mexican, Indian, Thai, Vietnamese, and Middle Eastern cuisines — and tastes like soap to people with specific olfactory genetics.

    10

    Daikon

    Raphanus sativus var. longipinnatus

    A long white winter radish, mildly peppery and crisp, central to East and South Asian cooking — eaten raw, pickled, simmered, and grated as a digestive aid.

    11

    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.

    12

    Daylily

    Hemerocallis fulva

    A common ornamental garden flower whose unopened buds and just-opened flowers are a Chinese vegetable — used dried in stir-fries, fresh in salads, and as a thickener in hot-and-sour soup.

    13

    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.

    14

    Dill

    Anethum graveolens

    A feathery aromatic herb that defines Scandinavian, Eastern European, and Eastern Mediterranean cuisine — fresh leaves on cured fish, dried seeds in pickles and breads, and the foundation of Russian and Greek summer cooking.

    15

    Dolichos

    Lablab purpureus

    A purple-podded climbing bean (also called hyacinth bean or lablab) used across South Asian, African, and Caribbean cuisines — both fresh pods and dried beans, with edible flowers and ornamental status as a garden showpiece.

    16

    Drumstick

    Moringa oleifera

    The long pod of the moringa tree (also called moringa pods) — eaten across South Asian and African cuisines as a vegetable, while the leaves of the same tree are a renowned superfood.

    17

    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.

    18

    Garlic

    Allium sativum

    A pungent bulbous member of the allium family, used worldwide for its sharp aromatic warmth, and one of humanity's oldest cultivated medicinal foods.

    19

    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.

    20

    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.

    21

    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.

    22

    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.

    23

    Jicama

    Pachyrhizus erosus

    A round, brown-skinned tuber with crisp, juicy white flesh, mildly sweet and starchy — eaten raw with chili-lime or chopped into salads, a Mexican market staple.

    24

    Kohlrabi

    Brassica oleracea var. gongylodes

    A swollen-stem cabbage relative — a bulb of crisp white-green flesh that tastes like a sweeter, milder broccoli stem, eaten raw or cooked across Northern European, Indian, and Vietnamese cuisines.

    25

    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.

    26

    Mint

    Mentha (genus, multiple species)

    A vigorously spreading herb family that flavors everything from Moroccan tea to British roast lamb to Vietnamese spring rolls — with hundreds of varieties of distinctive cooling intensity.

    27

    Onion

    Allium cepa

    A pungent edible bulb that forms the aromatic foundation of cuisines worldwide, with hundreds of varieties from sweet to sulfurous.

    28

    Parsnip

    Pastinaca sativa

    A pale, sweet, carrot-relative root with a complex herbal flavor — improves dramatically after frost, central to British and Eastern European winter cooking, and unfairly overshadowed by carrots.

    29

    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.

    30

    Pumpkin

    Cucurbita pepo, C. moschata, or C. maxima

    A large orange winter squash native to the Americas, with sweet starchy flesh used in soups, pies, and seasonal lattes — and its seeds eaten as a snack.

    31

    Quinoa

    Chenopodium quinoa

    A South American seed crop of an Andean plant related to spinach and beets — a complete protein eaten as a grain-substitute, sacred to the Incas, now globally popular.

    32

    Radicchio

    Cichorium intybus var. foliosum

    A bitter Italian red-leafed chicory eaten in salads, grilled, or roasted — northern Italy's prized winter vegetable, with several distinctive regional varieties protected under European DOP designation.

    33

    Radish

    Raphanus sativus

    A small, crisp, peppery root vegetable in the brassica family, eaten raw with salt and butter, sliced into salads, or roasted to mellow its bite.

    34

    Rapini

    Brassica rapa subsp. rapa

    A bitter Italian leafy green with small broccoli-like florets (also called broccoli rabe) — a defining ingredient of southern Italian cuisine, Italian-American sausage sandwiches, and Mediterranean winter cooking.

    35

    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.

    36

    Salsify

    Tragopogon porrifolius (white salsify); Scorzonera hispanica (black salsify)

    The "oyster plant" — a long, white-rooted or black-skinned root vegetable that tastes faintly of oysters when cooked; popular in Victorian Britain and 19th-century European cooking, it declined into obscurity in the 20th century but is now experiencing a revival among chefs interested in forgotten vegetables.

    37

    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.

    38

    Scallion

    Allium fistulosum and others

    Young onions harvested before bulb formation — also called green onions or spring onions, used worldwide as both garnish and primary ingredient, especially in East Asian cooking.

    39

    Spinach

    Spinacia oleracea

    A leafy green native to ancient Persia, eaten raw or cooked, especially rich in iron, folate, and vitamin K.

    40

    Sprouting Broccoli

    Brassica oleracea (Italica Group)

    The traditional British winter brassica — purple or white sprouting broccoli produces a mass of small, tender florets on long stems throughout late winter and early spring, bridging the hungry gap between root vegetables and summer crops; unlike head broccoli, it is harvested by picking individual spears, which encourages further production; the purple variety is sweeter and more tender than supermarket broccoli.

    41

    Tarwi

    Lupinus mutabilis

    An Andean lupin bean with extraordinarily high protein content (over 40%) — a traditional Peruvian and Bolivian staple that requires extensive water-soaking to remove bitter alkaloids before eating.

    42

    Tatsoi

    Brassica rapa var. rosularis

    A small Asian green with dark spoon-shaped leaves arranged in a flat rosette — a cousin of bok choy, eaten in salads, stir-fries, and increasingly in Western salad mixes for its distinctive shape and mild mustard flavor.

    43

    Tigernut

    Cyperus esculentus

    A wrinkled brown tuber (not actually a nut) eaten as a snack across Africa and the Mediterranean — and the foundation of Spain's beloved horchata de chufa, dating back to Moorish-era Valencia.

    44

    Tomatillo

    Physalis philadelphica

    A small green papery-husked Mexican fruit-vegetable that's the foundation of salsa verde, mole verde, and the green chile cuisine of central Mexico — tart, citrus-like, distinctly different from a tomato despite the name.

    45

    Tree Onion

    Allium × proliferum

    A perennial onion variety (also called walking onion or topset onion) that produces small bulbs at the top of its flower stalks — drooping under their own weight to plant new bulbs nearby, "walking" across the garden.

    46

    Turmeric

    Curcuma longa

    A bright orange-yellow rhizome from a tropical Asian plant — fundamental to South Asian and Southeast Asian cuisine, the source of curry's golden color, and the focus of an enormous global "anti-inflammatory" supplement industry.

    47

    Turnip

    Brassica rapa subsp. rapa

    A peppery, white-and-purple root vegetable common in Northern European cooking — predating potatoes as a staple, with leaves (turnip greens) eaten as a separate vegetable across the American South.

    48

    Vidalia Onion

    Allium cepa (Granex variety)

    A sweet onion grown only in 20 designated counties of southeast Georgia — its mildness and low sulfur produced by the local soil's unique low-sulfur chemistry.

    49

    Wasabi

    Eutrema japonicum (syn. Wasabia japonica)

    Japan's fiery green condiment — not a chilli heat but a sharp, volatile, nasal-clearing pungency from isothiocyanates that hits instantly and dissipates quickly; true wasabi is the grated rhizome of a semi-aquatic Japanese plant; the green paste served in most Western sushi restaurants is imitation wasabi made from horseradish, mustard, and food colouring.

    50

    Wild Garlic

    Allium ursinum

    The woodland carpet of spring — wild garlic (*ramsons*) carpets British and European deciduous woodland floors from March to May, filling the air with garlic scent before the tree canopy closes; every part is edible, from the leaves and stems to the white star-shaped flowers; it is the most aromatic of Britain's edible wild plants and is now widely foraged for restaurant kitchens.

    51

    Xigua

    Citrullus lanatus

    The Chinese name for watermelon (西瓜, "western melon"), often listed under X for letter-game purposes — a refreshing cucurbit treated as a vegetable in some Chinese cooking applications.

    52

    Zucchini

    Cucurbita pepo

    A summer squash with thin green skin and tender white flesh, harvested young; mild-flavored and absorbent of whatever it's cooked with.

Other ways to filter

Try vegetables that start with I, or end with I. Or browse the full vegetables index.