Vegetables that contain O — 54 detailed entries

Below are vegetables that contain the letter O anywhere in the name. Each of the 54 vegetables below opens to a full profile.

Table of contents 54 entries

List of Vegetables That Contain O

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.

Bamboo Shoot

Various (Phyllostachys edulis — Mao bamboo; Bambusa spp.; Dendrocalamus spp.)

The edible young growth of bamboo plants — harvested as they emerge from the soil before the shoots harden into woody cane; a staple of East and Southeast Asian cooking, eaten fresh, tinned, or fermented.

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.

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.

Bok Choy

Brassica rapa subsp. chinensis

A Chinese cabbage with crisp white stems and dark green leaves — quick-cooking, mild, and a workhorse of stir-fries, dumpling fillings, and Chinese soups.

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.

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.

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.

Cardoon

Cynara cardunculus

A wild ancestor of the artichoke — its fleshy leaf stalks are eaten like celery, central to Italian and Spanish winter cuisine, while the artichoke we know is bred from the same species' flower buds.

Carrot

Daucus carota subsp. sativus

A crunchy orange root vegetable rich in beta-carotene, descended from wild purple ancestors and now grown on every continent except Antarctica.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Lotus Root

Nelumbo nucifera

The starchy underwater rhizome of the sacred lotus plant — when sliced, each round reveals a beautiful symmetrical pattern of hollow tunnels that allows the plant to transport oxygen to its submerged roots; crispy when stir-fried, chewy when simmered, and prized across East and Southeast Asian cuisines.

Mushroom

Agaricus bisporus (button, cremini, portobello)

The edible fruiting body of fungi (not technically a vegetable, but treated as one), with hundreds of cultivated and wild species ranging from mild button to umami-rich porcini.

Nopal

Opuntia ficus-indica

The flat, paddle-shaped pad of the prickly pear cactus — eaten across Mexico as a vegetable, slicing into salads, stews, and grilled tacos with a slightly tart green flavor.

Okra

Abelmoschus esculentus

A long, ridged green pod with sticky seed-filled interior — central to gumbo, Indian curries, and Levantine stews, with the love-it-or-hate-it characteristic mucilage.

Onion

Allium cepa

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

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.

Potato

Solanum tuberosum

A starchy underground tuber from the Andes that became one of the most important food crops on Earth — the world's fourth-largest staple after rice, wheat, and maize.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Shallot

Allium cepa var. aggregatum

A small, mild, refined onion relative — the preferred onion of French cuisine, with a softer flavor and more delicate texture than common bulb onions.

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.

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.

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