1
Yam
Dioscorea spp.
A starchy tuber from the genus Dioscorea, native to Africa and Asia, larger and drier than sweet potatoes — the actual yam, not the orange-fleshed American imposter.
If you've been searching for vegetables that start with Y, you'll find 6 detailed vegetables 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 vegetables, that means scientific name, family, plant part, season, nutrition, and cooking uses.
Table of contents
| Yam | Yao Choy | Yardlong Bean | Yarrow |
| Yuca Root | Yukon Gold Potato |
List of Vegetables That Start With Y
2
Yao Choy
Brassica rapa var. parachinensis
A Chinese leaf-and-stem vegetable (also called yu choy, choy sum) with bright green leaves and pale stems, beloved in Cantonese cooking — quick stir-fried or blanched, with a distinctive sweet-mustard flavor.
3
Yardlong Bean
Vigna unguiculata subsp. sesquipedalis
A heat-tolerant pod bean reaching 30-50 cm long — beloved across Chinese, Thai, Filipino, and Indian cuisines, eaten quick-cooked rather than long-stewed for its distinctive crunch.
4
Yarrow
Achillea millefolium
A wild and cultivated medicinal herb — sometimes used as a salad green and bitter herb, more famously known for its 5,000-year history as a wound-healing plant and traditional flavoring agent in pre-hops beer.
5
Yuca Root
Manihot esculenta
The starchy tuberous root of the cassava plant — a global staple crop feeding over 800 million people under different names worldwide, from Latin America's yuca frita to Nigeria's fufu to Brazil's pão de queijo.
6
Yukon Gold Potato
Solanum tuberosum 'Yukon Gold'
A golden-fleshed Canadian hybrid potato variety renowned for its buttery flavor and creamy texture that needs little enrichment — a cook's favorite for mashing, roasting, and potato salads.
About vegetables starting with Y
That's our current list of vegetables starting with the letter Y. We add new entries every week — if you have a favorite vegetable starting with Y that isn't on this page, let us know and we'll write it up.
Looking for more? Try vegetables that end with Y, or contain Y anywhere in the name.