✔ Updated · 36 blue foods: fruits, vegetables, flowers, seafood
True blue is one of the rarest colors in food. Most foods that look blue get their color from anthocyanins, the same plant pigments that make red cabbage purple, so many of them sit on the blue-to-indigo end of purple.
The best-known naturally blue foods are blueberries, bilberries, haskap berries, blue elderberries, Concord grapes, damson plums, sloes, juniper berries, blue corn, blue potatoes, blue tomatoes, Blue Hubbard squash, butterfly pea flowers, borage, cornflowers and violas. Blue crab, lingcod and Mexican blue shrimp are blue seafood, and blue cheese gets its blue veins from mold.
- Most common: blueberries, blue corn and Concord grapes.
- Brightest true blue: butterfly pea flower and blue spirulina.
- Why so rare: anthocyanins only turn blue in the right pH and mineral conditions.
This list gathers 36 foods that are blue naturally, from everyday blueberries and blue corn to edible flowers, heirloom vegetables and blue-shelled seafood, with how each one tastes and how to use it.
Blue Fruits and Berries
Blue fruits are almost all berries or stone fruits with a dark skin and a powdery bloom, the waxy coating that makes them look even bluer. Blueberries are always in my freezer.
1. Blueberries
The most familiar blue food: sweet-tart berries with a silvery bloom, eaten fresh or baked into muffins, pies and oatmeal.
Get the recipe →2. Bilberries
Small wild European cousins of the blueberry, blue all the way through, with a more intense flavor; great in jams and tarts.
3. Haskap Berries
Also called honeyberries or blue honeysuckle; oblong blue berries from cold climates that taste like blueberry crossed with raspberry.
4. Blue Elderberries
Tiny powdery-blue berries of the western blue elder. Always cook them; raw elderberries, stems and leaves can cause stomach upset.
5. Concord Grapes
Deep blue-black slip-skin grapes with a bold, musky flavor; the classic grape for grape juice, jelly and grape pie.
6. Damson Plums
Small, oval blue-black plums that are tart and astringent raw but excellent cooked into jam, sauces and damson gin.
7. Sloes
Blue-black fruits of the blackthorn bush with a dusty blue bloom; very sour raw, they are best known for flavoring sloe gin.
8. Juniper Berries
Actually tiny blue seed cones; piney and resinous, used sparingly as a spice for game, sauerkraut, marinades and gin.
9. Saskatoon Berries
Also called serviceberries or juneberries; dusky blue-purple berries from the Canadian prairies with an almond-like seed flavor, great in pies and jam.
10. Huckleberries
Wild mountain berries of the Pacific Northwest, some dark blue with a pale bloom; tarter and more intense than blueberries, prized in jams and pies.
11. Salal Berries
Dark blue-purple berries from a coastal Pacific Northwest shrub, long eaten by Indigenous peoples; mildly sweet and best cooked into jam or dried.
12. Oregon Grape
Clusters of small, waxy, dusty-blue berries from a native evergreen shrub; too sour to eat raw, but good cooked into jelly with plenty of sugar.
13. Blue Java Banana
A banana variety with a silvery blue-green skin when unripe; it ripens pale yellow and has a soft, creamy flesh often compared to vanilla ice cream.
14. Blue Quandong
The vivid, almost electric-blue fruit of an Australian rainforest tree (blue marble tree); a thin, sour flesh over a large seed, eaten as bush food.
Blue Vegetables and Grains
Plant breeders and traditional farmers have kept several blue varieties of everyday staples, which look striking and taste much like their familiar cousins. I love blue corn tortilla chips with salsa.
15. Blue Corn
A traditional Hopi and Southwest corn with blue-gray kernels, ground into a nutty meal for tortillas, chips, pancakes and atole.
16. Blue Potatoes
Varieties such as Adirondack Blue and Blue Congo with blue-violet skin and flesh; roast or bake them to keep the color.
17. Blue Tomatoes
Varieties like Indigo Rose develop deep blue-black shoulders where the sun hits them, with red flesh and a tangy flavor.
18. Blue Hubbard Squash
A huge heirloom winter squash with a blue-gray shell and sweet, dense orange flesh for roasting, soups and pies.
19. Jarrahdale Pumpkin
An Australian heirloom pumpkin with a slate blue-gray shell and sweet, dense, stringless orange flesh that is excellent roasted or in soup.
20. Blue Oyster Mushrooms
Oyster mushrooms with blue-gray caps when young, fading to gray as they grow; mild and tender, they are lovely sautéed in butter.
21. Indigo Milk Cap
A wild mushroom that is truly blue, even oozing blue milk when cut; edible when cooked, sold in some Mexican markets. Only forage with an expert.
Edible Blue Flowers
Blue flowers are the most reliable source of true blue color in the kitchen. Only eat flowers grown for food and free of pesticides, not florist or roadside blooms.
22. Butterfly Pea Flower
A Southeast Asian flower that brews a vivid blue tea and colors rice and drinks; add lemon and it turns purple.
23. Borage
Star-shaped blue flowers with a mild cucumber taste, lovely frozen in ice cubes or scattered over salads and summer drinks.
24. Cornflowers
Bright blue petals with little flavor, used mainly for color in tea blends, salads, butter and cake decorations.
25. Violas and Pansies
Blue and violet edible flowers with a faint grassy, minty taste; candied with sugar or pressed onto cookies and cakes.
26. Chicory Flowers
Sky-blue flowers of the chicory plant, the same plant whose root is roasted for coffee; the petals taste mildly bitter and brighten a green salad.
27. Rosemary Flowers
Tiny pale-blue blossoms from culinary rosemary with a gentle version of the herb's flavor; scatter them over roast lamb, potatoes or focaccia.
Blue Seafood
Blue pigments in shellfish come from proteins bound to a red pigment called astaxanthin. Cooking breaks that bond, which is why blue crab and blue shrimp turn red or orange in the pot.
28. Blue Crab
Atlantic and Gulf crab with bright blue claws and sweet, delicate meat; the star of Maryland crab cakes and crab boils.
Get the recipe →29. Lingcod
A Pacific fish whose raw flesh is sometimes blue-green; the color is harmless and turns white when the fish is cooked.
30. Mexican Blue Shrimp
Wild shrimp from Mexico's Pacific coast with a blue-gray shell and firm, sweet meat that turns pink when cooked.
31. Blue Mussels
The common mussel of the North Atlantic, with glossy blue-black shells and sweet orange meat; steam them with garlic, white wine and parsley.
32. Blue Lobster
A rare genetic variation, often quoted as about 1 in 2 million lobsters, with a bright blue shell; it turns red when cooked, like any lobster.
Other Blue Foods
33. Blue Cheese
Cheeses such as Roquefort, Gorgonzola and Stilton get their blue-green veins from Penicillium roqueforti mold added during cheesemaking.
34. Blue Spirulina
A bright blue extract (phycocyanin) from spirulina algae, used as a natural coloring in smoothies, frosting, candy and drinks.
35. Blue Eggs
Eggs from breeds such as Araucana and Ameraucana have naturally sky-blue shells; inside they taste exactly like any other chicken egg.
36. Persian Blue Salt
A rare rock salt from Iran with flecks of blue crystal, caused by pressure on the crystal structure; use it as a finishing salt.
Why Are Blue Foods So Rare?
Plants rarely make a dedicated blue pigment. Instead, most blue foods use anthocyanins, which change color with acidity: they look red in acidic conditions, purple near neutral and blue or green in alkaline conditions. A true blue usually needs the pigment stacked with metal ions or other compounds, which is why so many blue foods are really indigo or blue-purple.
You can see this at home. Squeeze lemon into butterfly pea tea and it turns violet, or add a pinch of baking soda to blueberry batter and the berries can turn greenish. I still do the tea trick at parties, and it never gets old.
How to Make Food Blue Naturally
- Butterfly pea flower: steep 1 tablespoon of dried flowers in 1 cup of hot water for 5 minutes for a deep blue tea to use in rice, lemonade or frosting.
- Blue spirulina: 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon colors a smoothie or a cup of frosting sky blue with very little flavor.
- Red cabbage: simmer chopped red cabbage in water, strain, then add a tiny pinch of baking soda to turn the purple liquid blue for dyeing eggs or icing.
- Blueberries: they give purple rather than blue in most recipes, because batters and fruit are usually slightly acidic.
- For blue drinks without added coloring, butterfly pea tea is the easiest choice; for a party drink, try a Blue Lagoon mocktail.
More Foods by Color
Looking for a full rainbow menu? See our lists of foods that are red and foods that are black. You’ll also find foods that are white in our color series.
Frequently Asked Questions
What foods are naturally blue?
Naturally blue foods include blueberries, bilberries, haskap berries, blue elderberries, Concord grapes, damson plums, sloes, juniper berries, blue corn, blue potatoes, blue tomatoes, Blue Hubbard squash, butterfly pea flowers, borage, cornflowers and violas, plus blue crab, lingcod and Mexican blue shrimp.
What fruits are blue?
Blue fruits include blueberries, bilberries, haskap berries (honeyberries), blue elderberries, Concord grapes, damson plums, sloes and juniper berries. Most get their color from anthocyanins and a dusty white bloom on the skin, which makes dark purple fruits look bluer than they are.
Why are there so few blue foods?
Plants have no common pure-blue pigment. Most blue foods rely on anthocyanins, which only appear blue under specific pH and mineral conditions and look red or purple otherwise. That is why many foods called blue, such as blueberries and blue potatoes, are really deep indigo or blue-purple.
Is there a blue vegetable?
Yes, though most are blue-purple. Blue corn, blue potatoes such as Adirondack Blue, blue tomatoes like Indigo Rose and Blue Hubbard squash, which has a blue-gray shell, are the best-known examples. Edible blue flowers such as borage are also used like vegetables in salads.
How do you make food blue without food coloring?
Use butterfly pea flower tea or blue spirulina powder, which both give a bright natural blue with little flavor. Red cabbage water also turns blue with a small pinch of baking soda. Keep acidic ingredients like lemon away from these colors, since acid shifts them to purple or pink.
