✔ Updated · 17 genuinely pink vegetables, what they taste like and how I cook them
Yes, pink vegetables are real, and they're some of the prettiest things you can put on a plate. Here are 17 of them, from everyday radishes and rhubarb to candy-striped beets and rosy garlic.
Yes, there are pink vegetables. The most common are radishes, rhubarb, Swiss chard stems and Chioggia (candy cane) beets. Others include watermelon radishes, pink radicchio, pink heirloom tomatoes, pink garlic, pink shallots, Rosa Bianca eggplant and pink oyster mushrooms. Their color mostly comes from anthocyanins or betalains, the same natural pigments that make beets and red cabbage so vivid.
- Pink and green: Swiss chard, rhubarb, pink radicchio, ornamental kale
- Pink and white: Chioggia beets, watermelon radish, radishes, Rosa Bianca eggplant
- Easiest to find: radishes, rhubarb, rainbow chard
- Farmers market finds: pink radicchio, pink garlic, pink oyster mushrooms
Pink Root Vegetables
1. Radish
The everyday pink vegetable: crisp and peppery with pink-red skin and white flesh. Varieties like Pink Beauty are fully rosy.
How: Slice raw into salads and tacos, or roast at 425°F for 20 minutes until mellow and juicy.
2. Watermelon Radish
Plain white and green outside, then a shocking magenta center when you slice it. Mild, slightly sweet and very crunchy.
How: Shave paper-thin over salads or grain bowls, or quick-pickle in vinegar.
3. Chioggia Beets
Also called candy cane beets, with pink and white rings inside. Sweeter and milder than red beets, and they don't bleed as much.
How: Slice raw for the stripes, or roast whole and peel. Long cooking fades the rings to pale pink.
4. Pink Fir Apple Potatoes
Knobbly heirloom fingerlings with rosy pink skin and waxy, nutty yellow flesh. Fantastic in potato salad.
How: Boil whole in their skins for 15 to 20 minutes, then toss with butter and herbs.
5. Pink Garlic
French rose garlic, like Rose de Lautrec, has pink-tinged papery skins and a sweet, mellow bite. Keeps beautifully.
How: Use like regular garlic; it's lovely roasted whole or minced into a dressing.
6. Pink Shallots
Pink-skinned shallots with rosy, delicate layers. Milder and sweeter than onions, so they shine raw.
How: Slice thinly into vinaigrettes or cook slowly in butter until jammy.
7. Young Ginger
Fresh spring ginger has thin skin and pretty pink tips. It's juicy, less fibrous and gentler than mature ginger.
How: Slice thinly and pickle; young ginger is what turns sushi ginger naturally pink.
Pink Stems and Leaves
8. Rhubarb
Tart, juicy pink to red stalks that we treat like a fruit in pies and crumbles. Eat only the stalks: the leaves are toxic.
How: Chop and simmer with sugar for a compote, or bake into a cake or crisp.
9. Swiss Chard
Glossy green leaves on bright pink stems (look for rainbow or Bright Lights chard). Earthy like spinach, with crunchy stalks.
How: Saute the chopped stems first for 3 minutes, then add the leaves and garlic until wilted.
10. Pink Radicchio
Radicchio Rosa del Veneto has blush-pink, frilly leaves and a gentler bitterness than red radicchio. Gorgeous in a salad.
How: Toss with a honey-lemon vinaigrette, citrus and shaved Parmesan.
11. Pink Celery
Chinese pink celery has slim, rosy stalks and a stronger, more herbal flavor than regular green celery.
How: Use in stir-fries, soups and stocks; a little goes a long way.
12. Ornamental Kale and Cabbage
Frilly leaves with bright pink centers. Edible but tough and bitter, so it's mostly a garnish or garden plant.
How: Use young leaves as a garnish, or blanch and saute in olive oil to tame the bitterness.
Pink Fruiting Vegetables, Beans and Mushrooms
13. Pink Heirloom Tomatoes
Varieties like Brandywine have dusky pink skin and rich, sweet, low-acid flesh. The best slicing tomato of the summer.
How: Slice thick, add flaky salt and olive oil, and eat with good bread.
14. Rosa Bianca Eggplant
A round Italian heirloom with lavender-pink skin streaked with white. Creamy, mild and rarely bitter.
How: Slice, brush with oil and grill or roast at 425°F until golden and soft.
15. Pink Banana Squash
A huge winter squash with pale pink skin and sweet orange flesh. Usually sold in wedges because it's so big.
How: Roast cubes at 400°F for 25 to 30 minutes, or puree into soup.
16. Pink Beans
Small, pale pink dried beans that cook up creamy and turn reddish-brown. Classic in chili and Caribbean rice and beans.
How: Soak overnight and simmer about 1 hour until tender, or use canned.
17. Pink Oyster Mushrooms
Not technically a vegetable, but too pretty to leave out: ruffled, bubblegum-pink fungi with a meaty, savory taste.
How: Tear and sear in a hot pan until crisp. Always cook them; they turn golden-orange when done.
How to Keep Pink Vegetables Pink
Here's the honest truth: a lot of that pretty pink fades when you cook it. The pigments are water-soluble, so boiling washes them out. These are the tricks I use to keep the color on the plate.
- Eat them raw when you can. Shaved radishes, Chioggia beets and pink radicchio look their best uncooked.
- Roast or saute instead of boiling. Less water means less color loss.
- Add a splash of acid. Vinegar or lemon brightens anthocyanin pinks, which is why pickled radishes and quick pickled red cabbage glow.
- Cook striped beets separately. Red beets bleed into everything, so keep them apart from Chioggias.
Pink Vegetable Ideas for a Party
Pink vegetables are perfect for baby showers, Valentine's Day and birthday spreads. My favorite trick is a crudite board with watermelon radishes, pink radishes, Chioggia beet slices and blush radicchio cups around a pale green dip. It looks like a florist made it.
For something sweet, rhubarb steals the show: try our rhubarb dump cake, or for the adults, a rhubarb gin and tonic cocktail.
More Colorful Food Lists
Keep the rainbow going with our lists of red vegetables, foods that are red, foods that are blue and foods that are black. Got a pink banana squash? Our guide to types of squash covers how to cook it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are there any pink vegetables?
Yes. Radishes, rhubarb, Swiss chard stems, Chioggia beets and watermelon radishes are the most common pink vegetables. Pink radicchio, pink garlic, pink shallots, pink heirloom tomatoes, Rosa Bianca eggplant and pink oyster mushrooms are rarer finds at farmers markets and specialty stores.
What vegetable is pink and white?
Chioggia beets are the classic pink and white vegetable, with candy-cane rings inside. Watermelon radishes are white and green outside with a bright pink center, regular radishes are pink outside and white inside, and Rosa Bianca eggplant has lavender-pink skin streaked with white.
What vegetable is pink and green?
Swiss chard and rainbow chard have green leaves on pink stems, and rhubarb has pink to red stalks with large green leaves. Only eat the rhubarb stalks: the leaves are toxic. Pink radicchio and ornamental kale also mix pink and green leaves.
Is rhubarb a fruit or a vegetable?
Botanically, rhubarb is a vegetable because we eat its stalks. In the kitchen it's treated like a fruit because it's almost always cooked with sugar in pies, crumbles and jams. In 1947 a US court even ruled it a fruit for import tax purposes.
Why do pink vegetables lose their color when cooked?
The pink comes from water-soluble pigments that leach out with long boiling and dull with heat. Roasting, quick sauteing or eating them raw keeps more color. A splash of vinegar or lemon juice helps anthocyanin pinks, like radishes, stay bright.
