✔ Updated · now 25 red vegetables, grouped by type, with how to use each
Red vegetables get their color from a handful of natural pigments: lycopene in tomatoes and red peppers, betalains in beets and red chard, and anthocyanins in red cabbage, radicchio and red onions.
The most common red vegetables are tomatoes, red bell peppers, red chili peppers, beets, radishes, red onions, red potatoes, red cabbage, radicchio, red leaf lettuce, red Swiss chard and rhubarb. Less common ones include red carrots, watermelon radishes, red amaranth, red orach, red okra, red kuri squash and red corn, while red kidney beans and adzuki beans are red legumes.
- Most common: tomatoes, red bell peppers, beets and red onions.
- Darkest red: beets, radicchio, red amaranth and red kidney beans.
- Red leafy greens: red leaf lettuce, red chard, red kale, red orach and red mustard.
This list gathers 25 red vegetables, from everyday staples to farmers' market finds, grouped into roots, leafy greens, fruiting vegetables and red beans and grains, with what each one tastes like and how to cook it.
Red Root Vegetables and Bulbs
Many red root vegetables are red on the outside only, while beets and watermelon radishes are red all the way through. I love slicing a watermelon radish for the surprise inside.
1. Beets
Deep red, sweet and earthy roots colored by betalains; roast them, boil them, pickle them or grate them raw into salads. They stain everything, so wear gloves.
2. Radishes
Small round roots with bright red skin and crisp white flesh and a peppery bite; slice them raw into salads and tacos or roast them until mellow.
3. Watermelon Radish
A Chinese heirloom daikon with a pale green skin and vivid magenta-red center; mild and slightly sweet, beautiful sliced thin in salads.
4. Red Carrots
Heirloom carrots, often from India, with red skin and flesh colored by lycopene; sweet and earthy, great roasted or in Indian gajar halwa.
5. Red Potatoes
Waxy potatoes such as Red Bliss with thin red skin and creamy white flesh that hold their shape; ideal for potato salad, roasting and boiling.
Get the recipe →6. Red Onions
Purple-red onions with a milder, sweeter bite than yellow onions; best raw in salads, salsas and burgers, or quick-pickled for a bright pink topping.
Red Leafy Vegetables
Red leafy vegetables owe their color mostly to anthocyanins. Many keep their color best raw or lightly cooked, so I add red chard at the very end.
7. Red Leaf Lettuce
Loose, ruffled lettuce with burgundy-tipped leaves and a mild, tender texture; adds color to green salads and sandwiches.
8. Radicchio
A dark red Italian chicory with white veins and a pleasantly bitter flavor; great in salads, grilled, roasted or stirred into risotto.
9. Red Cabbage
Firm, dense heads of deep purple-red leaves; slaw it raw, braise it with apples and vinegar, or pickle it.
Get the recipe →10. Red Russian Kale
Flat, frilly kale with purple-red stems and veins and a sweeter, more tender leaf than curly kale; good raw in salads or quickly sautéed.
11. Red Amaranth
Also called red spinach; leaves splashed with deep red, eaten across Asia, Africa and the Caribbean, stir-fried with garlic or cooked like spinach.
12. Red Swiss Chard
Large green leaves on bright ruby-red stems with an earthy, beet-like flavor (it is a close relative); sauté the leaves and stems separately.
13. Red Orach
Also called mountain spinach; an old garden green with deep red-purple leaves and a mild, salty spinach flavor, used raw or cooked.
14. Red Mustard Greens
Varieties such as Red Giant have purple-red leaves with a hot, horseradish-like kick; use young leaves raw or braise mature ones.
15. Red Belgian Endive
Tight, crisp heads with red-edged leaves and a gently bitter crunch; separate the leaves for salads or use them as scoops for dips.
Red Fruiting Vegetables and Stalks
Botanically, tomatoes, peppers, squash and okra are fruits because they hold seeds, but in the kitchen they are cooked and served as vegetables. Rhubarb is the opposite, and my mum grew it by the back door: a vegetable that is usually cooked like a fruit.
16. Tomatoes
The best-known red vegetable, rich in lycopene; eaten raw in salads and salsas, or cooked into sauces, soups and stews.
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17. Red Bell Peppers
Fully ripened bell peppers, sweeter than green ones; eat them raw, roast them, stuff them or blend them into soups and sauces.
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18. Red Chili Peppers
Ripe hot peppers such as cayenne, Fresno and red jalapeño; use them fresh, dried or ground into chili flakes and powder.
Get the recipe →19. Pimiento Peppers
Heart-shaped sweet red peppers with thick, juicy walls and very little heat; best roasted, and the classic filling for stuffed green olives.
20. Red Kuri Squash
A small, teardrop-shaped winter squash with red-orange skin and a sweet, chestnut-like flesh; the thin skin is edible once roasted.
21. Red Okra
Okra varieties such as Burgundy with deep red pods; they taste like green okra and turn green when cooked, so serve them raw or lightly pickled to keep the color.
22. Rhubarb
Tart red-pink stalks cooked with sugar into pies, crisps, jams and sauces. Eat only the stalks; the leaves are toxic.
Get the recipe →Red Beans, Lentils and Corn
These are often counted with red vegetables on food color charts, although botanically they are legumes and grains.
23. Red Kidney Beans
Dark red, kidney-shaped beans that hold their shape in chili and red beans and rice. Dried beans must be soaked and boiled for at least 10 minutes, since raw ones are toxic.
Get the recipe →24. Adzuki Beans
Small, sweet red beans popular in Japan, China and Korea, simmered into sweet red bean paste for buns and desserts or cooked with rice.
25. Red Corn
Heirloom corn such as Bloody Butcher with deep red kernels; usually dried and ground into red cornmeal, grits or masa rather than eaten fresh.
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Dark Red Vegetables
If you are looking for the darkest red vegetables, the deepest colors come from beets, radicchio, red cabbage, red amaranth, red orach and red kidney beans. Their color comes from betalains (beets, amaranth and chard) or anthocyanins (radicchio, cabbage, orach and red onion skins).
Anthocyanin-colored vegetables change color with acidity: red cabbage turns blue or green in alkaline water and bright pink-red with vinegar or lemon juice. Adding a splash of acid while cooking keeps them vivid.
How to Cook Red Vegetables and Keep Their Color
- Add acid to red cabbage and red onions. A splash of vinegar or lemon juice keeps them red; baking soda or hard water turns them blue.
- Roast beets whole. Wrap them in foil and roast at 400°F for 45 to 60 minutes, then slip off the skins. They keep their color better than when peeled and boiled.
- Cook tomatoes with a little fat. Lycopene is fat-soluble, so a drizzle of olive oil in sauces and roasted tomatoes helps.
- Keep red leaves raw or quickly cooked. Red leaf lettuce, red okra and red kale can lose some color with long cooking.
- Cook dried kidney beans thoroughly. Soak them, discard the water, then boil hard for at least 10 minutes before simmering until tender. Don't cook dried kidney beans from raw in a slow cooker.
- Store them well. Keep tomatoes at room temperature until ripe; refrigerate peppers, beets, radishes, cabbage and leafy greens.
Easy Ways to Eat More Red Vegetables
- Quick pickles: slice red onions or red cabbage thin and cover with warm vinegar brine, like our quick pickled red cabbage.
- Soup: blend roasted red peppers into a smooth soup, like Jamie Oliver-style red pepper soup.
- Salad: combine radicchio, red leaf lettuce, sliced radishes and roasted beets with a mustard vinaigrette.
- Dinner: fill red bell peppers with rice and ground beef for stuffed bell peppers, or simmer kidney beans into chili.
- Dessert: bake rhubarb into a crumble or a rhubarb dump cake.
- More colorful lists: see foods that are red and pink vegetables.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a red vegetable?
A red vegetable is any vegetable with red skin, flesh or leaves, such as tomatoes, red bell peppers, beets, radishes, red onions, red cabbage and radicchio. The color comes from natural pigments: lycopene, betalains or anthocyanins.
What are some dark red vegetables?
Beets, radicchio, red cabbage, red amaranth, red orach and red kidney beans have the darkest red color. Red Swiss chard stems and red onion skins are also deep red. Many of these look almost purple, depending on the variety and the light.
Are tomatoes and red peppers vegetables or fruits?
Botanically they are fruits, because they develop from flowers and contain seeds. In cooking and nutrition guidance they are treated as vegetables, because they are used in savory dishes. The same goes for squash and okra.
Which red leafy vegetables can I grow or buy?
Common red leafy vegetables include red leaf lettuce, radicchio, red cabbage, red Russian kale, red Swiss chard, red amaranth, red orach, red mustard greens and red Belgian endive. Many are sold at farmers' markets or as seeds for home gardens.
Is rhubarb a fruit or a vegetable?
Rhubarb is botanically a vegetable, since the part we eat is the leaf stalk, but it is cooked like a fruit in pies, crumbles and jams because it is so tart. Eat only the stalks; rhubarb leaves are toxic and should be thrown away.
