✔ Updated · 23 vegetables, sorted by category
Vegetables that start with Z include zucchini, zucchini flowers, zebra eggplant, zapallo, zucchetta and zha cai.
Z is one of the rarest letters for vegetables, so instead of padding the page with zucchini bread and zucchini fries, this list includes only the 23 real Z vegetables we could verify: squash, peppers, tomatoes, beans, roots and a few international finds. Each entry explains how the vegetable tastes, its texture and how it is cooked.
Vegetables that start with Z, from everyday favorites to rare finds. The most popular:
Squash & Gourds That Start With Z
Zucchini and its relatives make up most Z vegetables. I grow zucchini every summer and freeze the August glut.
Zucchini
Also called courgette, a green summer squash with tender, creamy flesh and a mild, sweet taste, grilled, sautéed, spiralized or baked into bread.
Get the recipe →Zucchetta
Zucchetta rampicante, or tromboncino, a long, curved climbing squash with firm, nutty, almost seedless flesh, sautéed or grilled when young.
Zapallo
A large South American winter squash with dense, sweet orange flesh that softens when cooked into stews, soups and Peruvian locro.
Zapallito de Tronco
A round Argentine zucchini with tender, pale flesh and a mild, buttery flavor, stuffed with meat and cheese or sautéed.
Zephyr Squash
A yellow summer squash with a pale green tip, firm, nutty flesh and a sweet, delicate taste, grilled, sautéed or eaten raw.
Zucca
The Italian word for pumpkin or winter squash, with sweet, dense orange flesh roasted, puréed into risotto or stuffed into ravioli.
Fruiting Vegetables That Start With Z
Eggplants, peppers and tomatoes starting with Z. I would love to try every one of them in my garden.
Zebra Eggplant
Purple eggplants striped with white, such as Listada de Gandia, with thin skin and creamy, mild, non-bitter flesh, grilled or roasted.
Zavory Pepper
A habanero-type pepper with wrinkled red fruit, crisp, thin walls and a fruity, floral flavor but very little heat, eaten raw or roasted.
Zebrino Tomato
A striped, dark red-and-green cocktail tomato with firm, juicy flesh and a rich, sweet-tangy flavor, eaten raw in salads.
Zapotec Pleated Tomato
A deeply ribbed pink heirloom from Oaxaca with hollow, meaty walls and a mild, sweet flavor, stuffed and baked or sliced.
Legumes & Pods That Start With Z
Heirloom beans that start with Z. I have only seen these at specialty seed shops.
Zuni Gold Bean
A small golden heirloom bean from the Zuni people of New Mexico with a creamy texture and rich, nutty flavor, simmered in stews.
Zolfino Bean
A rare pale yellow Tuscan bean with very thin skin, a buttery, melting texture and delicate flavor, simmered and dressed with olive oil.
Alliums That Start With Z
Shallots that start with Z.
Zebrune Shallot
A long French banana shallot with coppery skin, crisp pink-white layers and a mild, sweet flavor, minced raw into dressings or roasted.
Stalks, Shoots & Flowers That Start With Z
Flowers, stems and bulbs eaten as vegetables.
Zucchini Flowers
Soft, golden blossoms with a delicate, sweet squash flavor, stuffed with ricotta and fried in light batter or torn into pasta.
Zizania
Jiaobai or water bamboo, the swollen stem of Manchurian wild rice, with a crisp, juicy texture and mild, sweet taste, stir-fried or braised.
Zefa Fino Fennel
A Swiss-bred Florence fennel with large, flattened bulbs, a crisp, juicy texture and sweet anise flavor, shaved raw or roasted.
Zuiki
Japanese taro stems, peeled and soaked, with a spongy texture that soaks up broth and a mild, slightly tangy taste, simmered or dried.
Root Vegetables That Start With Z
Roots and rhizomes beginning with Z.
Zingiber Officinale
The botanical name for ginger, a rhizome with a hot, citrusy bite and fibrous, juicy flesh, sliced into stir-fries, curries and pickles.
Zedoary
White turmeric, a rhizome with crisp, pale flesh and a mango-and-ginger flavor with bitter notes, pickled or added fresh to Indian and Indonesian dishes.
Zanahoria
The Spanish word for carrot, a crunchy, sweet orange root eaten raw, pickled with jalapeños in Mexican escabeche or cooked in stews.
Rare & International Vegetables That Start With Z
Preserved, herb and fungus vegetables from around the world.
Zha Cai
A Sichuan pickled mustard stem with a crunchy texture and salty, sour, spicy flavor, eaten with congee or stir-fried with pork.
Za'atar Leaves
Fresh leaves of Levantine wild thyme with a tender texture and a peppery, lemony, oregano-like taste, eaten raw in salad with onion and lemon.
Zhu Sun
Bamboo fungus, a lacy, net-veiled mushroom with a crunchy, spongy texture and mild, earthy taste, simmered in Chinese soups as a vegetable.
Did You Know?
- Zucchini was developed in northern Italy in the 1800s; the name means little squash, and in the UK and France it is called courgette.
- A single zucchini plant can produce several fruits a week at the height of summer, which is why gardeners end up with so many.
- Zha cai, the crunchy Sichuan pickle, is made from the knobbly swollen stem of a mustard plant, pressed, salted and rubbed with chili.
- Zizania latifolia, called jiaobai or water bamboo, is eaten for its stem, which swells after a natural fungus infects the plant.
Quick List: All 23 Vegetables That Start With Z
Handy for alphabet games, quizzes and Scattergories. The full list, A to Z:
Za'atar Leaves, Zanahoria, Zapallito de Tronco, Zapallo, Zapotec Pleated Tomato, Zavory Pepper, Zebra Eggplant, Zebrino Tomato, Zebrune Shallot, Zedoary, Zefa Fino Fennel, Zephyr Squash, Zha Cai, Zhu Sun, Zingiber Officinale, Zizania, Zolfino Bean, Zucca, Zucchetta, Zucchini, Zucchini Flowers, Zuiki, Zuni Gold Bean
Frequently Asked Questions
What vegetable starts with Z?
Zucchini is the best-known vegetable that starts with Z. Others include zucchini flowers, zebra eggplant, zucchetta, zapallo, Zephyr squash, Zebrune shallots, zha cai pickled mustard stem and zizania, also called water bamboo.
Why are there so few vegetables that start with Z?
Very few common English vegetable names begin with Z, so most Z vegetables are zucchini relatives, named varieties like Zebrune shallots or words from other languages, such as zapallo and zanahoria. This list includes only real vegetables, with no filler.
Is zucchini a fruit or a vegetable?
Botanically, zucchini is a fruit, because it grows from the flower and contains seeds. In the kitchen it is treated as a vegetable, since it is savory and is grilled, sautéed, roasted, spiralized or baked into fritters and bread.
What can you make with zucchini?
Zucchini is very versatile. Popular ideas include zucchini noodles, or zoodles, zucchini fritters, baked zucchini fries, zucchini bread and muffins, stuffed zucchini boats, grilled zucchini and ratatouille. The flowers can be stuffed and fried too.
What is the difference between zucchini and courgette?
There is no difference. Zucchini is the name used in the US, Canada and Australia, from the Italian for little squash, while courgette, from French, is used in the UK, Ireland and much of Europe.
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