List Of Vegetables In Spanish And English | Everyday Names

This side-by-side list gives common vegetable names in Spanish and English, with accents and plural tips, so you can shop and cook without guesswork.

You don’t need perfect Spanish to buy produce or read a menu. You need the right word at the right moment, spelled the way people expect to see it. That’s what this page gives you: clean pairings, notes on tricky spellings, and a few short patterns that make the list stick.

If you’re learning for travel, meal prep, school, or work, start with the vegetables you actually touch each week. Say them out loud. Write them on a grocery note once or twice. Then use the “notes” column as your safety net when accents, plurals, or look-alike words try to trip you.

How To Read The Spanish Names

Spanish spelling is consistent. When you see a word, you can sound it out with decent accuracy. Two things matter most for vegetable names: stress (which syllable gets the punch) and number (singular vs. plural).

Accents Aren’t Decoration

Accent marks change how a word is stressed, and they can change meaning. In Spanish, capital letters still take accents when the rules call for them. If you’re unsure, the Real Academia Española lays out the rules in its overview of acentuación gráfica.

Gender Helps You Build Phrases

Most vegetable names behave like regular nouns. Many are masculine (el tomate), many are feminine (la cebolla). When you order or shop, articles and adjectives follow that gender: el pimiento rojo, la zanahoria grande. If you forget the article, people still understand you. If you get it right, you sound smoother.

Plurals Follow Simple Endings

In grocery contexts you’ll often ask for more than one: two onions, three peppers, a bag of carrots. Spanish usually adds -s or -es. The RAE’s grammar section on reglas para la formación del plural is a solid reference when you want the exact rule.

Smart Ways To Learn This List

Trying to memorize a giant vocabulary list in one sitting is rough. A better move is to tie each word to a real action.

• Shop list method: write your next grocery list with Spanish names on the left and English on the right.
• Kitchen label method: tape a small note on the crisper drawer for a week: verduras (vegetables).
• Cook and say it: when you chop something, say it once in Spanish, once in English.
• Use “one phrase” practice: pick one pattern and reuse it: Quiero + vegetable name + por favor.

One small spelling check can save you confusion: in Spanish, “vegetables” in the general sense is often verduras. The RAE dictionary entry for verdura shows how it’s used as a broad term for produce, with a common sense tied to leafy greens.

List Of Vegetables In Spanish And English For Shopping And Menus

The table below is built for real use. You’ll see common store items, many menu staples, and a mix of everyday and slightly less common vegetables. The notes column flags accents, common variants, and cases where English and Spanish don’t map one-to-one.

English	Español	Notes
Carrot	Zanahoria	Plural: zanahorias
Potato	Patata / Papa	Spain often uses patata; much of Latin America uses papa
Onion	Cebolla	Plural: cebollas
Garlic	Ajo	Often used in singular as an ingredient
Tomato	Tomate	Plural: tomates
Cucumber	Pepino	Plural: pepinos
Lettuce	Lechuga	Plural: lechugas
Spinach	Espinaca	Plural: espinacas
Kale	Col rizada	Two-word name; plural depends on context
Cabbage	Repollo / Col	Repollo is common; col is broad and appears in many compounds
Cauliflower	Coliflor	Plural: coliflores
Broccoli	Brócoli / Brécol	Accent varies by variant; both are seen
Bell pepper	Pimiento	Green/red/yellow: pimiento verde/rojo/amarillo
Chili pepper	Chile / Ají / Guindilla	Word depends on region and heat level
Zucchini	Calabacín / Zucchini	Calabacín is common in Spain; loanword is common in menus
Squash	Calabaza	Often used for pumpkin-style squash
Eggplant	Berenjena	Plural: berenjenas
Sweet potato	Boniato / Batata / Camote	Regional terms; ask if unsure
Corn	Maíz	Accent on í; plural: maíces
Peas	Guisantes / Arvejas	Spain often uses guisantes; arvejas appears in parts of South America
Green beans	Judías verdes / Ejotes	Judías verdes (Spain); ejotes (Mexico)
Asparagus	Espárragos	Usually plural in Spanish for the food item
Celery	Apio	Plural: apios
Beet	Remolacha	Plural: remolachas
Radish	Rábano	Accent on á; plural: rábanos
Turnip	Nabo	Plural: nabos
Leek	Puerro	Plural: puerros
Mushroom	Champiñón / Seta	Champiñón often for button mushrooms; seta is broader
Artichoke	Alcachofa	Plural: alcachofas
Brussels sprouts	Coles de Bruselas	Plural set phrase; you’ll see it on menus

Vegetable Groups That Match How Stores Arrange Produce

Grocery signs can feel random until you realize many shops group vegetables by how people cook them. A quick mental sorting trick is to bucket them into greens, crunchy salad items, roots, and “cook-and-serve” vegetables. You’ll notice the same logic in nutrition guidance: the USDA groups vegetables into subgroups like dark green, red and orange, starchy, and other vegetables on its MyPlate Vegetable Group page.

Leafy And Green Vegetables

These are the words you’ll see in salads, sautéed sides, and soups: lechuga, espinaca, col rizada, brócoli. A small detail that helps: many of these keep their shape in plural with a simple -s, since they end in a vowel sound.

Roots And Bulbs

Roots and bulbs are the workhorses of kitchens. You’ll see them in stews, roasts, and sauces: zanahoria, remolacha, nabo, cebolla, ajo. If you’re learning for cooking, start here. They show up in recipes across Spanish-speaking regions.

Peppers, Squashes, And “Pan Vegetables”

This is the group that changes a dish fast: pimiento, berenjena, calabacín, calabaza. The spelling that trips people is berenjena. Say it slowly: beh-ren-HEH-nah. Once you say it right once, it’s hard to forget.

Tricky Pairs And Regional Names That Cause Mix-Ups

Spanish is spoken in many places, so food words shift. It’s not a problem. It’s normal. What helps is knowing which words are safe in most settings and which ones are region-tied.

Patata Vs. Papa

Both mean “potato.” If you’re in Spain, patata is common. In much of Latin America, papa is the everyday word. If you’re writing a menu for a mixed audience, you can list both once and move on.

Chile, Ají, And Guindilla

These can all point to hot peppers. In Mexico, chile is the default. In parts of the Andes, ají is common. In Spain, guindilla can show up for a small hot pepper. If you’re ordering, the safest move is to add a heat word: picante (spicy).

Champiñón Vs. Seta

Champiñón often refers to the familiar white or brown button mushroom. Seta is broader and can cover many edible mushrooms. If a recipe says setas, you can usually pick your favorite mushrooms and carry on.

Pronunciation Shortcuts That Help In A Pinch

If you can say the word clearly, you don’t need a perfect accent. A few Spanish sound habits get you most of the way there.

Sound Notes

• J is a breathy sound, like an English h: ajo.
• LL changes by region; you’ll hear a y sound in many places: cebolla.
• Ñ is like “ny” in “canyon”: champiñón.
• Vowels stay steady. A is “ah,” E is “eh,” I is “ee,” O is “oh,” U is “oo.”

When a word has an accent mark, lean on it. Maíz and rábano feel easier once you stress the marked vowel. If you’re speaking and the other person repeats the word back to you with a slightly different rhythm, copy their rhythm and keep going.

Set Phrases On Labels And Menus

Some vegetables show up as fixed phrases. Coles de Bruselas is one. Another is judías verdes. Treat these as a single unit when you read them. In speech you can still shorten them in context: ¿Tiene coles? works when you’re standing under the Brussels sprouts sign.

Useful Phrases For Markets, Menus, And Recipes

Knowing the noun is good. Knowing the noun inside a phrase is what makes you feel calm at a counter. Here are patterns you can reuse with almost any vegetable name.

• Quiero… (I want…) Quiero dos cebollas.
• ¿Tiene…? (Do you have…?) ¿Tiene espárragos?
• Sin… (without…) Sin ajo, por favor.
• Con… (with…) Con pimiento rojo.
• Ensalada de… (salad of…) Ensalada de pepino y tomate.

If you cook from Spanish-language recipes, one more word helps: hortalizas. You’ll see it in writing when a recipe groups vegetables as an ingredient set, especially in Spain.

Common Prep Words You’ll See Next To Vegetables

Recipes and menu descriptions often list the vegetable plus a prep word. Learn a handful and you can parse a lot of text quickly.

Spanish Word	English Meaning	Where You’ll See It
Crudo	Raw	Salads, garnishes
Cocido	Boiled/Cooked	Stews, soups
Al vapor	Steamed	Sides, diet menus
Asado	Roasted	Oven dishes
Salteado	Sautéed	Pan sides, stir-fries
Picado	Chopped	Salsas, fillings
En rodajas	Sliced	Cucumber, onion, zucchini
Rallado	Grated	Carrot, zucchini, cheese mixes
En cubos	Diced	Soups, salads
Aliñado	Dressed/Seasoned	Salads, cold dishes

Make The Words Stick With A Two-Minute Routine

Here’s a simple habit that works because it uses the list in real life. Pick six vegetables you buy often. Write the Spanish names on a note in your phone. Each time you see one in your kitchen, say the Spanish word once. That’s it. After a week, swap two words out and repeat.

Mini Checklist For A Shopping Trip

• Choose 6 vegetables from the table and read them aloud.
• In the store, match the item to the Spanish name on your list.
• At checkout, say one phrase: Quiero + the item + the number.
• Back home, label one container: verduras.

When you want a spelling or accent sanity check, stick to trusted references for Spanish spelling rules and word meanings. The RAE pages linked above cover the rules, while the USDA link provides a clear way many nutrition guides group vegetables.