Lettuce add these 89 yummy vegetables in Italian to your vocab

In my small town in Italy, Friday is market day. From 6 am, the streets of the center get closed off, and vans with all kinds of products line up and open their stands.

At the end of Via Campo, you find the food section: meats, fish, cheese… But mostly – vegetables! If you’re planning a visit to this beautiful boot-shaped country, you’ll likely shop in one of these markets for fresh produce.

And, well, I hate and also love to tell you that usually, no one there speaks excellent English! Learning the names of vegetables in Italian, then, is a must if you want to have this immersive market experience.

Italy is renowned for its healthy and delicious Mediterranean diet. And what are the main ingredients of this diet? Why, of course, la verdura (vegetables)!

Free Italian vegetables poster

Print out this free and fun vegetables poster and stick it on your fridge. If you can memorize this list of some of the more popular vegetables in Italian, you'll be on your way to sounding like a local.

Why you need to learn vegetables in Italian

Aside from the above example of a great Italian market experience, there are more reasons to learn the names of vegetables in Italian, especially if you’re a food enthusiast!

Many world-famous chefs are Italian, and naming dishes in Italian has been a thing for years. For example, if you eat a parmigiana di melanzane, you need to know that melanzana means eggplant!

If you like having fun in the kitchen, knowing vegetables in Italian will allow you to follow authentic Italian recipes and improve two skills simultaneously: your vocab and cooking!

Last but not least, knowing vegetables in Italian will allow you to travel around Italy, order at restaurants and pizzerias, and even talk about your favorite Italian dishes with native speakers. Trust me, improving your vocab is never a bad idea. You’ll be surprised how useful knowing how to say cabbage in Italian can be!

In this article, we’ll look at the names of as many veggies in Italian as you can imagine, and we’ll give you the phonetic pronunciation too.

Even your friend’s grandma who doesn’t speak a word of English will know how much you loved her orecchiette alle cime di rapa!

List of vegetables in Italian

So, let’s start with our list of vegetables in Italian. By the way, the words for vegetable are “verdura” or “ortaggio”, which comes from the word “orto” (vegetable garden).

On the other hand, the adjective vegetable is “vegetale” in Italian. So, if you want a veggie burger, you’d order “un hamburger vegetale” or “un hamburger di verdure”. (Yes, I know there’s no ham in it – but this is how we say it anyway!)

Let’s start!

Root vegetables in Italian

Here is a list of the main root vegetables you can find in Italy. They are called radici (roots) or ortaggi a radice.

Tuber vegetables in Italian

Let’s now look at the tuberi.

Bulb vegetables in Italian

Bulb vegetables are those you use for making a good soffritto (mirepoix) for a pasta sauce or a risotto. Don’t forget to buy lots of them if you’re planning on learning Italian recipes!

Here they are.

Stems and shoots in Italian

Let’s continue with stems and shoots in Italian.

Flower vegetables in Italian

Flower vegetables are plants in which the flowers are eaten. In the following table you’ll find these ortaggi a fiore. Which one is your favourite?

Fungi and mushrooms in Italian

Mushroom are a big thing in Italy. When autumn comes, everyone in the countryside picks up their stick and basket and goes to the woods in search of our delicious funghi (foon-ghee). Out of season, you can always find dried or frozen ones at markets or supermarkets.

Leaves in Italian

Here are the most common leaves you can find in an italian insalata (salad), and in many other delicious dishes!

Fruit vegetables in Italian

Let’s now make a list of the most common “fruit” vegetables in Italian. Here you’ll find vegetables that are actually fruits, botanically speaking of course. These include the typical Mediterranean veggies, like courgette and aubergine (eggplant). We put them all in the singular.

Remember, the plural of zucchina is not zucchini! It is actually zucchine (dzuk-kee-neh), as it is a feminine noun.

Seeds and legumes in Italian

Here you find i legumi in Italian, which are legumes or seeds. We put them in their plural form in the table, as they are not often used in the singular.

Tip: In some parts of Italy, pisello (pea) is a childish name for male genitals!

Italian proverbs and slang with vegetables

Here are some curious Italian proverbs and expressions with vegetables!

Verdure per tutti!

The best thing to do now is to go out and practice your new Italian vocabulary. Go to the market and buy verdure per tutti (veggies for all)!