7 Fruits Which are Considered as Vegetables

On this big beautiful planet of ours, more than a 1,000 species of vegetables are cultivated for consumption.

This includes the plants that are used only for their fruits, roots, stems or leaves.

With these many options, it is quite natural for people to get confused and classify some fruits as vegetables.

In this blog, you’ll learn about some of the fruits which are considered as vegetables.

1. Tomato

When it comes to fruits that are classified as vegetables, you’ll find the tomato at the top of any list. The reason being, it is one such fruit that has been mistaken for a vegetable in different cultures around the world.

Though tomatoes are consumed raw with salad, there are countless dishes that use tomatoes as an ingredient. Even in Indian recipes, there are numerous foods that are just not complete unless one or more tomatoes are added to it.

According to Botany, anything that develops from the ovary of a flowering plant can be termed as a fruit. Tomatoes come from ‘tamarillo’, which is a small tree or shrub, in the flowering-plant family called Solanaceae.

Hence, a tomato is, in reality, a fruit. But we’ve misidentified it as a vegetable with such conviction that most people would try to contradict the fact that a tomato is a fruit.

If you ever wondered if a tomato is a fruit or vegetable, then your confusion ends here. Technically, a tomato is a fruit. But we, the people of the world as a whole, have turned it into a vegetable!

2. Pepper

Every type of pepper— chillies, bell peppers and jalapeños— are actually fruits. Bell peppers and chillies are cultivated as vegetables. But its edible part is a fruit. In fact, botanically speaking, chillies are berries.

Peppers are used in various dishes around the world. In India and a few other countries around the world, people like to have raw chillies along with their local staple food.

Almost all types of peppers are loaded with iron, calcium, phosphorus, potassium and magnesium. They also contain Vitamins A, B, C, and E. Include this amazing fruit in your daily diet to keep yourself healthy.                                        

3. Zucchini

When you check out recipes with zucchini, you would find that most of the recipes are for pastas, salads, soups, and chilis. They are to be had as appetizers, side dishes or main courses. In other words, zucchini is treated as a vegetable.

How good is zucchini for your health? Well, zucchini contains fibre, protein, healthy fats, carbohydrates, potassium, magnesium, manganese, thiamine, phosphorus, copper and folate.

Zucchini also has vitamins such as Vitamin A, Vitamin B6, Vitamin C and Vitamin K. Which means that zucchini is really good for you. And that you should make it an important part of your diet.

Now the question is, is zucchini a fruit? A zucchini grows on the flowering-part of the zucchini plant. Hence, according to Botany, a zucchini is a fruit. We know it's hard to accept something as a fruit when we’ve been mislabeling it as a vegetable all our lives. But, we can try!          

4. Cucumber

Cucumber is another fruit that is mistakenly called a vegetable. You will NEVER find a cucumber at a fruit shop. But you always find them at most vegetable stalls. And this happens all over the world!

So, if you have been wondering, “is cucumber a fruit or vegetable”? You can be sure that a cucumber is a fruit. After all, it contains seeds and grows from a flower. So botanically speaking, it’s definitely a fruit.

You get a number of vitamins and minerals from cucumbers. To name a few- magnesium, potassium, manganese, fibre, protein, calories, carbohydrates, Vitamin K and Vitamin C. Plus, a cucumber is 95% water.

What’s more? Cucumbers have zero fats. So, if you like to go on diets frequently, then cucumbers are something that you can consider including in your diet. Even if you are not dieting, cucumbers are really good for your health.

5. Pumpkin

The next on our list of fruits which are considered to be vegetables is the pumpkin. Yes, we all appreciate all the spooky carved pumpkins of Halloween. And most people also appreciate pumpkins as a food.

Cook it, roast it, bake it or turn it into a purée. There are many ways in which you can eat a pumpkin. You can even use it as an ingredient while making certain drinks. Ever tasted a pumpkin spice latte, pumpkin apple sangria or pumpkin pie milkshake? Well, you should. Especially if you love pumpkins.

Pumpkin is very rich in a number of vitamins and minerals, especially Vitamin A. Other than that, it contains protein, carbs, fibre, fats, copper, magnesium, potassium, iron, riboflavin. It also has Vitamins C, E, K and B6. Pumpkin also comes with a few calories.

As for the question, “is pumpkin a vegetable or a fruit”? The answer is, it is a fruit. I know. Shocking, right? A pumpkin is a product of the seed-bearing structure of flowering plants. Hence, botanically, it is classified as a fruit.

6. Okra

Okra is another fruit that is considered a vegetable. Yes, horrific, isn’t it?! But the truth is that Okra is indeed a fruit, not a vegetable. But we all eat it like it’s a vegetable. Don’t we?

Some people like to eat it fried, some like to roast it. Gumbo, stews, pickles— okra can be put in pretty much anything. So, no wonder that everyone treats it like a vegetable.

But, it is not a vegetable. Okra comes from the ovary of the flower and contains seeds. And so, technically, it is really a fruit. One that is found in many parts of the world.

Okra is another food item that has a bunch of nutrients in them. Along with A, C, K, and B6, you also get folate, fibre, magnesium, protein, carbohydrates and calories from okra.                                            

7. Eggplant

If you thought okra was a shocking entry on this list, get this. Eggplant is a fruit! Can you imagine a regular fruit tasting like eggplants do? Please don’t try to imagine that. It is NOT pleasant.

Since an eggplant contains seeds and comes from a flowering plant, technically, it is a fruit. But, we can never be sure if our ancestors ever ate it raw, the way we eat fruits. What we do know is that various cultures on the planet have inculcated eggplant into their diet as a vegetable.

When you make eggplant a regular part of your diet, you get a steady flow of protein, potassium, magnesium, folate, fibre, carbohydrates, calories, Vitamin C and Vitamin K.