9 Vegetables That are Actually Fruits

How many fruits can you name in one minute? Apples, oranges, cucumbers…Wait, what?!

Pretty much every adult has heard at some point in their life that tomatoes are technically a fruit and not a vegetable. The botanical definition for what makes something a fruit is actually pretty loose: fruit is the part of a plant that bears seeds. If you cut open an apple, a tomato, or a cucumber it’s clear that containing seeds is something they all have in common.

In addition to tomatoes, there are several other “vegetables” that are actually fruits. Here are nine that might surprise you.

1. Tomatoes

Consistent with the botanical definition of fruit, if you cut a tomato in half you’ll see a bunch of seeds encased in a sweet, juicy flesh. Tomatoes develop from yellowish flowers that slowly open and eventually transform into what you find at the grocery store.

By this logic, tomatoes are obviously fruit, but why do we commonly consider them vegetables? Most likely, the reason for this is the culinary classification which differs from the botanic. In the culinary world, ‘vegetables’ are considered to have a harder texture and blander taste that makes them well-suited for cooking in soups, stir-fries, or stews.

2. Cucumbers

Cucumbers are another vegetable that’s technically fruit. However, they don’t fit into the definition as simply as tomatoes do. Cucumbers are actually both a fruit and a vegetable.

Botanically speaking, cucumbers are products of flowering plants and they also contain their fair share of seeds, making them a fruit. Cucumbers are a member of the melon family.

As for the veggie side, cucumbers are definitely bland compared to plants we commonly think of as fruits, and they meet the harder texture criteria for the culinary definition of a vegetable.

3. Peppers

Peppers are another unexpected fruit, yet obvious when you think about it. Just like tomatoes, peppers grow from the seed of a flowering plant.

And the reason we thought peppers were vegetables all this time? Because peppers were eaten with the main meal and not as a dessert, in the late 1800s, the U.S. Supreme Court legally proclaimed peppers as vegetables. Talk about government overreach!

It sounds pretty crazy, but the decision was backed by solidly bureaucratic logic. Back then, imported vegetables were taxable and fruits were not.

4. Beans

In essence, beans are part of the legume family, which makes them neither a vegetable nor a fruit. Beans don’t contain seeds because they are seeds. Beans come from inside pods, which as a whole is technically a fruit. And yes, pods grow from the flowers. Thus beans are considered a fruit.

5. Avocado

Due to their lack of sweetness, many people aren’t exactly sure how to classify avocados and automatically assume they must be vegetables. But an avocado is technically considered a large berry with a single seed.

Avocados grow on trees similarly to peaches, plums, cherries, and other stone fruits. There’s nothing that really makes avocados different from these except their big seeds and mushy inner contents that we’re inclined to spread on our toast.

6. Zucchini

Usually found in savory dishes, zucchini is another fruit masquerading as a vegetable. Cut one open, and you’ll see a bunch of seeds within the soft flesh.

Another fun fact to enrich your knowledge (and menu): like the fruit they bear, zucchini flowers are also edible! Zucchini flowers are lightly sweet, and their size is perfect for stuffing, battering, or frying. You can even try incorporating their petals into bread or pizza dough.

7. Pumpkins

large pumpkin cut open man holding two halves on cutting board

Pumpkins are a member of the family Cucurbitaceae, as are melons and cucumbers. Because of their not-so-sweet taste, we usually think of pumpkins as vegetables.

But what about pumpkin pie? This delicious, sweet, and aromatic dessert is a must on almost every fall gathering menu. If you really think about it, there aren’t too many vegetables that we put in dessert pies, so it kinda makes sense that pumpkins are fruit.

8. Olives

What even are olives? Just like cherries, mangoes, and a new-found relative avocado, olives have a single seed inside them, which means that they’re fruits. Stone fruits, to be exact.

Stone fruits, or drupes, are a specific category of fruits in botany, characterized by a thin skin surrounding soft flesh with a single seed or pit in the middle. If you’ve only ever had pitted olives (which is most of us, because honestly, who has time for that?), you’ve probably never seen their small, rock-like pit.

9. Nuts

Let’s rewind a few fruits back to beans. Just like beans, nuts represent a single seed inside a hard shell. Altogether, these parts are classified as dry fruit. Other names for nuts include “drupaceous nuts”, or “nut-like drupes”.

However, peanuts are technically a legume, so referring to them as a vegetable would seem more logical. Still, its characteristics and nutrient profile resemble that of a fruit.