TABLE OF CONTENTS
Best North American Vegetable Types
Yukon Gold is an all-purpose potato with yellow skin and yellow flesh. These potatoes are usually round or oblong and slightly flattened. Their skin is dotted with small brown spots, while the flesh is firm, moist, and waxy. Yukon Gold potatoes were created in Canada, as a cross between the North American white potatoes and the yellow-fleshed South American potatoes.
They were first released to the market in 1980. Because of their medium-starch content, these potatoes are incredibly versatile, and they can be used in a variety of dishes. They are suitable for boiling, frying, roasting, mashing, grilling, and sautéing.
Chipotle is a variety of a hot pepper that is basically a smoked and dried ripe jalapeño. The name of this hot pepper is derived from the Nahuatl word chilpoctli, which means smoked chile. Traditionally, chipotle is made in a sealed smokehouse.
Due to the fact that there are numerous types of jalapeños, not all chipotle peppers are alike. They are characterized by a medium heat level ranging from 5,000 to 10,000 on the Scoville scale. The most popular variety is called chipotle morita, characterized by its deep red color.
THE BEST Chipotle Hot Peppers
Ancho is the dried version of ripe poblano chile peppers. The peppers are dried for preservation purposes, and when ground, they can be used in spice rubs, moles, soups, salsas, and enchilada sauces. In their dried form, the heart-shaped ancho chiles have a wrinkled skin and a deep red color, their flavor is smoky, sweet, and reminiscent of plums and raisins, while the heat level ranges from mild to medium.
Scotch Bonnet is a hot pepper variety originating from Jamaica and the Caribbean area. These peppers usually come in red or yellow colors and they have four globular ridges at the bottom. They’re harvested in late season, about 80 to 90 days after transplanting.
The peppers are very hot, with a Scoville Heat Unit ranging from 100,000 to 350,000. They’re often used for chili powder, hot sauces, and jerk seasoning. The flavors are often described as having hints of cherries, tomatoes, and apples. The name of these peppers is derived from their visual resemblance to the Scottish Tam o’Shanter hat.
Guajillo is a traditional chili pepper variety, and one of the main producers of this variety is the state of Zacatecas. The guajillo is the dried form of mirasol chili pepper and its Scoville Heat Unit (SHU) ranges from 2,500 to 5,000. The skin is leathery and reddish brown, and the flavors are fruity and mild to moderately hot, with hints of green tea and berries.
Guajillos are often used to make salsas, moles, marinades, and spice rubs. The peppers pair well with chicken and fish dishes. Although they're usually sold whole, guajillos can also be toasted and ground into powder.
Named after the tip of the pepper that looks like a scorpion's tail and also its creator, Butch Taylor, Trinidad Scorpion Butch T is a famous hot pepper variety that has been rated at 1,463,700 Scoville Heat Units, making it one of the hottest chili peppers in the world.
It held the official title of The World's Hottest Pepper from 2011 until 2013, when the title was taken by the Carolina Reaper. This Trini hot pepper was discovered by Butch Taylor, who found an unusual variety in his patch of Trinidad Scorpion peppers.
Vidalia onion is a unique variety of onions with a sweet flavor, produced in Vidalia, Georgia in the United States of America. By 1977, the onions had their own annual festival, a tradition that continues up to this day. In 1990, Vidalia onions became the Official State Vegetable of Georgia.
The onions are at their peak in late summer, when they are used raw in salads or caramelized and combined with mashed potatoes.
Chile de árbol is a Mexican hot pepper which can be fresh, dried, or ground into a powder. It is characterized by an intense, bright red color and a heat level between 15,000 and 30,000 on the Scoville scale. This chile pepper is often used in salsas, stir-fries, hot sauces, and soups.
Its name means tree chili in Spanish, referring to the woody stems which are useful when making dried wreaths.
The American state of Idaho produces more than 25 varieties of potatoes, from the firm Cal Red to the popular Russet Burbank to unusually named Russian Banana Fingerling. The most famous varieties include Russet Burbank, Russet Norkotah, Cal Red, Red La Soda, Red Norland, Russian Banana Fingerling, French Fingerling, Purple Peruvian Fingerling, Yukon Gold, and Yukon Gem Gold.
However, upon hearing the term Idaho potatoes, most people associate it with Russet Burbank, which has a distinctive, earthy flavor and high content of solids, making it ideal for baking. Its shape is elongated, with rough skin and few eyes.
Jalapeño is a pepper with Mexican origins, but nowadays it's grown throughout the world due to its unique flavor and a mild level of heat, from 2,500 to 8,000 Scovilles. The name is Spanish for Jalapa or Xalapa, the capital of Veracruz, where these peppers were originally grown.
The peppers are thick-fleshed, and the color can be green or red, with the red variety being slightly milder and sweeter than the green one. The flavors are moderately hot, bright, and grassy. When roasted, the jalapeños become richer, earthy, and slightly smoky.
TasteAtlas food rankings are based on the ratings of the TasteAtlas audience, with a series of mechanisms that recognize real users and that ignore bot, nationalist or local patriotic ratings, and give additional value to the ratings of users that the system recognizes as knowledgeable. For the “Top 31 North American Vegetables” list until April 02, 2025, 1,586 ratings were recorded, of which 1,087 were recognized by the system as legitimate. TasteAtlas Rankings should not be seen as the final global conclusion about food. Their purpose is to promote excellent local foods, instill pride in traditional dishes, and arouse curiosity about dishes you haven’t tried.