56 Foods That Start With B (Complete List by Category)

Foods that start with B cover the entire meal. Bacon, bagels, bread, butter, beef, broccoli, blueberries and burgers are the everyday ones — alongside rarities like babaco, bacuri and bambangan, and dishes from biryani to borscht to baklava.

This guide lists 56 foods beginning with B, with what each one is, where it comes from and how it is used.

Foods Starting With B: Complete List

Breads and Baked Goods

Bagel

What separates a bagel from a bread roll is that it is boiled before baking. That brief boil gelatinises the starch on the surface, producing the dense chew and glossy crust and preventing the dough from rising much further in the oven. The style travelled with Ashkenazi Jewish communities from Poland to New York, where the water-quality debate remains a matter of genuine local conviction.

Baguette

France regulates the traditional baguette by law: it may contain only flour, water, salt and yeast, with no additives, and must be made on the premises where it is sold. The diagonal slashes across the top are not decoration — they control where the loaf expands, so it opens along those lines rather than splitting unpredictably.

Biscuit

A biscuit means two entirely different foods depending on country. In Britain it is a hard sweet cookie; in the American South it is a soft, flaky quick bread leavened with baking powder and served with gravy. Both descend from the same root, bis coctus — twice cooked — describing hard ship’s bread.

Bread

Among the oldest prepared foods, with charred remains found in Jordan predating agriculture by several thousand years — people were baking before they were farming. Almost every cuisine has a version, and the differences come down to grain, leavening and whether it is baked, griddled or steamed.

Brownie

An American invention of the late nineteenth century, defined by a texture between cake and confectionery. The fudgy-versus-cakey distinction is mostly a ratio question: more fat and less flour gives fudgy, more flour and more egg gives cakey.

Baklava

Dozens of paper-thin filo layers brushed with butter, packed with chopped nuts and soaked in syrup or honey after baking. Turkey, Greece, and much of the Levant and Balkans each claim it, and the regional versions genuinely differ — pistachio in Gaziantep, walnut in much of Greece, rosewater or lemon in the syrup depending on where you are.

Meat, Fish and Dairy

Bacon

Cured pork, but which cut depends entirely on where you are: American bacon is streaky pork belly, British and Irish back bacon includes the loin, and Canadian bacon is closer to ham. The characteristic smell when frying comes from the Maillard reaction between amino acids and sugars, producing dozens of aroma compounds at once.

Beef

Cut matters more than grade for cooking. Muscles that worked hard — brisket, shin, chuck — are full of collagen and need long, slow, moist cooking to break it down into gelatin. Muscles that did little, like the tenderloin, are lean and tender and are ruined by the same treatment.

Brisket

A prime example of that principle: brisket is the cow’s chest muscle, tough and heavily worked, and it is inedible cooked fast. Given twelve hours of low smoke or a long braise it becomes one of the most prized cuts, which is why it anchors both Texas barbecue and Jewish holiday cooking.

Butter

Butter is at least 80% fat by legal definition in most markets, the rest being water and milk solids. European-style butters run higher in fat and lower in water, which is why they behave differently in pastry. Clarifying butter removes the water and solids, raising the smoke point considerably.

Buttermilk

Originally the sour liquid left after churning butter. Almost all buttermilk sold today is cultured — milk deliberately fermented with lactic acid bacteria — which is thicker and more consistently acidic. That acidity is the point in baking: it reacts with baking soda to produce lift and tenderises gluten.

Brie

A soft cow’s milk cheese ripened from the outside in by Penicillium candidum on the rind, which is why a young brie is firm at the centre and a mature one runs. It is at its best at room temperature; served cold, most of the aroma never develops.

Vegetables and Legumes

Broccoli

Broccoli is a cultivated form of Brassica oleracea — the same species as cabbage, kale, cauliflower, kohlrabi and Brussels sprouts, all bred from one wild mustard for different parts of the plant. What you eat is the immature flower head; leave it and it opens into yellow flowers.

Brussels Sprouts

Their reputation is a generation out of date. In the 1990s breeders identified the glucosinolate compounds responsible for the bitterness and selected varieties with far lower levels, and modern sprouts are noticeably sweeter than those most adults grew up with. Roasting rather than boiling also helps enormously.

Beetroot

The distinctive earthy taste comes from geosmin, the same compound responsible for the smell of soil after rain — humans can detect it at extraordinarily low concentrations. Beetroot is also a dependable source of dietary nitrate, which is why it turns up in endurance-sport research.

Bell Pepper

Botanically a fruit, and the only Capsicum that produces no capsaicin at all, because of a recessive gene. Green, yellow, orange and red bells are frequently the same fruit at different ripeness — red are fully ripe, which is why they are sweeter and higher in vitamin C.

Bok Choy

A non-heading Chinese cabbage with crisp white stems and dark leaves. The two parts cook at different rates, so the usual technique is to separate them and give the stems a head start. It is one of the fastest vegetables to grow from seed to harvest.

Grains, Spices and Store-cupboard

Buckwheat

Not wheat, and not a grass at all — buckwheat is a pseudocereal related to rhubarb and sorrel, and it is naturally gluten-free. It is the basis of Japanese soba noodles, Breton galettes and Russian kasha. Note that soba is often cut with wheat flour, so it is not automatically gluten-free.

Bulgur

Wheat that has been parboiled, dried and cracked, which means it needs only soaking rather than cooking. That processing is ancient and made it a practical staple long before modern kitchens. It is the base of tabbouleh, where it should be a minor component with the parsley dominating.

Black Pepper

The most traded spice in the world. Its heat comes from piperine, chemically unrelated to the capsaicin in chillies, and it is volatile — which is why pre-ground pepper tastes flat and grinding fresh makes a real difference. Black, white and green peppercorns are the same fruit processed at different stages.

Balsamic Vinegar

Traditional balsamic from Modena is made from cooked grape must aged in a series of shrinking wooden barrels for at least 12 years, and it is thick, sweet and expensive. Most supermarket balsamic is wine vinegar with colouring and sweetener added — a different product entirely, and fine for dressings but not the same thing.

Dishes and Soups

Biryani

Layered rice and spiced meat or vegetables, cooked together so the rice absorbs the aromatics. The regional versions differ substantially — Hyderabadi is cooked raw together in a sealed pot, Lucknowi is gentler and more fragrant, Kolkata biryani includes potato. Distinct from pulao, where everything cooks in one pot from the start.

Borscht

A sour soup built on beetroot, Ukrainian in origin and eaten across Eastern Europe. It is served hot with sour cream in winter and chilled in summer, and versions range from clear broth to something closer to a stew. It was added to UNESCO’s list of intangible cultural heritage in need of safeguarding in 2022.

Bolognese

The traditional ragù from Bologna is built on soffritto, minced beef and pancetta, a little tomato, and milk or cream, cooked for hours. In Italy it is served with tagliatelle or in lasagne, not with spaghetti — the flat ribbon holds the sauce far better than a round strand.

Baked Beans

Two different dishes share the name. British baked beans are haricot beans in a thin, mildly sweet tomato sauce, eaten on toast. American baked beans are cooked much longer with molasses and salt pork, giving something darker, sweeter and thicker.

Rare and Regional Foods Starting With B

These are the specialist entries — mostly tropical fruits, foraged items and game that rarely leave their home regions.

Babaco

A seedless relative of the papaya from the Ecuadorian highlands, growing as a five-sided fruit up to 30 cm long. The flesh is pale, low in sugar and slightly fizzy on the tongue, with a flavour usually described as somewhere between strawberry, pineapple and papaya. The whole fruit including the skin is edible, and it is most often juiced or stewed rather than eaten raw.

Bacuri

Platonia insignis, an Amazonian fruit with a thick, tough rind protecting a small quantity of intensely aromatic white pulp. The yield is low relative to the size of the fruit, which is why bacuri is expensive even locally. In northern Brazil it is used mainly for ice cream, juice and jam rather than eaten fresh.

Bael

Also called wood apple or stone apple, Aegle marmelos has a shell hard enough to need a hammer. Inside is sticky orange pulp with a sweet, resinous, faintly medicinal flavour, traditionally blended into a cooling sherbet in India during hot months. The tree is sacred in Hinduism and its trifoliate leaves are offered to Shiva.

Bailan Melon

A honeydew-type melon grown around Lanzhou in Gansu province, China, where the dry climate and wide day-night temperature swing concentrate the sugars. It was introduced from American seed stock in the 1940s and became a regional speciality, with pale green flesh and a crisp texture.

Baker’s Yeast

Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the single organism behind almost all risen bread. It ferments sugars in the dough and releases carbon dioxide, which is trapped by the gluten network and lifts the loaf. The same species also ferments beer and wine, though brewing and baking strains have long since diverged.

Bambangan

A wild mango relative from Borneo, particularly Sabah, with a thick brown skin and a smell strong enough that some find it overpowering. The flesh is fibrous and sour-sweet, and it is most often pickled with salt and chilli as a condiment rather than eaten as a dessert fruit.

Bamboo Shoots

The young shoots of several bamboo species, harvested within days of emerging while still tender. They are a staple across East and Southeast Asia, valued for crunch rather than strong flavour, and are sold fresh, canned or dried.

Banana

Botanically a berry, growing on what is technically a giant herb rather than a tree, since the “trunk’’ is tightly rolled leaf bases. Almost every banana exported worldwide is a single cultivar, the Cavendish, propagated as clones — which is precisely why Panama disease is such a serious threat, exactly as it was to the Gros Michel it replaced.

Barberry

Small, intensely tart red berries, known as zereshk in Persian cooking, where they are scattered through rice dishes to cut the richness. They are almost always sold dried. Not to be confused with bayberry, which is an unrelated sweet fruit.

Barley

One of the oldest domesticated grains, cultivated for over 10,000 years. Most of the world crop goes to animal feed and to malting, where the grain is germinated and kilned to develop the enzymes and sugars that brewing depends on. As a food it appears in soups, stews and pilafs, with pearl barley being the polished form.

Basil

Ocimum basilicum and its relatives, the backbone of Italian pesto and Southeast Asian cooking alike — though the varieties differ sharply. Genovese basil is sweet and anise-scented; Thai basil is sturdier with a liquorice note that survives heat; holy basil is peppery and used in Thai stir-fries. Sweet basil bruises easily and is best torn and added at the end.

Basmati Rice

A long-grain aromatic rice from the Indian subcontinent, distinguished by grains that elongate rather than swell as they cook. It is traditionally aged for a year or more before sale, which reduces moisture and improves the texture. The aroma comes largely from a compound also found in pandan leaves.

Batuan

A sour green fruit from the Philippines, particularly the Visayas, used almost exclusively as a souring agent rather than eaten on its own. It goes into sinigang and other sour soups, filling the same role tamarind plays elsewhere in the region.

Bay Bolete

An edible woodland mushroom with a chestnut-brown cap and a spongy pore surface underneath rather than gills. The pores bruise blue-green when pressed, which is a useful identification feature and harmless. It is a common autumn find in European conifer woods and is well regarded, though considered a step below the cep.

Bay Leaf

The dried leaf of the bay laurel, added whole to stocks, stews and braises and removed before serving because it stays stiff and sharp-edged even after long cooking. Its contribution is subtle and mostly noticed by its absence — a faintly eucalyptus, tea-like background note that rounds out slow-cooked dishes.

Bayberry

Known as yangmei in China, where it is widely grown, this is a deep red knobbly fruit about the size of a large cherry with a sweet-tart flavour and a single stone. It is eaten fresh in season, preserved in spirits, or dried. It is entirely unrelated to barberry despite the similar name.

Beach Plum

A wild plum growing on coastal dunes along the north-eastern United States, tolerating salt spray and poor sandy soil. The fruit is small and too astringent for most people to enjoy raw, so it is almost always made into jelly — a long-standing regional tradition in New England.

Beans (Green)

Immature bean pods eaten whole, pod and all, before the seeds inside develop fully. Also called snap beans or string beans, though modern varieties have had the fibrous string bred out of them. They are the same species as dried haricot and kidney beans, simply harvested far earlier.

Bear

Bear meat has been eaten across the northern hemisphere for as long as people have hunted, with a dark, coarse-grained texture and a flavour shaped heavily by the animal’s diet.

Bearberry

A low creeping shrub of Arctic and alpine ground, also called kinnikinnick, producing small red berries. They are dry, mealy and nearly flavourless raw, which is why traditional use across northern peoples was to cook them with fat or other fruit. The leaves have a long history in herbal medicine.

Bearss Lime

Also called the Persian or Tahiti lime, this is the seedless lime found in most supermarkets. It is larger, less acidic and far less aromatic than the Key lime, and it keeps and ships better — which is why it dominates commercial production despite being the less interesting fruit.

Beaver

Beaver was historically an important food across northern North America and Europe, with the fatty tail particularly prized. It has a notable place in culinary history: the medieval Catholic Church classified the beaver as a fish on account of its scaly tail and aquatic habits, which permitted eating it during Lent.

Frequently Asked Questions

What foods start with the letter B?

Fifty-six are covered here. The everyday ones are bacon, bagel, baguette, bread, butter, buttermilk, beef, brisket, brie, beer, beetroot, bell pepper, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, bok choy, blackberry, blueberry, banana, black beans, black pepper, buckwheat, bulgur, burger, burrito, biryani, borscht, bolognese, baked beans, baklava, brownie, biscuit, broth, bratwurst, balsamic vinegar and butternut squash.

Why are bagels boiled before baking?

Boiling gelatinises the starch on the surface, which sets the crust early. That gives a bagel its dense chew and glossy skin and stops it rising much further in the oven, which is what separates it from an ordinary bread roll.

Are Brussels sprouts really less bitter than they used to be?

Yes. In the 1990s breeders identified the glucosinolates causing the bitterness and selected varieties containing far less of them. Sprouts sold today are genuinely sweeter than those of a few decades ago, and roasting rather than boiling improves them further.

Is a bell pepper a fruit or a vegetable?

Botanically a fruit — it develops from a flower and contains seeds. It is treated as a vegetable in cooking. It is also the only Capsicum with no capsaicin, so it carries no heat at all.

What is the difference between barberry and bayberry?

They are unrelated. Barberry (Berberis) is a small tart red berry, usually dried, and central to Persian rice dishes. Bayberry is a sweet-tart Chinese fruit eaten fresh. The names are close enough that they are frequently confused.

Is buckwheat safe for a gluten-free diet?

Buckwheat itself is naturally gluten-free — it is not wheat or even a grass. But soba noodles are usually cut with wheat flour, so check the label rather than assuming.

Sources

Baguette composition: French bread legislation (décret pain). Brussels sprout glucosinolate breeding: horticultural research literature. Traditional balsamic vinegar ageing: Modena protected designation of origin rules. Borscht cultural heritage listing: UNESCO, 2022.

This article is for general information. Never eat a foraged plant, fruit or mushroom unless you are certain of its identification.

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