Is A Tomato A Fruit Or A Vegetable?

Usually stocked near the onions, avocados, and garlic in the grocery store, most of us think of tomatoes as vegetables. Or at least we treat them like vegetables while cooking. Sure, you can turn them into a dessert, like we do in our Green Tomato Pie recipe, but for the most part, we aren't baking with tomatoes. From salsas to tomato sandwiches, tomatoes are used for their lightly sweet but deeply savory, umami flavor that we don't typically associate with fruit.

This is why nutritionists consider this botanical fruit a vegetable, and likely why you do, too. That is until someone comes along and (smugly) corrects you, pointing out that tomatoes are actually fruit. Well, it turns out, it's not that cut and dry. Who is correct: Is a tomato a fruit or a vegetable? Let us explain.

Botanical Classification: A Fruit

Botanically, a fruit is a ripened flower ovary that contains seeds. That's why tomatoes are considered fruit. By this metric, there are many pieces of produce that we consider vegetables that are actually fruit (like zucchinis and eggplants). But you don't often hear people wondering whether either of those veggies is actually fruit. The controversy mostly concerns tomatoes, which meet the botanical criteria to be considered a fruit.

Here's an easy shorthand for knowing whether an ingredient is botanically a fruit or vegetable: Anything that contains seeds is a fruit. By this metric, produce like pumpkins, cucumbers, and peppers, like tomatoes, are all fruit.

Culinary Classification: A Vegetable

Tomatoes are lumped in with other vegetables because both nutritionally and culinarily we tend to only refer to botanical fruit, as fruit, if they are sweet.

For example, you wouldn't eat eggplant or tomatoes to satisfy your recommended daily serving of fruit. Since tomatoes contain less fructose (the natural sugar found in fruit) than sweeter fruits, nutritionists often consider it a vegetable.

They're also considered vegetables because, like many vegetables, tomatoes are served as part of main and side dishes, rather than desserts or snacks, as many fruits are.

It's not airtight logic, but since we culturally use the term fruit very narrowly, you can see how many fruits actually end up considered as vegetables in practice.

The Bottom Line: Both Sides Are Right

Tomatoes are both a fruit and vegetable depending on how you slice it (get it!?). Strictly speaking they are classified as a fruit, but in practical applications, and in terms of legal regulations, they are considered vegetables because of how they're used.

If you ask us, this is a bit of a to-MAY-to, to-MAH-to situation. For us, it doesn't matter what you call them, just don't forget to salt them. Fully convinced tomatoes are a fruit? Pair them with peaches in a salad or sprinkle on a little sugar, if you'd like to bring out the sweet side.