La verdura de raíz es aquella raíz usada como verdura, entendiendo como tal cualquier parte subterránea comestible de una planta, y no estrictamente lo que como tal se entiende en Botánica. Esta verdura suele ser rica en hidratos de carbono, tanto en azúcar y almidón como en otros tipos. De especial importancia económica son aquellas raíces con alto contenido en almidón, que constituyen alimentos básicos especialmente en regiones tropicales, eclipsando a los cereales en buena parte del África Occidental, América Central y Oceanía, donde se emplean directamente o machacadas para elaborar platos como el foufou o el poi.

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Root vegetables are plant roots used as vegetables. While botany distinguishes true roots such as tuberous roots and taproots from non-roots such as tubers, rhizomes, corms, and bulbs (though some contain both taproot and hypocotyl tissue, making it difficult to tell some types apart), in ordinary, agricultural, and culinary use, "root vegetable" can apply to all these types. Root vegetables are generally storage organs, enlarged to store energy in the form of carbohydrates. They differ in the concentration and the balance between sugars, starches, and other types of carbohydrate. Of particular economic importance are those with a high carbohydrate concentration in the form of starch. Starchy root vegetables are important staple foods, particularly in tropical regions, overshadowing cereals throughout much of West Africa, Central Africa, and Oceania, where they are used directly or mashed to make fufu or poi. The following list classifies root vegetables according to anatomy.

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