We’re already done tackling foods that begin with the letter I, so are you ready for the next challenge?

There are many foods that start with J, some of which are jalapeño poppers, jackfruit, and my favorite rice dish, the jambalaya. But can you name at least 26 items?

Sure, you can! But with my help, I hope.

Today, I’m going to share this collection of foods that begin with J, and let’s see if you’re already familiar with some of these.

1. Jambalaya

Jambalaya is a popular rice dish that originates in South Louisiana. It features meat (whether pork, chicken, or rabbit), seafood like shrimp, crab, and crawfish, cooked vegetables, stock, rice, herbs, and spices.

The dish is similar to a pilaf or biryani, one of the popular rice dishes of India.

2. Jaegerschnitzel

Jaegerschnitzel is one of the popular and tastiest foods in Germany. The dish has crispy breaded pork cutlets served with rich mushroom gravy. It’s a great bet to partner with pommes (french fries), potato salad, and German cucumber salad.

3. Jalapeño

Jalapeño is a small spicy chili pepper that belongs to the hot pepper family. It has a green or red color with a moderately spicy flavor profile. It’s quite known in Mexican cuisine, but cooks throughout the world start to use this chili in their daily cooking.

You can enjoy jalapeños by tossing them raw in salads, salsa, and guacamoles or blend them into smoothies.

4. Jalapeño poppers

Jalapeño poppers are delicious finger food or appetizer made from sliced Jalapeños filled with cream cheese filling and topped with crispy panko topping. They’re then baked until they reach golden-brown perfection.

Jalapeño poppers are best served along with ranch or blue cheese dressing.

5. Jota

If you’re new to it, jota is a stew dish with beans and sauerkraut cooked together with pancetta, potatoes, cumin, and bay leaves. It’s a great food that can warm you up on a cold day. Jota is delicious when served with crusty bread.

6. Johnnycakes

Johnnycakes are essentially all-corn pancakes.

The treat is made with yellow or white cornmeal, sugar, water, butter, and milk. The cakes are fried until they become crispy and have a golden brown color. It’s traditionally served hot with butter, maple butter, or maple syrup on top.

7. Jewish rye bread

It’s a type of rye bread made quite popularly in Jewish communities. Jewish rye bread has a slightly chewy texture with nice flavors, coming from molasses and caraway seeds. Also, it should complement your corned beef and pastrami.

8. Jambon sauce au madère

Jambon sauce au madère is a savory ham-based dish that originated in France. The dish features minted carrots, cabbage, ham steaks seasoned with a special sauce made from ham stock and Madeira. Partner it with garlic mashed potatoes to experience a party in your mouth.

9. Juliet tomatoes

Juliet tomatoes, also known as Santa grape tomatoes, have a very juicy and sweet flavor with a perfect one-bite size. It’s a good inclusion to salads, pasta, sauces, and soups.

10. Jam

Like jelly, jam is one of the popular fruit spreads present in every household throughout the globe. It’s made from crushed or ground fruit, turning it into a thick mixture.

Moreover, strawberry is one of the people’s favorite flavors when it comes to jams.

11. Jelly

Jelly is also made from fruit or vegetable juice, extracted through crushing fruit until it softens. The pulp and peels are then separated from the juice that then ensures that familiar, transparent appearance.

12. Jocoque

Pronounced as ho-KO-Keh, Jjocoque is a buttermilk-style cream with sharp and tangy flavor profiles and a thick yogurt texture. This product is a staple in Mexican cuisine.

13. Jackfruit

Jackfruit is a tropical fruit that’s native to South India, but it also grows in most tropical regions. It has a subtly sweet flavor perfect for including in both sweet and savory dishes. Ripe jackfruit is best for desserts, while the unripe ones are good to include in tasty recipes.

14. Japanese plum

Like other plums, the Japanese plum is a smooth-skinned, firm fruit. When fully ripe, the fruit features a dusky yellow color and tastes like the combination of peach and apricot. You can turn them into jam, jellies or use them in baking goods.

15. Juneberry

Juneberry is also known as serviceberries, saskatoon, and shadbush. The edible fruit has two main species: the Amelanchier Alnifolia and Amelanchier Canadensis.

It’s sometimes compared to black cherries, blackberries, and blueberries due to its mild and sweet flavor. It can be eaten fresh or include salads, jams, and pies.

16. Jelly doughnut

Jelly doughnut is a doughnut filled with jam or jelly filling. According to historian Gil Marks, the first record of jelly doughnuts appeared in the cookbook Kuchenmeister (Mastery of the Kitchen) in Germany. The first jelly doughnut is named “Gefüllte Krapfen” and described as “a bit of jam sandwiched between two rounds of yeast bread dough and deep-fried in lard.”

17. Jasmine tea

Jasmine tea is made from green tea leaves and is scented with fresh jasmine blossoms. Typically, this tea variety features a delicate and subtle flavor with sweet floral notes and a pleasant aroma.

18. Jaga bata

Jaga bata comes from the two words, Jaga means potato and bata or butter in Japanese. This is a simple snack featuring steamed, baked, or boiled potatoes with butter and seasoning. It’s often being sold at the O-hanami festival over the scenery of cherry blossoms in full bloom.

19. Jerk chicken

Jerk chicken is a spicy grilled meat-based dish commonly found in the Caribbean and Jamaican cuisine. It’s typically made from chicken and beef, pork goat, boar, or seafood. The meat is then covered with spices and grilled at a low heat to achieve a nice smokey flavor.

20. Jook

Jook is a staple rice porridge that Asian people commonly enjoy. You need chicken, chicken broth, rice, ginger, scallions, and sesame oil or ground white pepper for finishing to create one.

21. Junket pudding

Junket is a milk-based dessert formed with a combination of raw organic milk (pasteurized milk will do but add active kefir to the mixture), maple syrup, ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, cardamom, and liquid rennet or rennet tablet.

22. Jumble

Jumbles are simple butter cookies made with flour, sugar, eggs, and butter. You can flavor the mixture using vanilla, anise, caraway seeds, or almonds.

23. Jewfish

Also known as Atlantic goliath grouper, jewfish is a large saltwater fish primarily in shallow tropical waters among coral and artificial reefs.

According to www.fisheries .noaa.gov, the fish was once overfished in the southeastern United States waters and considered for listing under the Endangered Species Act.

24. Jicama

Jicama is a versatile root vegetable with papery, golden-brown skin and a starchy white interior. Ideally, it’s eaten raw, or you can add it to your vegetable salad. If you’re into fruit, try combining it with mango, pineapple, or papaya to create a fruit salad.

25. Jalebi

Jalebi is an Indian popular dessert being served during weddings, celebrations, and festivals.

If you’re unfamiliar with it, it has a spiral shape with a crispy texture and sweet flavor profile. Jalebi is made from all-purpose flour, gram flour, and sugar syrup.

26. Jameed

Jameed is a well-known food in the Arab world, specifically in the eastern Mediterranean and Iraq. It’s formed by combining hard, dry yogurt from ewe or goat’s milk.

Jameed is one of the key ingredients in making mansaf, a traditional lamb-based Arab dish.

The bottom line

You’ve probably come across some of these foods, but if you happen to hear it for the first time, then you’re welcome! A few of these items are found in different countries and continents all over the world.

So that’s it! I hope you learn something from me today, and you’ll include some of the exciting facts about these foods in your culinary and vocabulary knowledge.