35 Fruits That Start with C

Are you looking for fruits that start with C? Here are 35 fruits that begin with C, along with some helpful (and at times obscure) information about each one. 

We can think of half a dozen reasons to want a list of fruits that begin with C. If you are just preparing for trivia night or working on a school project, let these fruits that start with the letter C inspire you!

And if you are looking for a recipe featuring a C fruit, we have some of our favorites listed here.

Cabernet Sauvignon Grapes

Cabernet Sauvignon Grapes are obviously the little gems that give the world one of its most popular red wines. Now if you have a sudden urge to do something with grapes other than drink their sweet fermented nectar, check out Everything You Need To Know About Grapes .

Cacao

Cacao trees produce the cocoa bean that gives the world chocolate. The Ivory Coast is the world’s leading producer followed a distant second by Ghana. Together they produce over half the world’s cocoa. The elephant in the room here is that it is estimated that 2.1 million children work in these two countries in the labor-intensive business of harvesting the beans. A very typical scenario is a family with a small plot of land has more children than they need to work their land, and not enough money to support them all. So, many kids are “hired out” to larger plantations. The conditions on these plantations are said to vary. We aren’t necessarily passing judgement on chocolate here, but this is something to keep in mind when shopping for your next bar (check out Tony’s Chocolonely for sustainably sourced chocolate).

Calabash

Calabash are native to South America. They grow in the shape of cucumbers, but can be green or yellow and have just a single seed. They can be eaten raw, dried, or in juice. They are also used fairly extensively in traditional medicines.

Camu Camu Berries

Camu Camu Berries are a tart berry native to the Amazon rainforest. They have been eaten and used in medicine by the Amazon’s indigenous people for untold centuries. Camu Camu have begun to receive interest in the West for use in supplements as they are extremely high in vitamin C and a variety of other micro nutrients.

Canary Fruit

Canary Fruit are a bright yellow fruit that got its name for the color’s resemblance to canary feathers. It contains a soft pulp that tastes like honeydew melon. They are grown in various Asian nations.

Canistel Fruit

Canistel Fruit are also known as egg fruit or cupcake fruit. They are grown in Vietnam, Cambodia, Philippines, and elsewhere in SE Asia. The almost pear-shaped fruit are sweet with an orange to yellow skin and a very large pit. You can find these in the US, but expect to pay upwards of $20/lbs.

Cantaloupe

Cantaloupe are loaded with vitamins A & C as well as fiber and a host of other micro nutrients. 75% of cantaloupes grown in the US come from California, but China is by far the leading producer growing over half the world’s total. Cantaloupe is most often eaten fresh in balls or slices. It is great in fruit or veggie salads and, of course, as a dessert with ice cream or yogurt. This Vegetarian Curried Melon Salad is an excellent use of cantaloupe!

Caper Berries

Caper Berries are commonly used chopped finely and added to recipes, sprinkled over salads, or just eaten out of the jar. If you haven’t cooked with capers before try either of our favorite recipes that include them. Chickpea Tuna Salad Recipe (Vegetarian) and 3 Stuffed Avocados Recipes: Chickpea Tuna & More!

Carambola

Carambola are also known as Star Fruit for its five-pointed star shape. There are two types of star fruit. A larger variety that is sweeter than its similar smaller variety. You can eat these fresh as the skin is perfectly edible. You can also cut it to salads, bake it into pies, include them in your curry recipes, or make it into preserves.

Carob

Carob is a fruit that looks like a brown pea pod. The pulp and seeds can make a healthy chocolate substitute. This fruit was known to the Greeks over 4,000 years ago when they used it for medicinal purposes. To use as a chocolate substitute just use it 1 for 1. It has several advantages over cocoa: It is caffeine free, fat free, has twice the calcium of cocoa, and does not have the effect of bringing on migraines as chocolate does for a small group of people.

Cavendish Bananas

Cavendish Bananas are the world’s most common variant making up about half of global bananas. Did you know that 96% of Americans have purchased a banana in the last month? It just shows how important they are in the American diet. Uses for bananas are all but limitless, and if you want information on various varieties, nutritional data, and cooking ideas check out Bananas 101: Everything You Need To Know. Or, if you just want to skip right to healthy decadence, try this Healthy Breakfast Banana Split.

Cedar Bay Cherries

Cedar Bay Cherries are a variety that grows in Australia and Indonesia. The name comes simply from the Cedar Bay National Park in Australia. They are often eaten raw in Australia just as the many varieties in the US are 9 Unexpected Cherry Benefits (and why you should be eating more!)

Cempedak

Cempedak is a close relative to the breadfruit (similar to jackfruit). They grow in SE Asia and are known for its scaly skin and terrible smell. Locally the cempedak is often eaten raw, deep-fried, grilled, and boiled.

Cherries

Cherries grow well in cool climates. In the United States the leading producers are Washington State, California, Oregon, Wisconsin and Michigan (Go Blue! Sorry, Dad may read this). Hungry for inspiration? Try this Cherry Cheesecake Oat Cookies Recipe!

Chinese Quince

Chinese Quince is used in traditional Chinese medicine. Like other varieties of quince it is ancient. There are biblical references to the fruit in Judea, and it has grown in many areas of the world since. It is known as a drought resistant shrub that thrives in both shade and sun, and doesn’t require a whole lot of maintenance. Its fruit are a bright yellow looking rather like a pear and are fairly tart, so they are rarely eaten raw but rather made into jams or alcoholic drinks.

Chinese White Pear

Chinese White Pear are related to the Asian pear, but have a lighter skin and are more elongated like other pears. Grown in Northern China, these pears are noted for being sweet and juicy. You may be able to find these at an international market or local Asian market. They can be used like most other pears of which there are around 3,000 varieties. It is a high fiber fruit that can be eaten so many ways, raw, dried, candied, juiced, in wine, schnapps, etc. Check out our guide on Pear Types 101 and perhaps consider yet another way to enjoy pears in Pear Pizza with Gorgonzola and Thyme.

Chinoto Sour Oranges

Chinoto Sour Oranges are a tart but juicy fruit often cooked vs eaten raw. Cooking tends to caramelize the sugar giving them a sweet and tart flavor. They are grown in Italy, Southern France, and Libya.

Churchland Pears

Churchland Pears are said to have a pleasant creamy texture when ripe. They are known to have been eaten by European settlers to America as early as the 17^th Century. They were named with the belief they came from trees on church land in New England. Pears are grown and consumed in much of the world, and there are around 3,000 varieties. It is a high fiber fruit that can be eaten so many ways, raw, dried, candied, juiced, in wine, schnapps, etc.

Citron

Citron look very much like bumpy lemons. These grow around the Mediterranean and are most noted for use in Jewish religious observances. The peel is also commonly candied in the region.

Clementines

Clementines are a type of mandarin orange. They’re a hybrid of mandarin and sweet orange and very similar to other mandarins. So what is a mandarin? Mandarin oranges are a small, loose-skinned variety of the common orange, typically sweeter and less acidic than larger oranges. Thought to have originated in India, they travelled across China where they picked up the name “mandarin”. They made their way to England and Euro-tripped it down to Italy, eventually making it to the Moroccan port of Tangier, where they garnered another name, “tangerine”.

Cleopatra Mandarin

These mandarins often present with a bright orange color, but don’t be deceived they are said to be very bitter.

Coco plum

Coco plum is a Florida native fruit noted for its sweet flavor with perhaps a bit of sourness. They can be eaten raw or in preserves. They have grown in Florida likely for centuries as they are known to have been a part of the Seminole Indian diet. 

Coconut

Coconut are a fruit typed called a drupe. Drupes have a single seed and a fruity exterior. They appear to have originated as a staple food in Pacific islands 3-5,000 years ago. Fossils in New Zealand show their existence as much as 15 million years ago.

Conference Pear

Conference Pear are medium-sized pears with an elongated shape (traditional pear look) it is similar in appearance to the Bosc pear as both are cultivar of European pears. It is just one of around 3,000 varieties grown around the world. Pears are a high fiber fruit that can be eaten so many ways, raw, dried, candied, juiced, in wine, schnapps, etc.

Cornelian Cherries

Cornelian Cherries are slightly elongated and native to Southwestern Asia and Southern Europe. Looking for a fun use for whatever cherry variety you find? Try this Cherry Yogurt Popsicles recipe.

Cortland Apple

Cortland Apples are a cultivar of apple developed in New York in 1898. They are named after Cortland County New York, and are one of the 15 most popular varieties in the United States. Now that may sound like a participation trophy (15^th place, what color ribbon is that?), but consider that there are around 2,500 varieties grown in the United States. Apples have been grown and eaten since the Roman Era and quite possibly before that. If you want more information on just a few of the most popular American apples check out our Apples 101 Nutrition and Variety Guide.

Cosmic Crisp Apples

Cosmic Crisp Apples are a baby in the apple family. They were bred in Washington State in 1997. They look like a Red Delicious apple, but taste like the Honeycrisp. They were bred specifically to have a longer shelf life than other apples.

Courgette

Courgette is another name for the zucchini. They are a type of summer squash that is extremely versatile. Zucchini grow well in your home garden, but be careful to not let them grow too large (and they will) as the skin gets much harder and the seeds larger with too much growth. Zucchini are a nutritional power house with less than 5 calories per ounce but a good vitamin and mineral profile.

When explorers discovered these starchy plants, they brought them back to Europe and started growing and cultivating them there. It was in Italy that the modern-day zucchini finally came to be, where it was dubbed zucchino (little squash). The zucchini made its way back to America in the 1920s, where it was ignored by the average consumer for about 50 years. We just didn’t know what we were missing! But it’s okay, today we’ve got an entire arsenal of zucchini recipes from zucchini noodles to stuffed zucchini to zucchini desert crisp!

Crab Apples

Crab Apples are often grown for their tree’s appearance and spring flowers. Less often are they grown for their fruit which is smaller and more tart than most other apples. Still, they are often considered usable in preserves and cider. You can eat crab apples raw, and the larger apples are generally less tart.

Cranberries

Cranberries, unlike sweet potato casserole and mashed potatoes, were very likely actually served at the very first Thanksgiving in 1621. They’re one of a few commercial fruits native to North America (along with blueberries and Concord grapes) and were a staple for Native Americans, who would mash them up with game meat and fats to create little energy bites. We haven’t tried to resurrect these 17^th Century bites, but our Chocolate-Dipped Chewy Granola Bars would likely be a fine surrogate. For more on Cranberry nutrition and a whole lot more check out Cranberries 101.

Crimson Delight Apples

Crimson Delight Apples are great apples for commercial sale as well as cooking. They are bruise resistant and last up to 6 months in your fridge. Give them a try in The EASIEST Vegan Apple Crisp Recipe.

Crimson Gold Apples

Crimson Gold Apples are aptly named as they are a red apple with golden stripes. They are actually a partial product of crabapples which is why their flavor has a tint of tartness to it.

Crispin Apples

Crispin Apples originated in Japan, but are available much more broadly today. It has particularly sweet and juicy flesh that makes it ideal for biting into raw. There may be as many as 30,000 apple varieties worldwide today, and 2,500 of these are grown in the United States. Apples have been grown and eaten since the Roman Era and quite possibly before that.

Cucumbers

Cucumbers are technically a fruit, though I think most of us consider them a vegetable. I mean, have you ever put diced cucumber on your breakfast cereal or in yogurt? Neither have we, but we will stick with the fruit designation here. Cucumbers are decidedly low calorie as they have under 5 calories per ounce. This is because they are 95% water. They are also low in most micro nutrients. For more on cucumbers check out our Cucumber 101.

Custard Apple

Custard Apple are an odd-looking variety growing in a variety of shapes. Their taste is said to be very inconsistent. Given that there are 2,500 variety of apples grown just in the United States, you can probably do better than to use these.