**Group 1: Staple Foods**
– **Breads**:
– Various leavened breads
– List of breads
– List of American breads
– List of brand name breads
– List of bread rolls
– **Cereals**:
– True cereals are seeds of certain grass species
– Maize, wheat, and rice provide half of yearly consumed calories
– Grains can be ground into flour for various food products
– Cereals are staple foods in many regions
– List of porridges
– **Dairy products**:
– Dairy products are derived from mammal milk
– Dairy is a high-energy food source
– Various mammals provide dairy products
– List of root vegetables
– List of potato dishes
**Group 2: Nutritional Foods**
– **Edible fungi**:
– Edible fungi are fruit bodies of macrofungi
– Criteria for edibility include taste and aroma
– Commercial cultivated Japanese edible mushrooms
– List of mushroom dishes
– **Edible nuts and seeds**:
– Nuts are fruits with hard shells and seeds
– Seeds are a major source of human calories
– Many seeds are edible and used in various food products
– List of culinary nuts
– List of edible seeds
**Group 3: Prepared and Processed Foods**
– **Prepared Foods**:
– Appetizers
– Condiments
– Confectionery
– Convenience foods
– Desserts
– **Dips, Pastes, and Spreads**:
– Dips
– Paste
– Spreads
– List of common dips
– List of food pastes
– List of spreads
– **Dried Foods**:
– Drying is a preservation method practiced worldwide since ancient times
– Earliest known food drying practice dates back to 12,000 BCE in the Middle East and Asia
– List of dried foods
– Various dried foods in a store
– Flattened fish being dried in the sun
**Group 4: International Cuisine**
– **Dumplings**:
– Dumplings are cooked dough balls with various fillings
– Dumplings may include meat, fish, vegetables, or sweets
– Cooking methods include boiling, steaming, frying, or baking
– List of dumplings
– Dumplings served with dipping sauce
– **Fast Food**:
– Fast food is prepared and served quickly, popularized in the 1950s
– Refers to food with low preparation time, often served in a packaged form
– Fast food restaurants are known for serving food via a drive-through
– Fast food cheeseburgers
– Lamb shish kebab
**Group 5: Snacks and Beverages**
– **Snack foods**:
– Gorp (good old raisins and peanuts) is a classic trail mix and snack food
– Snack food is a portion of food smaller than a regular meal, generally eaten between meals
– Snacks come in various forms including packaged and processed foods and items made from fresh ingredients at home
– List of snack foods
– **Soups**:
– Matzo ball soup
– Soup is a primarily liquid food made by combining ingredients like meat and vegetables with stock, juice, or water
– Hot soups involve boiling solid ingredients until flavors are extracted, forming a broth
– List of soups
This is a categorically-organized list of foods. Food is any substance consumed to provide nutritional support for the body. It is produced either by plants, animals, or fungi, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, and minerals. The substance is ingested by an organism and assimilated by the organism's cells in an effort to produce energy, maintain life, or stimulate growth.
Note: due to the high number of foods in existence, this article is limited to being organized categorically, based upon the main subcategories within the Foods category page, along with information about main categorical topics and list article links.