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What are Baby Artichokes?

Question:
What are baby artichokes?

Answer:
Baby artichokes aren’t actually babies, they are adults! Smaller artichokes, known as “baby artichokes”, are simply small for their age. The reasons for their stunted growth and the advantages of choosing a baby artichoke follow.

Shown below is one globe artichoke in the background with baby artichokes in the foreground (the 1/2 artichoke is also a baby).

What are Baby Artichokes?

What is a Baby Artichoke?

Baby artichokes are full term artichokes, in the U.S. at least (please read all bullets).

They are small for their age because they grew in lower positions on the artichoke plant.
Because of their placement on the plant, they grew up shaded by both the leaves and larger artichokes growing higher above them on the plant.

These baby artichokes don’t develop the fibrous choke that develops in full sized artichokes.

The entire baby artichoke can be eaten whole, even the stem! Therefore, less waste!!

They’re much less work to prepare than full grown globe artichokes for the above reasons.

Baby artichokes can be eaten raw or cooked. Simply wash them and they’re ready to go! For some of the larger babies it may be necessary to remove a few of the outermost leaves, but this not usually the case.

In Europe, baby artichokes are actually young artichokes. They are harvested before they grow large.

What are Baby Artichokes?

Additional Information

To find out what baby carrots are (hint: much different than baby artichokes), see our baby carrot page.

To find out how long other foods are good for, please visit the Dairy, Drinks, Fruits, Grains, Proteins, Vegetables and Other sections of Eat By Date or use the search function below.