菠菜（学名：Spinacia oleracea），又名菠薐、鹦鹉菜、红根菜及飞龙菜，是苋科的一种植物，性喜冷凉气候，耐寒性强，适于沙壤或粘土壤生长，根和叶子可以食用。菠菜于7世纪左右由尼泊尔传入中国，古代称“菠薐菜”（“菠薐”系源于古国名palinga，即今尼泊尔）；在潮汕地区，因“菠薐”音近“飞龙”而被讹为“飞龙菜”。现已是一道家常菜。菠菜经常用来烧汤，凉拌，单炒，和配荤菜合炒或垫盘。

中国常吃的菠菜比较小，有时整棵连根一起凉拌，嫩红的根和碧绿的叶子，非常漂亮。菠菜一年四季都可以收获，通常春天的菠菜比较嫩小，适合凉拌，而秋天的粗大，比较适合熟食。但是现在有很多温室培养的菠菜，一年到头都是一样的。

Spinach (Spinacia oleracea) is an edible flowering plant in the family Amaranthaceae native to central and western Asia.

It is an annual plant (rarely biennial), which grows up to 30 cm tall. Spinach may survive over winter in temperate regions. The leaves are alternate, simple, ovate to triangular, and very variable in size from about 2–30 cm long and 1–15 cm broad, with larger leaves at the base of the plant and small leaves higher on the flowering stem. The flowers are inconspicuous, yellow-green, 3–4 mm in diameter, maturing into a small, hard, dry, lumpy fruit cluster 5–10 mm across containing several seeds.