178 Food Riddles With Answers
Riddles about fruit, vegetables, meals and the things in your kitchen cupboard. The answers are all concrete and familiar, which makes this one of the friendliest categories for children.
They work well at the dinner table, in lunchboxes and as part of a healthy-eating lesson. Every one has its answer here.
What fruit can you use to sip water?
This puns on the word 'straw' hidden in 'strawberry' -- a drinking straw is used to sip water. (Source key printed this as 'straw-berry'; the hyphen has been removed.)
What is the longest fruit?
"Longan" (a small tropical fruit) sounds like "long one," punning on length despite the fruit itself being small.
What fruit never ever wants to be alone?
"Pear" is a homophone of "pair," meaning two together, so it "never wants to be alone."
I am a fruit, but also a shape. If you had two of me, I would sound just the same. If you rearrange my letters, it could be a crime. Add me to a montage and I can become a different fruit. Remove my head and you can still listen; take away the end and I can still be eaten. Without a piece of the centre, I am still a word; take away all of the middle and I am just an acronym. What am I?
PEAR sounds like 'pair' when doubled, rearranges into 'rape' (a crime), loses its head to become 'ear' (used to listen), loses its tail to become 'pea' (still edible), drops a middle letter to become 'per,' and stripped to its outer letters becomes 'PR,' a common acronym.
What type of drink is usually added to cereal in the morning?
Milk is the classic drink poured over cereal for breakfast.
I'm a fruit that grows on a tree. Some of my varieties include Red Delicious and Granny Smith.
Red Delicious and Granny Smith are both well-known varieties of apple.
I am so delicious that I require a house to contain me. What am I?
This is a nod to IHOP, the "International House of Pancakes" restaurant chain.
This food is a tortilla filled with cheese and sometimes chicken before being heated or cooked.
A quesadilla is a tortilla folded around cheese, and sometimes meat like chicken, and grilled or heated until melted.
What can be grown without sun or soil and can either provide nourishment or deliver poison?
Mushrooms can grow in dark, soil-free environments, and while many are edible and nutritious, some wild varieties are highly poisonous.
What has green hair, a round red head and a long thin white beard?
A radish has leafy green tops, a round red bulb, and thin white roots, resembling hair, a head, and a beard.
What is the only chain we can eat?
This is a pun: while you can't eat a metal chain, the 'food chain' is the one chain whose very name involves eating.
If you are a man then your best friend will eat this for dinner.
A dog is proverbially "man's best friend," and dogs eat dog food for dinner.
I'm a red creature from the sea with large claws, or pincers, and I'm often boiled and served as an expensive dish at seafood restaurants.
A lobster is a red-shelled sea creature with large pincer claws, a prized and pricey main course at seafood restaurants.
This Chocolate baked good is a soft candy made from sugar, butter, and milk or cream.
Fudge is a soft, sugary candy traditionally made by cooking sugar, butter, and milk or cream together.
I'm a soft, sweet food made from a mixture of flour, shortening, eggs, sugar, and other ingredients, baked and often decorated.
Cake is a sweet baked good made from flour, shortening, eggs, and sugar, often decorated with frosting.
I am a delicious way of representing data. What am I?
A pie chart is a pun-friendly, 'delicious' way to visually represent data as wedge-shaped slices.
I'm a thick slice of beef or other high-quality meat or fish that is often cooked on a grill or fried.
A steak is specifically a thick cut of high-quality meat or fish, typically grilled or fried.
It is basically a cake made of cow.
Meatloaf is ground beef ('cow') shaped and baked in a loaf pan, resembling a savory 'cake.'
I'm a lot like a pancake, except I'm a little crisper, and I'm square, with square patterns all over.
A waffle is cooked like a pancake but comes out crisper with its signature square grid pattern.
This baked dish consists of an open-topped pastry case with a savory or sweet filling.
The clue clearly describes an open-topped pastry (properly called a "tart"), but the source's own answer key lists "fan" for this entry — likely a misaligned or erroneous line in the original worksheet. We keep the source's stated answer as instructed, though "tart" is the far better fit for the wording.
What is eaten by man, served among many, grown by many, and white as snow?
Rice is a staple food eaten worldwide, served at countless meals, cultivated by farmers everywhere, and its grains are white.
It's a symbol and a fruit, For man's folly, evil's root. But also for great inspiration, and famous application.
The apple symbolizes original sin in the Bible ('evil's root'), inspired Newton's theory of gravity, and lends its name to the tech company Apple.
If you are a sore loser, you are often called the sour variety of this fruit.
The idiom 'sour grapes' describes someone who bitterly dismisses something they failed to get, like a sore loser.
This for is a baked dish of fruit, or meat and vegetables, typically with a top and base of pastry.
This describes a pie, encased in pastry on both its top and bottom.
Many people confuse me with a vegetable, but I'm actually a fruit. I'm red when I'm ripe, and I'm sliced and served on burgers.
Botanically a fruit despite being treated as a vegetable, tomatoes turn red when ripe and are commonly sliced onto burgers.
This orange vegetable is a favorite of Bugs Bunny.
Carrots are the orange vegetable famously munched on by Bugs Bunny.
This pastry is a fruit pie in which the principal filling ingredient is apples.
By definition, an apple pie is a fruit pie whose main filling is apples.
Often cooked as fillet, this meat comes from an animal that swims underwater.
Fish fillets are a common way of preparing fish, an animal that lives and swims in water.
This orange colored fruit gets its name from its color.
The orange is one of the rare cases where the fruit gave its name to the color, not the other way around.
This food is made of grated potatoes smashed together and fried in the form of a tot.
Tater tots are made from finely grated, formed, and fried potatoes shaped into small tot-sized pieces.
Edible beach crawler served at seafood restaurants, similar to a lobster, but quite different.
Crabs are crustaceans that crawl on beaches and are served in seafood restaurants, similar to but distinct from lobster.
This food, made from pork, is often eaten alongside eggs and bacon.
Sausage is a classic pork-based breakfast food commonly served alongside eggs and bacon.
You'll see savory dishes in Hong Kong sizzling in these.
The wok is the traditional round-bottomed pan used throughout Chinese and Hong Kong cooking for stir-frying sizzling dishes.
Although I may have eyes, I cannot see. I have a round brown face with lots of acne. What am I?
Potatoes have small growth buds called "eyes" and a bumpy brown skin that can resemble a face with acne.
A close relative of ketchup that people often spread on their dog.
Mustard is a condiment related to ketchup that people often put on a hot dog, playfully called 'their dog.'
This small, rolled tortilla usually has meat or cheese filling, and was originally invented in Mexico.
Taquitos are small rolled and fried tortillas filled with meat or cheese, a dish that originated in Mexico.
This food is usually grilled and put between two buns, with cheese, tomato and pickles.
A hamburger is grilled and served between two buns with classic toppings like cheese, tomato, and pickles.
The lunch destination of choice for teenagers and hospital employees.
Both schools and hospitals commonly have cafeterias where students and staff eat lunch.
What is an astronaut's favorite snack?
It's a pun on 'spaceships' -- an astronaut's favorite snack is playfully called 'space chips.'
This breakfast food is thin, flat cake or batter, usually fried and turned in a pan. It is often enjoyed with butter and syrup.
Pancakes are thin, flat, fried batter cakes traditionally served with butter and syrup.
This dish consists of a rolled tortilla with a filling typically of beef or chicken and served with a chili sauce.
An enchilada is a rolled, filled tortilla covered in chili sauce.
I'm a long, green-skinned fruit with watery flesh, usually eaten raw in salads or pickled.
A cucumber is long and green-skinned with watery flesh, commonly eaten raw in salads or pickled.
What can provide food before it is alive, while it is alive and after it's dead?
As an egg it feeds you before it's born, as a hen it lays more eggs while alive, and as meat it feeds you after being slaughtered.
I am yellow on the outside, white inside, and very appealing. What am I?
A banana has yellow skin and white flesh inside, and "a-peel-ing" is a pun on its peel.
I am the type of room you can not enter or leave. Raise from the ground below. I could be poisonous or a delicious treat. What am I?
A mushroom hides the word 'room' inside its name, rises up from the ground overnight, and depending on the species can be either a deadly poison or a delicious treat.
As soft as silk, as white as milk, as bitter as gall, a thick green wall, and a green coat covers me all.
A walnut has a soft, milky-white inner kernel that tastes slightly bitter, wrapped in a hard shell ("green wall") inside its outer green husk before it ripens.
This food is a Thanksgiving tradition.
Roast turkey is the centerpiece dish of a traditional Thanksgiving meal.
I am a nut with a hole. What am I?
This is a playful pun -- a donut is a ring-shaped sweet treat with a hole in the middle, jokingly called a 'nut.'
I am the kind of food monkey likes, and people slip on me and fall in cartoons. What am I?
Bananas are a favorite monkey snack and a classic cartoon slipping hazard thanks to their peel.
Ketchup's slightly less popular brother.
Mustard is another classic condiment bottle, usually standing right next to ketchup but a bit less favored.
This dip for chips is a spanish style sauce, mainly consisting of peppers, diced tomatoes and spices for a spicy flavor.
A spicy sauce of tomatoes, peppers, and spices served as a dip is salsa.
What has ears but can't hear?
An 'ear of corn' is the name for its edible part, but corn obviously has no ability to hear anything.
My first is in fish but no in snail. My second is in rabbit but no in tail. My third is in up but not in down. My fourth is in tiara but not in crown. My fifth is in tree you plainly see. My whole a food for you and me.
Each clue hides one letter of FRUIT - F from fish, R from rabbit, U from up, I from tiara, and T from tree - spelling out this everyday food.
What do you call a dog that sweats so much?
This is a pun on 'hot dog,' since an overheated, sweating dog would be a 'hot' dog.
I'm a vegetable that is a long, green stalk. I'm usually eaten at thanksgiving with cheese or peanut butter.
Celery stalks are often eaten with cream cheese or peanut butter, and celery is a common Thanksgiving side dish.
What kind of apple has a short temper?
'Crab apple' contains the word 'crab,' and being 'crabby' means being short-tempered.
I'm a dish of ground meat formed into a loaf shape, mixed with egg and breadcrumbs, then baked or smoked.
Ground meat shaped into a loaf with egg and breadcrumbs, then baked, is exactly meat loaf.
I'm usually served alongside burgers. I'm crispy golden potato sticks.
French fries are crispy golden potato sticks commonly served alongside burgers.
This food is a staple grain in many pantries worldwide. You often steam or boil it and serve it in a variety of different ways. One brand touts the fact that it can be cooked in 1 minute.
Rice is a pantry staple boiled or steamed worldwide, and instant rice brands famously advertise a one-minute cook time.
What hatches without food?
Hunger is a feeling that arises precisely when you lack food -- it 'hatches' (comes into being) without any food needed to trigger it.
What starts out in a field and then crashed on a stone. It becomes much more when to the fire it's thrown?
Wheat starts as grain in a field, gets ground between millstones into flour, and becomes bread once baked in a fire or oven.
Taking this from a baby is said to be quite easy.
This plays on the idiom 'like taking candy from a baby,' meaning something very easy.
This toasted sandwich is made with bacon, lettuce and tomato.
A BLT sandwich consists of Bacon, Lettuce, and Tomato, usually toasted.
These are crisp, green, and are found near deli sandwiches.
A pickle spear is the classic crisp, green side served alongside deli sandwiches.
This crisp stick-shaped roll is often enjoyed with soup or marinara sauce.
Breadsticks are the crisp, stick-shaped bread often served alongside soup or Italian meals with marinara.
I stink up your breath and fights evil vampires. What am I?
Garlic gives you strong-smelling breath and is famously believed in folklore to ward off vampires.
High fat reward for making it through another solar cycle.
This is a roundabout way of describing birthday cake, the treat you get for completing another year, or solar cycle, of life.
What is this Mexican dish consisting of a fried folded tortilla, filled with various mixtures, such as seasoned meat, beans, lettuce, and tomato?
A taco is a fried, folded tortilla filled with seasoned meat, beans, lettuce, and tomato - a Mexican classic.
What has a green top, red on its belly, seeds on the outside, and tastes great in jelly?
A strawberry has a green leafy top, red flesh, seeds dotting its outer surface, and is a popular jelly flavor.
A breakfast food that is cracked from white shells and is often scrambled. Usually served with bacon, sausage, toast or pancakes.
Eggs are cracked from shells and commonly scrambled for breakfast alongside bacon or toast.
Squeeze it and it cries tears. As red as its flesh, but its heart is made of stone.
A cherry is red inside and out, releases juice ('tears') when squeezed, and has a hard pit ('heart of stone').
This is a Japanese food consisting of cooked vinegared rice sushi-meshi combined with other ingredients, usually raw fish or other seafood.
Sushi is vinegared rice combined with other ingredients, most often raw fish or seafood, a hallmark of Japanese cuisine.
This food is a staple for households worldwide. Its definition is: An edible seed, typically kidney-shaped, growing in long pods on certain leguminous plants.
Beans are kidney-shaped edible seeds that grow in long pods on leguminous plants, a worldwide dietary staple.
A container holding water but not a cup. If you want to find me, look up. What am I?
A coconut holds coconut water inside and grows high up in palm trees, so you must look up to find one.
I am enjoyed with a pot and some pointy sticks. What am I?
Fondue is a melted-cheese or chocolate dish traditionally eaten by dipping food on long skewers into a shared pot.
I'm a pie, but I come with peperoni and cheese.
Pizza is often nicknamed a 'pie,' especially when topped with pepperoni and cheese.
What screams when put in a pot of boiling water?
Lobsters are jokingly said to 'scream' from the sound released when their shells hit boiling water, though they can't actually vocalize.
I am rubber you can eat. What am I?
Jelly-type candy (like gelatin-based sweets) has a soft, rubbery texture, but unlike real rubber, you can eat it.
This dish is usually consumed at breakfast time with milk.
Cereal is a classic breakfast food poured into a bowl with milk.
I'm a small sweet cake, typically round, flat, and crisp. I come in a variety of flavors from chocolate chip to oatmeal raisin.
A round, flat, crisp treat that comes in flavors like chocolate chip or oatmeal raisin is simply a cookie.
Famous for cheese, wine and saying "ooo la la".
France (the French) is renowned worldwide for its cheese, wine, and the playful exclamation 'ooh la la.'
I consist of several parts. Two slices of bread, usually cheese and some kind of lunch meat. What am I?
A sandwich is typically built from two slices of bread with cheese and deli meat layered between them.
This Cajun dish of rice with shrimp, chicken, and vegetables, is often enjoyed with cornbread.
Jambalaya is a classic Louisiana Cajun rice dish typically made with meat, seafood, and vegetables.
If it weren't for these, no one would be aware of Idaho's existence.
Idaho is famously known as 'The Potato State,' and its potato crop is what gives the state its widespread recognition.
A toasty and crunchy cereal would be pointless without this spice.
This points to Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal, which depends on cinnamon for its signature flavor.
You throw away my outside, you cook my inside. Then you eat my outside and you throw away my inside. What am I?
Corn on the cob has an outer husk you discard, and after cooking, you eat the kernels off the cob before tossing the cob itself.
Green on the outside but red and black inside. I am food but mostly liquid. What am I?
A watermelon has green skin outside, with red juicy flesh and black seeds inside, and it's mostly water.
What do you get when you cross a chicken and a pig?
This joke plays on the idea that crossing a chicken (which gives eggs) with a pig (which gives bacon) gives you a full breakfast: eggs and bacon.
What food has no beginning, end, or middle?
A donut is a ring-shaped food with a hole in the center, so it has no true beginning, end, or middle.
Gold in a leather bag, swinging on a tree, money after honey in its time. Ills of a scurvy crew cured by the sea, reason in its season but no rhyme.
An orange hangs on a tree in its golden peel, was once traded for good money, and its vitamin C famously cured sailors of scurvy -- and notoriously, "orange" is one of the few English words with no true rhyme.
I am edible, pink, and a great summer food. What am I?
A peach has soft pink-blushed skin and is a favorite refreshing fruit during the summer months.
I am sometimes referred to as chips. What am I?
In British English, what Americans call "french fries" are commonly called "chips."
What dish consists of tortilla chips smothered in cheese?
Nachos are the classic Tex-Mex snack of tortilla chips loaded with melted cheese and toppings.
This Mexican dish is a type of flatbread made of crushed flour or cornmeal and is cooked and then enjoyed hot or cold. It is used especially in making quesadillas.
A tortilla is a flatbread of ground corn or flour cooked on a griddle, the base ingredient for quesadillas whether served warm or cold.
I consist mostly of lettuce, along with a variety of other veggies. Ranch is one of my popular dressings. What am I?
A salad is built mainly from lettuce and other vegetables, often finished off with a dressing like ranch.
What traps a star in its belly but can be held in your hand?
Slicing an apple crosswise reveals a star-shaped pattern formed by its seeds, hidden inside a fruit small enough to hold.
I'm a food made of flour, water, and yeast or another leavening agent, mixed together and baked. You need me to make a sandwich.
Bread is made from flour, water, and a leavening agent like yeast, and it's the essential base of any sandwich.
If you're on a diet, smelling a fresh pan of brownies could be described as this.
For someone trying to avoid sweets, the smell of fresh brownies they can't eat feels like pure torture.
This is variety of pasta formed in narrow tubes, often mixed with cheese powder.
Macaroni is the small curved tube pasta most famously paired with powdered cheese in boxed mac and cheese.
I'm a flat circular spongy roll made from yeast dough and eaten toasted and buttered.
An English muffin is a round, spongy yeast bread that's typically split, toasted, and buttered.
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