Food Riddles With Answers
Updated · Best Riddles With Answers editorial team
Quick answer: This page serves up 42 food riddles with answers for families, teachers and anyone who loves a kitchen puzzle. The easy riddles describe familiar meals and snacks, the middle sets use clues about vegetables and ingredients, and the hard set mixes brain teasers with number puzzles. Fruit has its own page, so these riddles stick to everything else on the table.
Easy Food Riddles
I rise in the oven, you slice me up, and I make the best toast. What am I?
Bread
I have no door and no lid, yet there is golden treasure inside me. What am I?
An egg
I am yellow, I can have holes, and mice love to nibble me. What am I?
Cheese
I am round and flat, with sauce, cheese and toppings, and I am cut into triangles. What am I?
A pizza
I am a hard little kernel, but when I get hot I pop and turn white and fluffy. What am I?
Popcorn
I am flat and round, you flip me in the pan, and I taste great with syrup. What am I?
A pancake
I am long and thin, wound around a fork, and I often come with tomato sauce. What am I?
Spaghetti
I am two slices of bread with a filling in between. What am I?
A sandwich
I am baked until golden, often with chocolate chips, and you dunk me in milk. What am I?
A cookie
I am hot and liquid, you eat me with a spoon from a bowl. What am I?
Soup
I am made by churning cream, and I melt on warm toast. What am I?
Butter
Bees make me, I am golden and sticky, and I taste sweet on a spoon. What am I?
Honey
Trickier Food Riddles
I have many eyes, but I cannot see. You can bake me, boil me or mash me. What am I?
A potato
I have ears but I cannot hear, and I am eaten as a golden cob. What am I?
Sweetcorn (corn)
I have layers like a coat, and I make you cry when you cut me. What am I?
An onion
I am a black dust in a grinder, and I make you sneeze. What am I?
Pepper
I am white and sweet, I dissolve in tea, and too much of me is bad for your teeth. What am I?
Sugar
I am a bulb made of small cloves, and my strong smell is said to scare off vampires. What am I?
Garlic
I am a white powder ground from wheat, and no loaf or cake can be made without me. What am I?
Flour
I am a tiny living thing that feeds on sugar and gives off gas, which makes bread dough rise. What am I?
Yeast
I am long, green and crisp, and when I am soaked in vinegar I become a pickle. What am I?
A cucumber
I look like a tiny tree, I am green, and many children refuse to eat me. What am I?
Broccoli
I jump out of a machine when I am brown and crisp, and I am ready for butter. What am I?
Toast
I grow in damp, dark places, I have a cap and a stalk, and I am a fungus, not a plant. What am I?
A mushroom
Hard Food Riddles
What two meals can you never eat before breakfast?
Lunch and dinner
A pizza has 8 slices. Tom eats 2, and then Ann eats half of what is left. How many slices remain?
3, because 8 - 2 = 6, half of 6 is 3, and 6 - 3 = 3
Five machines make 5 pancakes in 5 minutes. How long would 100 machines take to make 100 pancakes?
5 minutes, because each machine makes one pancake in 5 minutes
It takes 4 minutes to boil one egg in a pot. How long does it take to boil 3 eggs in the same pot at the same time?
4 minutes, because they cook together
A baker makes 60 loaves, sells 40 percent, and later sells a quarter of those that are left. How many loaves remain?
27. 40 percent of 60 is 24 sold, leaving 36; a quarter of 36 is 9, and 36 - 9 = 27
Two fathers and two sons each order a burger, but only three burgers are served. How is this possible?
There are only three people: a grandfather, his son and his grandson
You throw away the outside, cook the inside, eat the outside, and throw away the inside. What am I?
Corn on the cob (you remove the husk, cook the cob, eat the kernels and discard the core)
I am full of holes, and the more holes I have, the less of me there is. What am I?
Swiss cheese
What kind of cup can never hold a drink?
A cupcake
A recipe uses 3 eggs for each cake. Mum bakes 4 cakes and already has 5 eggs. How many more eggs does she need?
7, because 4 x 3 = 12 and 12 - 5 = 7
Quick-Fire Food Riddles
Long thin strands slurped from a bowl of broth. What am I?
Noodles
Tiny white grains grown in flooded fields. What am I?
Rice
A salty bread twisted into a knot. What am I?
A pretzel
A folded tortilla stuffed with filling. What am I?
A taco
Rolled rice and seaweed, often with fish. What am I?
Sushi
A square grid pattern, hot from the iron, full of syrup. What am I?
A waffle
A patty in a bun, with a pickle on top. What am I?
A burger
A sausage in a long bun with mustard. What am I?
A hot dog
How to Use These Food Riddles
Food riddles are ideal at the table. Read one before dinner and let everyone guess while the meal cooks, or tuck a riddle into a lunchbox with the answer written on the napkin. The easy set suits children who know the dishes by sight.
In a cooking lesson, use the ingredient riddles as a warm-up and ask pupils to taste or smell the answer if it is safe. The maths riddles turn recipes and portions into a practical problem.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a good food riddle for kids?
Try 'I have no door and no lid, yet there is golden treasure inside me.' The answer is an egg. Riddles about bread, pizza and honey are easy for young children to solve.
What is the answer to the riddle about two fathers and two sons?
There are three people, not four: a grandfather, his son and his grandson. The grandfather and the son are both fathers, and the son and the grandson are both sons, so three burgers are enough.
Why do onions make you cry?
Cutting an onion breaks its cells and releases a gas that reacts with moisture in your eyes to form a mild irritant. Your eyes produce tears to wash it away. A sharp knife and a chilled onion help.
Are fruit riddles included here?
No. Fruit has its own riddles page, so this page covers breads, meals, vegetables, ingredients and snacks. That way each page has different riddles to offer.
