The beauty of food is that it comes in all forms, shapes, and sizes. There is so much to explore, and here are 16 amazing foods that start with the letter Z. Dive into this culinary collection, from fruits, veggies, and more!

You can probably name a food item from each letter of the alphabet, but how many can you manage for each letter? If the answer is not that many, then don’t worry because that is why we are here. Today we’re taking a look at some foods beginning with the Z!

When learning about the many different foods in existence, it is common to find something new that you would like to try. This compilation has everything from healthy vegetables to drinks. You may now even recognize some of them when you browse through your next restaurant menu!

Foods that Start with Z

1. Zucchini

You may have probably come across zucchini under its French name, courgette. This tender, mild-flavored fruit contains plenty of potassium, an essential mineral for many body functions. Slice or chop them up and toss them in your favorite salad, or layer them in your burgers or on your pizza!

2. Zucchini Bread

The recipe for this bread takes zucchini and adds it to the regular batter to make a heartier, tastier loaf. Recipes will require the zucchini to be shredded or grated to mix well with the wet ingredients. Depending on your preference, the bread can retain the naturally mild flavor of the zucchini. However, some recipes like to add spices to enhance its overall taste.

3. Zagnut

The zagnut is a candy bar consisting of peanut butter enclosed in a layer of toasted coconut. It is a popular candy in many retail stores across America, the country of its origin. Many people love it for the crunchy texture of its peanut butter center. This taste is even better when combined with the outer layer of coconut.

4. Zander

Zander is a fish that closely resembles a perch or a pike. It is popular in Western Europe, where you can find it on many restaurant menus. People who love fish-based cuisines enjoy the firm, tender, and light texture of its meat. They also praise it for the few bones it has that make it easy to debone before cooking. You can enjoy it filleted or whole, cooked, smoked, or baked!

5. Zebra Cakes

The name zebra cakes describe the appearance of this tasty delight perfectly. It consists of strips of a darker, chocolaty cake in between strips of brighter vanilla cake. You can call it a type of marble cake, with the batter assembled in many alternating layers to create the zebra-like strips when baked.

Zebra cakes are also a brand of snacks from the Little Debbie company. They consist of a yellow cake with a creamy filling, topped with white icing and decorated with strips of dark chocolate fudge to make zebra stripes!

6. Zebra Gum

This bubble gum is a childhood favorite for many Americans, who loved the quirky striped look of each stick pulled out of the wrapper. The name of the brand has changed throughout the decades since its creation in the 1960s. Today, this gum goes by different names such as Yipes Stripes or Fruit stripes. The picture of the zebra remains on its packaging.

7. Zeppole

A zeppole is a sweet little pastry that is native to Italy. It is a ball of deep-fried dough coated with powdered sugar. Some pastry chefs like to include a filling in it that could range from a butter and honey mixture to a jelly or a custard. Each bite is a haven of sweetness as the soft dough and the creamy filling release to delight your taste buds.

8. Zest

Zest is a food ingredient that many people use as an additional flavoring in a meal. It is the rind of any citrus fruit that has been scraped, grated, or cut off. The most commonly used zest comes from the rinds of lemons, oranges, lime, and citron. Add some lemon or orange zest to season your salad, or use it in a marinade for the meat of your choice. You can even bake it into a cake or pastry for that extra dash of flavor!

9. Zevia

Zevia is a drink brand that creates products that have zero calories. These beverages include sodas, energy drinks, teas, mixers, and sparkling water. The company does not add any sugar to the drinks during manufacture. They are sweetened with stevia instead, a leaf extract that offers sweetness without the added calories. These drinks are popular for people on low-calorie diets that still need a beverage regularly!

10. Zhajiangmian

Zhajiangmian is a Chinese dish consisting of cooked noodles covered in Zhajiang sauce. The wheat-based noodles are thick in structure to absorb the sauce well. Zhanjiang sauce is a savory mix of soy sauce, bean sauce, and water mixed into cooked ground pork and flavored as desired. This aromatic dish is popular in China, whose visitors have brought it to western tables where it has started to gain popularity.

11. Zima

Zima is an alcoholic beverage created and promoted by the Coors Brewing Company back in the early 90s. This lightly carbonated drink is a party favorite. People loved to unwind with it after a long day or have it while they were out with their friends. The brewing company stopped producing it in the United States in 2008, with a few limited releases later in 2017 and 2018. However, the beverage is marketed and sold in Japan, where it is still popular.

12. Zingers

Zingers are popular cake-based American snacks with creamy fillings that people love for their small but sweet taste. They come in chocolate, raspberry, and vanilla flavors. The chocolate and vanilla variants are similar in that they both have icing only on top. The raspberry flavored variant is different: it is completely covered in raspberry syrup and topped with coconut shavings.

13. Ziti

Ziti is a type of pasta that people love because of its tubular shape. It is easy to confuse with penne or rigatoni, which are also tubular. Here is how to tell the difference: ziti pieces are shorter than penne but longer than rigatoni. Of the three variants, ziti also has the thickest walls. When you cook it, ziti forms pockets that carry tasty sauces mixed with it into each bite very well. Baking is the most common method to cook ziti, after boiling it in water to soften it first.

14. Zoodles

Zoodles are a creative take on regular noodles that replace the wheat-based delicacy with zucchini. They became popular because zucchini is gluten-free and also has a low-calorie density. You can make zoodles using a spiralizer, a mandolin, or a julienne peeler. The strand-like pieces you produce look like noodles, and you can enjoy them in a salad, sautéed, boiled, or even baked!

15. Zopf

Out of all the different types of bread in existence, zopf is probably one of the oldest. Its recipe is a simple combination of flour, butter, eggs, yeast, and milk. The braid-like shape of its top is its most recognizable attribute and is where it gets its name. Zopf is the German name for a braid, and it represents how cooks braid the dough before baking it into bread!

16. Zuccotto

This delicious dessert originates from Italy, from the city of Florence. It is a mouth-watering mix of ice cream, cake, and alchermes, a sweet and spicy liqueur. The liqueur is often mixed into the ice cream to give it that unique sweet taste. Always cool or chill this decadent delight because of its ice cream center. You can swap the ice cream for a different creamy filling depending on the recipe of your choice.

Summary

As far as foods that start with the letter Z go, this is just a small collection. There are likely many more food items out there, and we probably cannot name all of them. Feel free to let us know if you find any because it is always fun to learn about new foods and their origins!

Foods By the Alphabet

Foods that start with A	Foods that start with B
Foods that start with C	Foods that start with D
Foods that start with E	Foods that start with F
Foods that start with G	Foods that start with H
Foods that start with I	Foods that start with J
Foods that start with K	Foods that start with L
Foods that start with M	Foods that start with N
Foods that start with O	Foods that start with P
Foods that start with Q	Foods that start with R
Foods that start with S	Foods that start with T
Foods that start with U	Foods that start with V
Foods that start with W	Foods that start with X
Foods that start with Y	Foods that start with Z (here)