Lentils are eaten in Italy on New Year’s Eve because their coin-like shape symbolizes wealth and prosperity.
Italian New Year meals often include lentils served with cotechino, a cooked pork sausage, or with zampone, a stuffed pig’s trotter. The small, round lentils resemble coins, so eating them is associated with hopes for financial prosperity in the coming year. Their tendency to swell as they cook can also suggest growth and abundance.
The tradition is especially linked with northern Italian foodways, including the areas around Modena, where cotechino and zampone are famous specialties. Pork is also associated with abundance because the pig represents plentiful food and forward movement in some interpretations.
Not every Italian family eats the same dish, and regional menus vary widely. Lentils are the defining legume in this prosperity custom; rice, beans, and chickpeas may appear in other New Year foods but are not the canonical answer. The meal is usually served around the transition into the new year or on New Year’s Day.