Lentils are a traditional Italian New Year’s Eve food associated with good fortune because their shape resembles coins.
In Italy, lentils are commonly served around New Year with cotechino, a seasoned pork sausage, or zampone, a stuffed pig’s trotter. Their small, round, coin-like appearance links them symbolically with prosperity and financial luck in the coming year. The dish is especially associated with northern Italian culinary traditions, though customs vary across the country.
Cotechino is made from pork and is traditionally cooked slowly before being sliced. Zampone uses a pig’s trotter as its casing. Pork can symbolize abundance, while lentils represent wealth, so the pairing carries more than one good-luck association.
These foods are cultural symbols rather than guarantees of fortune. Italian New Year meals differ by region, and not every household serves the same menu. The lentil tradition should also be distinguished from Spain’s midnight grapes, another New Year custom involving a food with a precise symbolic role.