Lentils are the traditional New Year's Eve food associated with prosperity in Italy.
Italian New Year’s meals commonly include lentils because their small, round shape resembles coins. Eating them is therefore linked with hopes for wealth and financial good fortune in the coming year. They are frequently served with cotechino or zampone, rich pork products that are also connected with abundance and celebration.
The meal is part of a wider set of Italian Capodanno customs. Fireworks, festive gatherings, and symbolic foods vary across regions and families, so no single menu applies everywhere. The lentil tradition remains recognizable because it combines an everyday ingredient with an easily understood visual symbol.
Lentils are sometimes confused with the grapes used in Spain’s midnight ritual or with black-eyed peas associated with New Year food traditions in parts of the United States. Those customs have different cultural histories, even though all connect food with good fortune.