Last Updated on May 17, 2021 by April
Coming up with foods that start with K is pretty challenging! While other letters have dozens upon dozens of food examples, K foods are relatively more difficult to name. So if trivia night is coming up soon, you will want to brush up on your list of foods beginning with the letter K.
Whether you are searching for fruits, vegetables, breakfast food, snack foods, or desserts that start with K, look below for your trivia needs. Enjoy!
Foods That Start With K
Kabobs
Kabobs are a mixture of kabocha squash, red pepper, green onion, and garlic. This dish is a perfect appetizer that can be served with pita bread as an accompaniment or in futomaki rolls to make delicious sushi.
Kabobs are often grilled over a charcoal grill and are also kabobs with corn.
Kelp Noodles
Kelp noodles are an increasingly popular gluten-free, vegan noodle option that is made from dried seaweed! These noodles create the perfect replacement for pasta or rice dishes in your diet. They have no flavor on their own, so you will want to add seasoning.
Kaffir Lime
Kaffir lime is a type of citrus fruit that is used in Southeast Asian cuisine. It is believed that the kaffir lime was brought to Thailand by Dutch sailors and planted in their gardens for use as a house plant.
Kale Chips
This yummy recipe consists of kale, olive oil, salt, pepper, chili flakes or powder (optional), lemon juice, and garlic. Kale chips are perfect for a snack because they’re crunchy, salty, and healthy!
Kahlua
Kahlua is a coffee liqueur that is distilled from ground roasted cocoa beans, sugar, and water. It is the best-selling coffee liqueur brand in North America after Baileys Irish Cream.
Kahlua is often used in cocktails like the White Russian, The Dirty Snowman, and Red Snapper.
Kalbi
This Korean dish consists of short beef ribs that are slow-cooked until they’re super tender. Kalbi is typically served with rice or lettuce as a wrap for kalbi meat.
Kale
Kale is a leafy green vegetable that is often called “the queen of greens.” Kale has a slightly peppery cabbage-like taste and it pairs well with pasta, in soups or stews, or as coleslaw.
Kale is rich in vitamin A, vitamin C, and iron.
Kamaboko
This Japanese dish is a steamed fish cake that is often shaped like small logs or as squares. Kamaboko can be served plain with soy sauce on the side, or it can also come pre-seasoned in ketchup-style sauces such as tomato ketchup, mayonnaise, and spicy ketchup.
Kamaboko is typically served with rice, and the dish can also be eaten as a sandwich or in an onigiri.
Kanten (sweet Japanese jelly)
This gelatin dessert that’s made from agar-agar, which is derived from seaweed. The jello is really easy to make and is great for filling.
Kasha
Kasha is a dish made from buckwheat groats, which are roasted and then ground. Kasha is a dish that often includes other ingredients such as meat or vegetables; it can also be served on its own with a hot beverage for breakfast.
Kava
Kava is a plant native to the Pacific Islands that is used for medicinal and recreational purposes. It’s also known as kava-kava, awa, yaqona or sakau. Kava produces a calming effect which can be helpful in anxiety disorders.
Kava is in dishes like desserts, soups, or salads.
Kecap Manis
Kecap manis is a sweet soy sauce used in Indonesian cuisine. It can be made with palm or cane sugar and has a thicker consistency than regular soy sauces. Kecap manis is also called kecap asin, kicap manis, ketjap, soya sauce (not to be confused with the Chinese variety), and dark soy sauce.
Kedgeree
Kedgeree is a dish made with rice and smoked haddock. It’s a popular dish served in India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and the United Kingdom.
Kefta
A kefta is an Arabic meatball-like food that can be grilled or fried. Keftas are usually lamb-based, but there are also beef varieties as well as vegetarian versions.
Ketchup
This condiment is made from tomatoes that have been cooked with vinegar or wine to create a ketchup sauce base. The mixture of the two ingredients can be further seasoned with salt and spices such as garlic powder, paprika, and cayenne pepper.
Ketchup is a type of sauce that can be made from either tomatoes or corn, depending on the area in which the ketchup was created; these sauces are sometimes called tomato ketchup and corn ketchup, respectively.
Ketembilla
Ketembilla is a Tunisian dish consisting of a filling made from kettu, eggs, and onion.
This is wrapped in the dough, made by cooking semolina flour and then kneading it until the gluten has been developed sufficiently. The dough can then be shaped into flat circles and grilled or fried before being served with harissa sauce on top to add flavor.
Kettle Corn
Kettle corn is a sweet and salty popcorn cooked in a large kettle, then seasoned with salt. It was invented in the 1880s in Coney Island, New York, and became popular at carnivals, fairs, amusement parks, and circuses.
Key Lime Pie
Key lime pie is a dessert made from key lime or Persian limes, eggs, sweetened condensed milk, and cream of tartar.
It is typically served with whipped cream on top and a graham cracker crust base.
This pie gained popularity in the U.S. during the 1930s when an influx of Florida Key Limes caused it to be much more readily available.
Kidney Beans
Kidney beans are grown in temperate climates in both the Southern and Northern Hemispheres.
The name comes from their shape, which resembles that of a kidney or similar organ.
It is also known as “red beans” because it turns red when cooked before being dried.
Kidney beans are often used to make chili con carne, baked bean soup, and red beans and rice.
Kielbasa
Kielbasa is a type of Polish sausage made from smoked pork.
In the United States, kielbasa is often served with sauerkraut and paprika as a cold cut sandwich or by itself in its casing.
Kielbasa is found in dishes like kielbasa and sauerkraut, or kielbasa sandwiches.
Want to see more food lists? Check out these foods that start with the letter U.
Kimchi
Kimchi is a traditional fermented Korean side dish made from vegetables, most commonly napa cabbage or radish, in combination with salt, garlic, chili pepper powder or paste (gochugaru), jalapeño peppers if the kimchi will not be consumed immediately following preparation.
Kimchi can be found in dishes like kimchi fried rice, kimchi soup, or korean stew.
King oyster mushroom
The king oyster mushroom is a variety of button mushrooms native to Japan and Taiwan. It has been introduced in other parts of Asia, such as China, where it was first cultivated on an industrial scale for the Taiwanese market before the 1980s.
King oyster mushrooms are typically eaten in dishes like king oyster mushroom soup, or Korean stew.
King Crab
King crab is a type of crab with meat that is considered to be the highest quality among all crabs, and it has a sweet taste.
Kingfish
Kingfish is a type of fish that is also known as king mackerel. You can find it eaten in dishes such as Korean stew.
King salmon
King Salmon are a variety of Pacific Salmon which grow to enormous size and can weigh up to 200 pounds or more, depending on the species.
Kipper
Kipper is a British English term for a fish that has been split, gutted, and then cold smoked.
Kirsch
Kirsch is a German word meaning cherry (corylus avellana). It is also an ingredient in some liquors, including kirschwasser.
Kit Kat
Kit Kats were invented in the 1930s and became a popular snack in the 1970s. It is made from chocolate, wafer, and cream filling.
Kiwi
Kiwifruit is a type of fruit that’s native to China, which resembles the gooseberry in appearance and texture but tastes like a mixture between strawberry and banana. They are green on the outside with brown fuzzy flesh inside when ripe.
Kiwi Berries
Kiwi berries are the unripened fruit of the kiwifruit plant.
Knish
A knish is a traditional Jewish Eastern European dish, or street food, consisting mainly of potato filling in dough pastry with variations like onion and matzo meal. It’s often deep-fried before serving.
Kumquat
Kumquats are a type of citrus fruit that is usually eaten whole like an apple. They can be peeled by hand or with a knife and have a sweet flavor similar to orange but with hints of cinnamon, clove, peppermint, vanilla, and ginger.
Kohlrabi
Kohlrabi is a member of the cabbage family. It has light green or purple-tinged leaves that grow around a sturdy and edible stem topped with clusters of small white flowers, followed by long strings of tender white bulbs that look like an enlarged version of celery stalks.
Kumara
Kumara is also known as a sweet potato in most parts of the world. It’s a starchy, tuberous root vegetable.
Kosher Pickles
Kosher pickles are fruit and vegetable pickles that are prepared according to Jewish dietary law (kosher).
Koshihkari Rice
Koshihkari rice is a Japanese rice variety with unusually high amylopectin content.
Kudzu
Kudzu is a plant species in the genus Pueraria, a climbing plant native to Asia, with large heart-shaped leaves and long racemes of purple flowers.
Kung Pao Chicken
Kung pao chicken is a dish originating in Sichuan Province, China. It is made with a spicy sauce, chicken (typically cut into small cubes), and vegetables.
It is a dish that has many variations in preparation involving the use of different ingredients for specific regions or individual taste preferences. The flavor is usually described as one compiled from sweet, sour, savory, and spicy tastes with a good amount of sesame oil infused into the chicken.
Kvass / Kombucha
Kvass is a traditional Slavic and Baltic fermented drink made from rye bread, yeast, sugar/honey, or fruits with very low alcohol content.
Kvass was drunk by eastern Slavs since medieval times until the introduction of beer to Eastern Europe in the late Middle Ages; it is still popular among Russians today. Kvass has been called “the Russian national drink”.
Known as “kvasschik,” kombucha’s history is traced back to the early 20th century when it was first made in Russia and later spread throughout Eastern Europe. The probiotics in kombucha are believed by some cultural groups to aid digestion, detoxify and energize; however, there is no clinical research to support this belief.
Kombucha is a fermented, lightly sweetened black or green tea that contains acetic acid bacteria and yeast (also called SCOBY) cultures.
Technically speaking kvass does not contain alcohol because it’s made from bread instead of grain but the fermentation process can result in trace amounts of alcohol.
Did you enjoy this list of foods that start with K? Please let me know in the comments about all the food lists you would like to see.
Thanks for reading. 🙂
