Italian meal structure is typical of the European Mediterranean region and differs from that of Northern, Central, and Eastern Europe, although it still often consists of

breakfast Breakfast is the first meal of the day usually eaten in the morning. The word in English refers to breaking the fasting period of the previous night. Various "typical" or "traditional" breakfast menus exist, with food choices varying by regi ...

(''colazione''),

lunch Lunch is a meal typically consumed around the middle of the day, following breakfast and preceding dinner. It varies in form, size, and significance across cultures and historical periods. In some societies, lunch constitutes the main meal ...

(''pranzo''), and

supper Supper is used commonly as the term for the main evening meal, although its use varies considerably. Supper may be used to describe a snack or light meal in the evening, either after or instead of dinner. Etymology The term is derived from th ...

(''cena''). However, breakfast itself is often skipped or is lighter than that of non-Mediterranean Europe. Late-morning and mid-afternoon snacks, called '' merenda'' (: ''merende''), are also often eaten. Full meals in Italy contain four or five courses. Especially on weekends, meals are often seen as a time to spend with family and friends rather than simply for sustenance; thus, meals tend to be longer than elsewhere. During holidays such as Christmas and New Year's Eve, feasts can last for hours. Today, full-course meals are mainly reserved for special events such as

wedding A wedding is a ceremony in which two people are united in marriage. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnicity, ethnicities, Race (human categorization), races, religions, Religious denomination, denominations, Cou ...

s, while everyday meals include only a first or second course (sometimes both), a

side dish A side dish, sometimes referred to as a side order, side item, or simply a side, is a food item that accompanies the entrée or main course at a meal.breakfast Breakfast is the first meal of the day usually eaten in the morning. The word in English refers to breaking the fasting period of the previous night. Various "typical" or "traditional" breakfast menus exist, with food choices varying by regi ...

(''colazione'') is sweet, consumed at home or at a café. If the breakfast is consumed at home, it consists of

coffee Coffee is a beverage brewed from roasted, ground coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content, but decaffeinated coffee is also commercially a ...

(

espresso Espresso (, ) is a concentrated form of coffee produced by forcing hot water under high pressure through finely ground coffee beans. Originating in Italy, espresso has become one of the most popular coffee-brewing methods worldwide. It is cha ...

or prepared with a moka pot), milk or caffè latte accompanied by baked goods such as

biscuit A biscuit is a flour-based baked food item. Biscuits are typically hard, flat, and unleavened. They are usually sweet and may be made with sugar, chocolate, icing, jam, ginger, or cinnamon. They can also be savoury, similar to crackers. ...

s, for example

shortbread Shortbread or shortie is a traditional Scottish biscuit usually made from one part sugar, white sugar, two parts butter and three to four parts plain flour, plain wheat flour. Shortbread does not contain leavening, such as baking powder or bakin ...

, or by slices of

bread Bread is a baked food product made from water, flour, and often yeast. It is a staple food across the world, particularly in Europe and the Middle East. Throughout recorded history and around the world, it has been an important part of many cu ...

spread with

butter Butter is a dairy product made from the fat and protein components of Churning (butter), churned cream. It is a semi-solid emulsion at room temperature, consisting of approximately 81% butterfat. It is used at room temperature as a spread (food ...

and jam or with

honey Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several species of bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of pl ...

or '' gianduja'' cream, made with chocolate and hazelnuts. Milk is sometimes replaced by fruit juice. On some special occasions, such as Sundays or holidays, there may also be more baked goods, such as

cakes Cake is a flour confection usually made from flour, sugar, and other ingredients and is usually baked. In their oldest forms, cakes were modifications of bread, but cakes now cover a wide range of preparations that can be simple or elabora ...

pies A pie is a Baking, baked dish which is usually made of a pastry dough casing that contains a filling of various sweetness, sweet or Savoury taste, savoury ingredients. Sweet pies may be filled with fruit (as in an apple pie), nuts (pecan pie) ...

pastries Pastry refers to a variety of doughs (often enriched with fat or eggs), as well as the sweet and savoury baked goods made from them. The dough may be accordingly called pastry dough for clarity. Sweetened pastries are often described as '' bak ...

, or other regional specialties. If breakfast is consumed at a café, espresso coffee predominates, together with

cappuccino Cappuccino (, ; from German ) is an espresso-based coffee drink traditionally prepared with steamed milk, including a layer of milk foam. Variations of the drink involve the use of cream instead of milk, using non-dairy milk substitutes ...

or ''

latte macchiato () is a coffee beverage. The name is Italian for 'stained milk', referring to the way the drink is prepared, by pouring a shot of espresso into steamed milk. It is a play on , an older drink consisting of espresso marked with a dollop or two o ...

'', accompanied by a '' cornetto,'' '' bombolone'', or other pastry; however, the choice of breakfast desserts is varied, some of which are often present only in certain regions or cities. In recent decades, other types of coffee drinks have also spread, such as '' mocaccino'' and '' marocchino''. Much less frequent, but not completely unusual, is the savory breakfast (although much lighter and frugal than other European savory breakfasts), often consisting of

focaccia Focaccia is a Flatbread, flat leavening agent, leavened oven-baked Italian cuisine, Italian bread. In Rome, it is similar to a type of flatbread called (). Focaccia may be served as a side dish or as sandwich bread and it may be round, rectang ...

(of different types and depending on the region) or even just toasted homemade bread seasoned with extra virgin

olive oil Olive oil is a vegetable oil obtained by pressing whole olives (the fruit of ''Olea europaea'', a traditional Tree fruit, tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin) and extracting the oil. It is commonly used in cooking for frying foods, as a cond ...

, tomato or sliced

salami Salami ( ; : ''salame'') is a ''salume'' consisting of fermented and air-dried meat, typically pork. Historically, salami was popular among Southern, Eastern, and Central European peasants because it can be stored at room temperature fo ...

. However, many Italians only drink coffee for breakfast and no food.

Lunch (''pranzo'')

Lunch Lunch is a meal typically consumed around the middle of the day, following breakfast and preceding dinner. It varies in form, size, and significance across cultures and historical periods. In some societies, lunch constitutes the main meal ...

(''pranzo'') is generally considered the most important meal of the day. The full version is composed of four courses: * a first course (''primo''), usually a dish based on

pasta Pasta (, ; ) is a type of food typically made from an Leavening agent, unleavened dough of wheat flour mixed with water or Eggs as food, eggs, and formed into sheets or other shapes, then cooked by boiling or baking. Pasta was originally on ...

risotto Risotto ( , ; from , 'rice') is an Italian cuisine, Italian rice dish cooked with broth until it reaches a creamy consistency. The broth can be derived from meat, fish or vegetables. Many types of risotto contain butter, onion, white wine, a ...

rice Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...

polenta Polenta (, ) is an Italian cuisine, Italian dish of boiled cornmeal that was historically made from other grains. It may be allowed to cool and solidify into a loaf that can be baked, fried or Grilling, grilled. The variety of cereal used is ...

legumes Legumes are plants in the pea family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae), or the fruit or seeds of such plants. When used as a dry grain for human consumption, the seeds are also called pulses. Legumes are grown agriculturally, primarily for human consu ...

soup Soup is a primarily liquid food, generally served warm or hot – though it is sometimes served chilled – made by cooking or otherwise combining meat or vegetables with Stock (food), stock, milk, or water. According to ''The Oxford Compan ...

; * a second course (''secondo''), based on

meat Meat is animal Tissue (biology), tissue, often muscle, that is eaten as food. Humans have hunted and farmed other animals for meat since prehistory. The Neolithic Revolution allowed the domestication of vertebrates, including chickens, sheep, ...

fish A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...

dairy product Dairy products or milk products are food products made from (or containing) milk. The most common dairy animals are cow, water buffalo, goat, nanny goat, and Sheep, ewe. Dairy products include common grocery store food around the world such as y ...

s such as

cheese Cheese is a type of dairy product produced in a range of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk (usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats or sheep). During prod ...

egg An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the ...

s; * a

side dish A side dish, sometimes referred to as a side order, side item, or simply a side, is a food item that accompanies the entrée or main course at a meal.fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants (angiosperms) that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which angiosperms disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particular have long propaga ...

(''frutta'') as a conclusion. Lunch is always served with bread. Meals, particularly lunch, are generally concluded with a cup of espresso or coffee prepared with a '' caffè moka'', sometimes followed by the so-called ''

ammazzacaffè ''Ammazzacaffè'' (; ) is a small glass of liqueur usually consumed after coffee to dull its taste or the effects of caffeine. It is a common Italian custom, especially after a generous festive meal. ''Ammazzacaffè'' originated with the aristo ...

'', consisting of a glass of local liqueur, bitter or sweet (of which there is wide choice). On special occasions, such as holidays and anniversaries, there are also two other courses: * an

appetizer An hors d'oeuvre ( ; ), appetiser, appetizer or starter is a small dish served before a meal in European cuisine. Some hors d'oeuvres are served cold, others hot. Hors d'oeuvres may be served at the dinner table as a part of the meal, or th ...

(

antipasto An antipasto (From anti- (“prior to, before”) + pasto (“meal”); : antipasti) is the traditional first course of a formal Italian meal. Usually made of bite-size small portions and presented on a platter from which everyone serves them ...

); cold or hot, it is the least abundant course, and is generally composed of crostini,

bruschetta Bruschetta ( , ) is an Italian appetizer ( antipasto) consisting of grilled bread topped with garlic, olive oil, and salt. Most commonly it is served with toppings of tomatoes, vegetables, beans, cured meat or cheese. In Italy, bruschetta is ...

and/or sausages,

s and/or dairy products, cooked and/or raw

vegetables Vegetables are edible parts of plants that are consumed by humans or other animals as food. This original meaning is still commonly used, and is applied to plants collectively to refer to all edible plant matter, including flowers, fruits, ...

or preparations based on

seafood Seafood is any form of Marine life, sea life regarded as food by humans, prominently including Fish as food, fish and shellfish. Shellfish include various species of Mollusca, molluscs (e.g., bivalve molluscs such as clams, oysters, and mussel ...

; * a

dessert Dessert is a course (food), course that concludes a meal; the course consists of sweet foods, such as cake, biscuit, ice cream, and possibly a beverage, such as dessert wine or liqueur. Some cultures sweeten foods that are more commonly umami, ...

(dolce) to finish;

Wine Wine is an alcoholic drink made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented fruit. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the fruit and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Wine is most often made f ...

is often a part of the meal, especially during lunch and dinner.

Mid-afternoon snack (''merenda'')

A '' merenda'' (from the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

''merenda'') is a snack in the mid-morning (around 10 o'clock a.m.) or mid-afternoon (around 5 o'clock p.m.). It is usually a light meal, consisting of panini or '' tramezzini'',

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants (angiosperms) that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which angiosperms disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particular have long propaga ...

alone or

and jam, if not a dessert and, in summer, possibly

gelato Gelato (; ; ) refers to a specific type of ice cream of Italian origin. In Italian, ''Gelato'' is the common word for all types of ice cream. Artisanal gelato in Italy generally contains 6–9% butterfat, which is lower than other styles of ...

. It is common for children, and also eaten by adults.

Supper (''cena'')

Supper is the other main meal of the day. The

(''cena'') scheme has the same courses as lunch, but with dishes and foods that are usually lighter. Exceptions are richer dinners (''cenoni'') eaten for festivities such as

New Year's Eve In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve refers to the evening, or commonly the entire day, of the last day of the year, 31 December, also known as Old Year's Day. In many countries, New Year's Eve is celebrated with dancing, eating, drinkin ...

Christmas Eve Christmas Eve is the evening or entire day before Christmas, the festival commemorating nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus. Christmas Day is observance of Christmas by country, observed around the world, and Christma ...

and the

Carnival Carnival (known as Shrovetide in certain localities) is a festive season that occurs at the close of the Christian pre-Lenten period, consisting of Quinquagesima or Shrove Sunday, Shrove Monday, and Shrove Tuesday or Mardi Gras. Carnival typi ...

period. Unlike lunch, supper, when consumed among close family members, does not necessarily include a first course based on starchy foods (such as

) or

cereals A cereal is a grass cultivated for its edible grain. Cereals are the world's largest crops, and are therefore staple foods. They include rice, wheat, rye, oats, barley, millet, and maize (Corn). Edible grains from other plant families, suc ...

(such as

), so sometimes supper consists of the equivalent of a second course (a

-based preparation), with or without a

side dish A side dish, sometimes referred to as a side order, side item, or simply a side, is a food item that accompanies the entrée or main course at a meal.soup Soup is a primarily liquid food, generally served warm or hot – though it is sometimes served chilled – made by cooking or otherwise combining meat or vegetables with Stock (food), stock, milk, or water. According to ''The Oxford Compan ...

or a light soup, and including

Formal meal structure

A structure of an Italian meal in its full form, usually used during festivities: ;Aperitivo: the aperitivo opens a meal, and it is similar to an appetizer. Most people gather around standing up and have alcoholic/non-alcoholic drinks such as

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented fruit. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the fruit and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Wine is most often made f ...

prosecco Prosecco (, ) is an Italian wine, Italian Denominazione di origine controllata#Denominazione di origine controllata (DOC), DOC or Denominazione di origine controllata#Denominazione di origine controllata e garantita (DOCG), DOCG white wine pro ...

, spritz,

vermouth Vermouth (, ) is an Italian aromatized wine, aromatized, fortified wine, flavored with various Botany, botanicals (roots, Bark (botany), barks, flowers, seeds, Herb, herbs, and Spice, spices) and sometimes Food coloring, colored. The modern ve ...

, and '. Occasionally small amounts of food are consumed, such as olives, crisps, nuts, cheese, sauce dips, little quiches or similar snacks. ;Antipasto: the

is a slightly heavier starter. It is usually cold and lighter than the first course. Examples of foods eaten are ''

salumi (: , ) are Italian cuisine, Italian meat products typical of an antipasto, predominantly made from pork and Curing (food preservation), cured. They also include bresaola, which is made from beef, and some cooked products, such as mortadell ...

'' (such as

mortadella Mortadella () is a large made of finely hashed or ground cured pork, which incorporates at least 15% small cubes of pork fat (principally the hard fat from the neck of the pig). It is traditionally flavoured with Black pepper, peppercorns, bu ...

prosciutto Prosciutto ( ; ), also known as ''prosciutto crudo'', is an uncooked, unsmoked, and dry-cured ham. It is usually served thinly sliced. Several regions in Italy have their own variations of ''prosciutto crudo'', each with degrees of protected ...

bresaola Bresaola is air-dried, salted beef (but it can also be made of horse, venison, and pork) that has been aged two or three months until it becomes hard and turns a dark red, almost purple colour. It is made from top (inside) round, and it is le ...

, and other

charcuterie Charcuterie (, , also , ; ; from , and ) is a branch of French cuisine devoted to prepared meat products, such as bacon, ham, sausage, Terrine (food), terrines, ''galantines'', ''ballotines'', ''pâtés'', and ''confit'', primarily from pork. Ch ...

products), cheeses, sandwich-like foods ( panino and '' tramezzino''), marinated vegetables or fish, cold salmon or prawn cocktails; more elaborate dishes are occasionally prepared. ;''Primo'': a ''primo'' is the first course. It consists of hot food and is usually heavier than the antipasto, but lighter than the second course. Non-meat dishes are the staple of any ''primo piatto'': examples are

, seafood or vegetarian sauces, soup and broth, gnocchi,

, '' crespelle'',

casserole A casserole (French language, French: diminutive of , from Provençal dialect, Provençal , meaning 'saucepan') is a kind of large, deep cookware and bakeware, pan or bowl used for cooking a variety of dishes in the oven; it is also a categor ...

s or

lasagne Lasagna (, ; ), also known by the plural form lasagne (), is a type of pasta, possibly one of the oldest types, made in very wide, flat sheets. In Italian cuisine it is made of stacked layers of pasta alternating with fillings such as ragù ...

. ;''Secondo'': this course may include different meats and types of fish, including

turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

sausage A sausage is a type of meat product usually made from ground meat—often pork, beef, or poultry—along with salt, spices and other flavourings. Other ingredients, such as grains or breadcrumbs, may be included as fillers or extenders. ...

pork Pork is the culinary name for the meat of the pig (''Sus domesticus''). It is the most commonly consumed meat worldwide, with evidence of pig animal husbandry, husbandry dating back to 8000–9000 BCE. Pork is eaten both freshly cooke ...

steak A steak is a cut of meat sliced across muscle fibers, sometimes including a bone. It is normally Grilling, grilled or Pan frying, fried, and can be diced or cooked in sauce. Steaks are most commonly cut from cattle (beefsteak), but can also ...

stew A stew is a combination of solid food ingredients that have been Cooking, cooked in Soup, liquid and served in the resultant gravy. Ingredients can include any combination of vegetables and may include meat, especially tougher meats suitable for ...

beef Beef is the culinary name for meat from cattle (''Bos taurus''). Beef can be prepared in various ways; Cut of beef, cuts are often used for steak, which can be cooked to varying degrees of doneness, while trimmings are often Ground beef, grou ...

, '' zampone'',

salt cod Dried and salted cod, sometimes referred to as salt cod or saltfish or salt dolly, is cod which has been preserved by drying after salting. Cod which has been dried without the addition of salt is stockfish. Salt cod was long a major export o ...

stockfish Stockfish is unsalted fish, especially cod, dried by cold air and wind on wooden racks (which are called "hjell" in Norway) on the foreshore. The drying of food is the world's oldest known preservation method, and dried fish has a storage li ...

salmon Salmon (; : salmon) are any of several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the genera ''Salmo'' and ''Oncorhynchus'' of the family (biology), family Salmonidae, native ...

lobster Lobsters are Malacostraca, malacostracans Decapoda, decapod crustaceans of the family (biology), family Nephropidae or its Synonym (taxonomy), synonym Homaridae. They have long bodies with muscular tails and live in crevices or burrows on th ...

, lamb,

chicken The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated subspecies of the red junglefowl (''Gallus gallus''), originally native to Southeast Asia. It was first domesticated around 8,000 years ago and is now one of the most common and w ...

or roast. The ''primo'' or the ''secondo piatto'' may be considered more important depending on the locality and the situation. ;Contorno: A contorno is a

side dish A side dish, sometimes referred to as a side order, side item, or simply a side, is a food item that accompanies the entrée or main course at a meal.List of Italian cheeses). ;Dolce: next follows the dolce, or dessert. Frequent dishes include tiramisu,

panna cotta Panna cotta (; ; ) is an Italian dessert of sweetened cream thickened with gelatin and molded. The cream may be aromatized with coffee, vanilla, or other flavorings. History The name ''panna cotta'' is not mentioned in Italian cookbooks before ...

, cake or pie,

panettone Panettone is an Italian type of sweet bread and fruitcake, originally from Milan, Italy, usually prepared and enjoyed for Christmas and New Year in Western, Southern, and Southeastern Europe, as well as in South America, Eritrea, Australia, ...

or '' pandoro'' (the last two are mainly served at Christmas time) and the '' colomba pasquale'' (an Easter cake). A

or a '' sorbetto'' can be eaten too. Although there are nationwide desserts, popular across Italy, many regions and cities have local specialties. In

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

, for instance,

zeppole Zeppole (; : ''zeppola'') are Italian pastries consisting of a deep-fried dough ball of varying size but typically about in diameter. These fritters are usually topped with powdered sugar, and may be filled with custard, jelly, cannoli-st ...

and rum baba are popular; in

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

, cassata and

cannoli Cannoli are Sicilian pastries consisting of a tube-shaped shell of fried pastry dough, filled with a sweet, creamy filling containing ricotta cheese. Their size ranges from . In mainland Italy, the food is commonly known as (). In culi ...

are commonly consumed; '' mostarda'', on the other hand, is more of a northern dish. ;''Caffè'': coffee is often drunk at the end of a meal, even after the ''digestivo''. Italians do not have milky coffees or drinks after meals (such as

or ''

caffè macchiato (; sometimes called and sometimes shortened to just ''macchiato'' in English) is an espresso coffee drink with a small amount of milk, usually foamed. In Italian, means 'stained' or 'spotted', so the literal translation of is 'stained cof ...

''), but strong coffee such as

, which is often drunk very quickly in small cups while still hot. The term ''espresso'', substituting ''s'' for most ''x'' letters in

-root words, with the term deriving from the past participle of the Italian verb ''esprimere'', itself derived from the Latin ''exprimere'', meaning 'to express', and refers to the process by which hot water is forced under pressure through ground coffee. Short drinks,

grappa Grappa is an alcoholic beverage: a fragrant, grape-based pomace brandy of Italian origin that contains 35 to 60 percent alcohol by volume (70 to 120 Alcohol proof, US proof). Grappa is a protected name in the European Union. Grappa is made by ...

in particular, may go with the ''caffè'', either in a separate glass or mixed in. ;''Digestivo'': the '' digestivo'', also called ''

'' if served after the coffee, is the drink to conclude the meal. Drinks such as grappa, '' amaro'',

limoncello Limoncello () is an Italian lemon liqueur mainly produced in southern Italy, especially in the regions around the Gulf of Naples, the Amalfi Coast, and Sicily. It is the second-most popular liqueur in Italy and is traditionally served chilled as ...

or other fruit/herbal drinks are drunk. ''Digestivo'' indicates that the drinks served at this time are meant to ease digestion of a long meal. Even if the ''caffè'' went with grappa, a sweeter digestivo may follow.

References

{{Italy topics Meals

Lunch (''pranzo'')

Mid-afternoon snack (''merenda'')

Supper (''cena'')

Formal meal structure

See also

References