Cockroaches are omnivorous scavengers that will eat almost any organic material, with a strong preference for starchy, sugary, greasy foods and meats, but they can also survive on seemingly non-food items like paper, glue, soap, and even hair.

Quick Scoop: What Do Cockroaches Eat?

Cockroaches evolved to be opportunistic eaters, which is why they thrive almost anywhere humans live. In nature they clean up decaying organic matter; in homes, that “cleanup crew” turns into an infestation that raids your pantry, trash, and even books.

1. Their Favorite “Normal” Foods

Cockroaches especially like the same kinds of foods many people snack on.

  • Sweets: sugar, desserts, soda residues, juice spills, candy crumbs.
  • Starches: bread, cereal, flour, chips, crackers, pasta, rice.
  • Greasy foods: cooking oils, bacon grease, leftover fried foods, pizza boxes with oil.
  • Meats and proteins: meat scraps, lunch meats, dried food stuck to dishes.
  • Fruits and veggies: ripe or rotting fruit, vegetable peels, salad leftovers.
  • Pet food: dry kibble in bowls, spilled cat or dog food, bird seed.

If it would smell “good” to an animal and it’s left out, a roach will probably try to eat it.

2. Weird Things Cockroaches Also Eat

When “real” food is limited, cockroaches switch to materials that still contain organic compounds.

  • Paper and cardboard: book bindings, cardboard boxes, paper bags, stamps.
  • Glues and pastes: wallpaper paste, envelope glue, stamp glue.
  • Soaps and toothpaste: certain soaps and pastes contain fats or other organics.
  • Fabrics and leather: some natural fabrics and leather items.
  • Hair, nails, and skin: human hair, fingernails, calluses, skin flakes.
  • Dead insects and roaches: they’ll eat dead bugs and even dead or weaker roaches.
  • Waste: feces, sewage, and other decaying organic waste.

In extreme scarcity, they may resort to cannibalism, feeding on their own young or injured individuals.

3. Indoors vs. Outdoors Diet

Cockroaches adjust their menu depending on whether they’re outside or inside.

  • Outdoors they commonly eat:
    • Decaying leaves and plant litter.
* Wood particles and decomposing wood.

* Fungi and rotting organic matter.

* Dead or wounded insects, including other roaches.
  • Indoors they shift to:
    • Food crumbs on counters and floors.
* Spills in sinks, on stoves, or inside microwaves.

* Pantry staples such as sugar, flour, cereal, chips, and baked goods.

* Fermented or moldy foods like old cheese or bread.

* Pet food left out overnight.

4. Different Roach Species, Slightly Different Tastes

All common household cockroaches are omnivores, but some show specific preferences.

  • German cockroaches:
    • Very kitchen-focused; love sugary, starchy, and greasy foods.
* Eat desserts, meats, fruits, bread, cereals, pet food, and even feces and mouse droppings.
  • American cockroaches:
    • Outdoors: dead insects, decaying leaves, fungi, wood particles.
* Indoors: crumbs on floors, spilled food in sinks, fermented foods, bakery items, tea and milk.
  • Oriental and brown-banded cockroaches:
    • Often feed on starchy household materials like wallpaper, fabrics, and other dry organic materials.

5. Why They Can Eat “Anything”

Cockroaches have a highly adaptable digestive system supported by symbiotic bacteria.

  • These gut microbes help break down:
    • Cellulose (in plant material, paper, cardboard, book bindings).
* A wide variety of organic compounds, including some that would normally be hard to digest.
  • This lets them survive on very low-quality or unusual food sources for long stretches.

Because of this, simply removing obvious food like crumbs helps, but doesn’t completely starve them out—they can fall back on paper, glue, and other hidden sources.

6. Practical Takeaways for Your Home

Knowing what cockroaches eat is the first step to making your space less attractive to them.

  1. Clean up food promptly.
    • Wipe counters, sweep floors, wash dishes the same day.
  1. Store food in sealed containers.
    • Use airtight jars or plastic containers for cereal, flour, sugar, pet food.
  1. Manage trash and recycling.
    • Use bins with tight lids; empty them regularly, especially if they contain food scraps.
  1. Reduce “weird” food sources.
    • Limit cardboard storage, repair peeling wallpaper, don’t leave stacks of paper in damp areas.
  1. Control moisture.
    • Fix leaks and avoid standing water, since roaches also seek water sources.

Simple TL;DR

Cockroaches eat almost anything derived from living things: crumbs, grease, sweets, meats, fruits, pet food, decaying plants and animals, paper, cardboard, glue, soap, hair, nails, and even feces or other roaches, though they strongly prefer easy-access human foods like sugary, starchy, and greasy items.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.