Roaches are omnivorous scavengers that will eat almost any organic material they can find, with a strong preference for greasy, sweet, and starchy foods.

What Do Roaches Eat?

Roaches especially like:

  • Greasy leftovers and cooking oil splatter on stoves and walls.
  • Sweets such as spilled soda, juice, pastries, bread, and cereal crumbs.
  • Proteins like meat scraps, cheese, eggs, beans, pet food, and even dead insects.

They will also eat:

  • Starches and glue in cardboard, book bindings, wallpaper paste, and paper products.
  • Personal-care residues such as soap, toothpaste, and other fatty or sugary residues.
  • Shed skin flakes, hair, and fingernail clippings when other food is scarce.

In the wild or outdoors, they feed on:

  • Garbage, compost, and decaying plant matter.
  • Fallen fruit, bird seed, and pet waste around yards and foundations.

Because roaches can survive on tiny crumbs and non-food items, keeping kitchens clean, sealing food, and managing trash is one of the most effective ways to make your home less attractive to them.

Type of thing Examples roaches eat Where it’s usually found
Greasy & fatty foods Cooking oil splatter, meat drippings Stovetops, backsplashes, under/behind ovens
Sugary & starchy foods Bread crumbs, cereal, pastries, soda residue Kitchen counters, floors, under appliances
Proteins Meat scraps, cheese, eggs, pet food Pet bowls, trash cans, kitchen floors
Paper & cardboard Boxes, book bindings, wallpaper paste Storerooms, garages, behind walls and furniture
Personal-care residue Soap, toothpaste, lotions Bathrooms, sinks, drains
Organic debris & waste Trash, compost, fallen fruit, pet waste Trash bins, yards, around foundations

TL;DR: If it’s organic and even slightly edible, a roach will probably try to eat it—so the less food, grease, moisture, paper clutter, and trash you offer, the harder it is for them to stick around.

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