Bon appétit! How to eat cicadas in 5 easy steps

recipe book Dine on summer's biggest insect delicacy! by Sarah Wells Updated: Feb. 20, 2024 Originally Published: May 25, 2021 Giphy

Photo Credit: Bridget Sutton After a 17-year underground slumber, periodical cicada Brood X is finally making its way out to the light. It is also pretty tasty.

Photo Credit: Bridget Sutton These cicadas have suckled on tree root juices for years. Now they’re interested in one thing only: noisily mating and then dying immediately .

EVA HAMBACH/AFP/Getty Images Their offspring will be deposited as eggs in the grooves of trees. Eventually, these eggs will hatch and the grubs will burrow back underground to begin their own long feast on the trees’ roots.

These rare cicada summers are not without human benefits, including an unexpected silver lining: The chance to dine on a rare delicacy. It’s easier than you might think... Giphy

Here are five steps to buggy deliciousness... JoAnna Wendel

5. Collect your cicadas Keith Clay , professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Tulane University, told Inverse that the best moment to catch a cicada is right after they emerge from the ground — before it develops a crunchy skin over its legs and body. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images News/Getty Images

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images News/Getty Images The cicada epicenter this year is Washington D.C., where the insects can be collected by the bucketful.

4. Kill your cicadas Once your cicada harvest is in your bucket, you need to act before they crawl out. The easiest and possibly most humane way to prep a cicada for cooking is to put them in the freezer. The chill will sedate them, and they will die. JoAnna Wendel

Cicadas typically live deep in the ground, below where frost might permeate. So a quick, cold hit should do the trick. JoAnna Wendel

3. Clean your cicadas Like anything harvested from the ground, you need to wash the frozen cicadas — this ensures the final dish isn’t seasoned with bits of dirt or other debris. JoAnna Wendel

2. Bonus step: Behead your cicadas The heads and legs of cicadas are safe to eat, but Clay suggests removing them to improve texture and curb squeamishness, like a shrimp. Joanna Wendel for Inverse

1. Cook your cicadas If you followed the four steps, you should now be ready to cook and enjoy your cicadas. JoAnna Wendel

Joanna Wendel for Inverse These shrimp-like insects — which Clay says have an asparagus flavor — can be eaten as a pure protein snack.

Cookbook Cicada-licious, by biologist Jenna Jadin, includes more adventurous recipes, like cicada dumplings and cicada-rhubarb pie.

AFP/AFP/Getty Images If you have a shellfish allergy, steer clear of cicadas. Consult your doctor about any potential risk before chowing down.

Shutterstock In her book, Jadin writes that just because many in the U.S. aren’t accustomed to eating cicadas or other bugs , it doesn’t mean they’re gross. In fact, insects of various kinds are a delicacy in many regions of the world.

Shutterstock “If you have ever eaten a crawfish, lobster, crab, or shrimp then you have already eaten members of the class Arthropoda , of which insects are a part,” Jadin writes.

Shutterstock “Popping a big juicy beetle, cricket, or cicada into your mouth is only a step away .”

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images News/Getty Images Cicadas are a rare treat, and they can be a good way to include insect protein in your diet.

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images News/Getty Images Even if you don’t end up liking them, you will have a kick-ass story to tell.

Photo Credit: Bridget Sutton Read more about Brood X here .

Bon appétit! How to eat cicadas in 5 easy steps

Cookbook Cicada-licious, by biologist Jenna Jadin, includes more adventurous recipes, like cicada dumplings and cicada-rhubarb pie.

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