Ever Used a Food Item as a Sex Toy? 11 Women Share Their 'Kitchen Confessions'
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Exploring the contents of your crisper drawer might sound like a desperate measure, but experts say introducing food into the bedroom can be an exciting (albeit potentially messy) way to engage your senses and your sexuality. “From a psychological and sensory perspective, food play brings newness to an intimate experience,” says Kai Korpak, LCSW, sex therapist, and Assistant Director of Training & Wellness at Best Therapies. “For many couples, it also encourages playfulness, laughter, and experimentation, which are key ingredients for sustaining desire over time.”
If you’re intentional and safe (with proper hygiene!), food offers an accessible way to test the waters with a homemade sex toy without spending a fortune. “Introducing food and texture in the bedroom can be a low-cost, low-barrier way to change things up,” says certified sexologist Chanel Jaali Marshall. “Sometimes the fun comes from pushing boundaries or just doing something out of the norm,” she explains, adding that “it’s as simple as using a vegetable or a can of whipped cream; no one has to feel that they have invested a lot of money for something they may or may not like.”
But before you reach for the produce, there are strict non-negotiables you’ll need to consider to prevent injury and potential infections. Please read the safety guide at the bottom of this article.
Kitchen Confessions: 11 Women on Playing With Food
We asked real women to share their experiences raiding the pantry for pleasure. From cucumbers to candy canes, here’s what they used, how it went, and if they would do it again.
‘A sausage took my virginity.’
- The Woman: Randi, 67
- The Item: A sausage
- The Story: “I waited a long time for my first religious experience. Up to my early 30s, I was quite religiously devout, and premarital sex was taboo,” Randi shares. When she was finally ready, she wanted to know what to expect without the pressure. Her partner prepared a romantic setting and used a sausage with a condom to simulate the sensation. “He put a condom on the sausage… and told me that he wanted to give me an idea of what it would feel like,” she says.
- The Verdict: She loved it. “It was an ideal way get a feeling for what to anticipate later,” she says. “I think a penis-sized sausage is a great way to experiment—and no one gets hurt!”
Watermelon sugar high
- The Woman: Gia, 30s
- The Item: Watermelon
- The Story: On an unbearably hot afternoon in Barcelona, Gia (a Lustery sex expert and adult performer) was looking for relief. “I opened the fridge looking for something cold to drink, saw a freshly bought watermelon… and things escalated quickly,” she says. She cut it in half and ended up thrusting it, which, of course, was completely unplanned. “The contrast between the chilled fruit and my overheated body was pure feral summer energy,” she says.
- The Verdict: It was memorable. “What really stood out for me was how spontaneous and playful it felt,” she says. “It reminded me of the curiosity and freedom of when I masturbated for the first time when I was a kid.” However, she warns that fruit can be a risky choice. “Thrusting into fruit like watermelon can come with real risks; it can break down, you can slip unexpectedly, or injure yourself if you’re not careful enough,” she says.
Cool as a cucumber
- The Woman: Helen, 43
- The Item: Cucumber
- The Story: After a period of celibacy, Helen decided to explore her sex life using cucumbers. She found she actually preferred them to silicone. “Cucumbers feel more natural, soft but not too soft… and their texture feels authentic as compared to the traditional sex toys,” she explains.
- The Verdict: Mixed. While the sensation was “extremely satisfying”, she eventually stopped due to safety anxiety. “I am greatly discouraged due to the health and safety risk,” she admits, noting she read that cucumbers can be fragile.
Accidental fruit salad
- The Woman: Rachel, 49
- The Item: Frozen Banana
- The Story: Rachel’s husband was inspired to check the freezer during a spicy moment in the kitchen. “I had bananas stored there for future banana bread, but all he saw was a hard, cold phallic object,” she says. She allowed the experiment because they had “a lot of chemistry.”
- The Verdict: A messy disaster. “Those things don’t stay frozen long… What a mess,” she recalls. The shenanigans moved to the shower, and they still joke about making “accidental fruit salad.”
Zucchini, carrots, and candy canes…Oh my.
- The Woman: Kinsey King, 60s
- The Item: Zucchini and Candy Canes
- The Story: In Kinsey’s college years during the 70s, dildos were hard to come by, so she improvised. “So: zucchini! A large carrot, once too,” she says. One Christmas, she even used a large candy cane with the wrapper on.
- The Verdict: She loved the creativity but learned a valuable lesson about wrappers. “I don’t recommend cellophane, as it turns out,” she warns. “Would not do cellophane again, however, would use a condom.”
The zucchini and the deer
- The Woman: Janice, 30s
- The Item: Zucchini
- The Story: Speaking of zucchinis…Janice saw a particularly “girthy” carrot at the store one day and started wondering. The next day, her husband came home with a zucchini because the carrots were “slim pickings—pun intended.” They experimented that same night.
- The Verdict: A win for them (and the local wildlife). “Both of them thoroughly enjoyed it,” she says. But clean-up was awkward: “We couldn’t bring ourselves to eat the zucchini and threw it in the backyard for the deer instead.”
A vulnerable grape
- The Woman: Cam
- The Item: Grapes
- The Story: Cam didn’t think she would be into food play until someone offered to put a grape in her mouth during a moment of intimacy. “It unlocked a whole new experience for me because opening your mouth and allowing yourself to be fed is an incredibly vulnerable thing to do,” she explains.
- The Verdict: It changed her mindset. It moved her out of “thinking” mode and into “feeling” mode, adding a layer of submission and dominance she wasn’t expecting.
The blind taste test
- The Woman: Anonymous (A couple in their 40s)
- The Item: Various Desserts
- The Story: This couple felt their sex life was stuck in a routine. To shake things up, “they did a blind taste test where they fed each other different dessert items while blindfolded in the bedroom,” explains sex educator Jillian Amodio, LMSW.
- The Verdict: A success. They reported the experience was “fun and enjoyable and helped bring an element of playfulness into their sex lives that had long been missing.”
The camping fail
- The Woman: Kathy, 60
- The Item: Baileys Irish Cream
- The Story: While camping in a remote spot, Kathy decided to get creative. “I decided that dribbling Baileys over my guy’s naked body might be fun,” she says.
- The Verdict: A sticky nightmare. “It was enjoyable licking it off his smooth body parts, but when it got to the fuzzy parts—ewww,” she says. “And air drying in the night air… the bugs were attracted to the sweet, naked flesh.”
A nutty disaster
- The Woman: Sarah
- The Item: Almond-filled Chocolate Bar
- The Story: In her youth, Sarah tried to entice a partner by inserting a few pieces of chocolate. “I made a huge mistake with an almond-filled chocolate bar… [it] very quickly melted in my warm cavern,” she says.
- The Verdict: Painful. “He was not overly enticed, and I had to dig out some uncomfortable chunks of nuts (not the fun kind).”
A seemingly sweet idea
- The Woman: Dana, 35
- The Item: Twisted Lollipop
- The Story: “My ex and I used one of those twisted lollipops when I was around 25,” Dana shares. It seemed like a sweet idea at the time.
- The Verdict: Never again. “It was fun at first, but after it started to dissolve, it got super sticky and started turning a nasty brown color. 0/10 recommend.”
Read Before You Play
Using food as a sex toy is not always recommended, as the above stories show — but if you can’t resist, there are ways to do it safely. Here are the rules to follow to keep the ER out of your date night:
- Always use a condom. Even if you wash your produce, veggies can still harbor bacteria or break during use. “Any outside bacteria can throw off your body’s natural way of protecting itself,” explains board-certified OB-GYN Stephanie P. Langsam, MD, which can lead to bacterial vaginosis (BV) or yeast infections. She advises covering items with a condom, which also “can help catch the part if it were to break off” inside you.
- Make sure it has a flared base. To avoid a trip to the ER, never insert an item (like a carrot or squash) into the anus without a flared base or a secure way to retrieve it. “If you’re interested in putting a vegetable or ginger up your butt, make sure to carve a base into it (in addition to a condom if you’re using one), to help ensure it doesn’t get lost up there,” says Dr. Shanna Katz Kattari (they/them), AASECT-certified sexuality educator and associate professor at the University of Michigan. “Nothing in your butt without a base, even if it’s a carrot or summer squash.”
- Sugar is for eating, not inserting. Sugary foods like whipped cream and chocolate are sexy, but they’re not safe for insertion, as several of our testimonials confirm. “It’s important to never put anything sugary in or around the vaginal canal,” says Jaali Marshall. Sugar can disrupt the natural pH of the vagina, which is a recipe for a nasty yeast infection or UTI. “Not only does this mean staying away from whipped cream bikinis (though if you use plastic wrap as a dam, you can build a whole ice cream sundae and be fine), but it also means rinsing out your mouth before you go down on someone if such sugars are involved, even if you were licking the sweetness off their nipples, neck, or other such areas,” adds Dr. Katz Kattari.
- Skip the frozen veggies. Ice play can be exciting, but Dr. Langsam warns that “using ice or other cold items can also cause ‘freezer burn’ to the skin and other body parts.” Furthermore, using frozen vegetables internally is a hard no. “Not safe at all,” says Amodio. Always test extreme temperatures on your wrist before applying them to sensitive areas. Plus, as some of our testimonials showed, frozen produce eventually melts, leading to a sticky mess that can cause infections.
Food-Inspired Alternatives
If the idea of putting produce in your private parts gives you the ick (or you just don’t want to deal with the cleanup), you can still feel your fantasy with silicone sex toys that are designed to look like food.
“These are body-safe, non-porous, and easy to clean, while still leaning into the playful aesthetic that many people enjoy,” says Avi Goldstein, founder and CEO of Spicerack Market.
Here are a few options to satisfy your craving without the grocery run:
- The Banana Split: A handmade suction cup dildo that gives you the shape without the potassium.
- Strawberry Feels: A handcrafted silicone plug that looks impressively realistic.
- Peach Pie à la Mode: A fantasy grinder for when you want something sweet but strictly silicone. Those ridges look like they’d feel delicious.
- Lemons out of Lemonade? This citrus-shaped clitoral vibrator makes things seriously zesty. (Avocado and berry options also available!)
If you’re looking for vibrators or clitoral suction toys that look like little fruits and whatnot, I highly recommend Nancy or Lovers. Both offer a wide range of discreet, powerful toys.