Eat Like an iZombie: All the Food in the iZombie Pilot

There's a new zombie show on The CW. Wait, don't go! I know what you're thinking. Another zombie series? On The CW?! But stop. iZombie isn't quite like any other supernatural show -- or any show really -- on television. Based on the comic by Chris Roberson and Michael Allred, iZombie is about a young girl turned member of the undead. But! Liv Moore (Rose McIver) is a functional zombie. Sure, her appearance is a little out of the ordinary, but she's far from gruesome (reference the part about The CW). Liv has to maintain a constant diet of brains to keep from turning into a mindless, shambling zombie, and she starts working at the morgue so she can feed her needs and stay off the radar while doing so.

The show has a somewhat peppy tone and balances cynicism and optimism to nice effect (you can read my review of the pilot at IGN). Rob Thomas is on board as showrunner, and there is a strong Veronica Mars vibe -- which I am more than fine with. There's plenty of quirk and charm, including how Liv eats brains. She usually mixes bits of brain in with other foods. Because it needs to be done, I'm going to track all the brain food and zombie snacks I spot in iZombie and suggest recipes, similar foods, and/or substitutes. One day maybe I'll have a themed iZombie party so I can have an excuse to actually make these dishes because yes, the brain-eating on this show makes me hungry instead of grossing me out.

Anyway. Here are all the brain snacks I noticed in the iZombie pilot:

1. Insta-Noodles with Spicy Chicken and brains
The first zombie meal we see Liv prepare is a little fresh brain mixed with spicy chicken instant noodles. She prepares the noodles in the microwave, adds brains, and pours on hot sauce. Why so much hot sauce? Yeah, her co-worker Ravi wonders about that too:

gif via herodukes

It turns out that Liv adds hot sauce because extreme spice and heat is basically the only taste her palate can discern. And she doesn't kid around with the hot sauce. The bottles we see suggest that it's of the 5 Alarm variety, otherwise known as the "Ow, I've just burned my entire mouth and esophagus forever" variety.

Try at home:
Cup Noodles Spicy Chicken (drain the water)
Amazon Red Hot Sauce or make your own 5 Alarm sauce
Ground chicken - break it up into big chunks so it looks more brain-like

2. Spicy Bloody Mary mix
Who needs alcohol when you can just toss back a potent Bloody Mary mix?

Try at home:
5 Pepper Extra Spicy Bloody Mary Mix - please don't actually try this at home unless you really, really like spicy drinks!

3. Hellfire Cheezy Puffs
Liv can eat without a side of brain, but as we've already learned, it has to be spicy. Fortunately for her, there are a plethora of hot snacks on the market and cheese puffs are at the top of that particular food group.

Try at home:
Flamin' Hot Cheetos

4. Brains with a side of hot sauce
Sometimes it's best to keep things simple. As the episode ended, Liv heated some fresh brains in the microwave and improved the taste with hot sauce.

Try at home:
My only suggestion here is to make a cake that looks like a brain.

Images: Rose McIver Source