["Review of Development Economics, EarlyView. ", "\nABSTRACT\nThe rapid growth of the digital economy underscores the importance of investigating how internet penetration influences dietary quality in rural households, as such insights can inform broader efforts to improve the well‐being of rural residents. Using data from the 2020 China Rural Revitalization Survey (CRRS), this study examines the impact of internet penetration on the dietary quality of rural households in China. Our empirical findings show that greater internet access significantly improves dietary quality, primarily by alleviating dietary inadequacy. Further analysis reveals that this effect persists even after controlling household‐level internet usage intensity. Moreover, internet penetration generates notable spillover effects, effectively reducing dietary excess among households that do not use the internet. In addition, we identify two key mechanisms through which internet access affects dietary outcomes: enhanced nutritional and healthy cognition and improved access to more diverse food markets. Specifically, internet penetration raises the probability of dietary knowledge acquisition among internet‐using households, leading to improvements in dietary adequacy. It also enhances the availability of diverse food options, which further contributes to better dietary quality. For non‐internet‐using households, the main pathway lies in improved health consciousness, which helps address problems of dietary excess.\n"]