B1 Spanish Cooking Vocabulary

Spanish cooking vocabulary is so crucial for daily life. When you think about it, between meals, snacks and making plans, this vocabulary comes up a lot. Basic vocabulary for novice speakers is helpful, but if you’re ready to take on more higher-level terms, we’ll show you B1 words and phrases to add to your repetoir.

Spanish cooking phrases

You can learn these phrases as chunk phrases that apply to many different settings, especially in the kitchen.

• Te invito – I invite you ; it’s my treat
• ¿Qué me recomiendas? – What do you recommend for me?
• La especialidad de la casa es… – The house specialty is…
• Tráeme… / Me das… – Bring me…
• Quisiera probar… – I would like to try…
• Buen provecho – Enjoy your meal
• Estoy lleno/a – I’m full
  • Keep in mind that here, lleno/a acts as an adjective, meaning you would use lleno for a boy or llena for a girl.
• Tengo alergias a … – I’m allergic to…

Adjectives to describe food

Just like the phrase Estoy lleno/a above, this section contains adjectives, which need to agree with the noun they describe based on gender and number. If you find yourself using the phrase Me gusta or Es delicioso/a, these words will help you describe foods in a more advanced way.

• Crudo/a – raw
• Rico/a – rich
• Quemado/a – burnt
• Seco/a – dry
• Duro/a – tough
• Fresco/a – fresh
• Saludable – healthy
• A la parrilla – grilled

Verbs to talk about cooking in Spanish

Cocinar is a great verb, but it’s not very specific. To describe the cooking process in much more detail, you can practice using the following verbs.

• Freír – to fry
• Hornear – to bake
• Mezclar – to mix
• Hervir – to boil
• Cortar – to cut
• Picar – to chop
• Cocinar al vapor – to steam
• Batir – to beat
• Añadir – to add
• Enfriar – to cool
• Helar – to freeze
• Salar – to salt
• Calentar – to heat
• Recalentar – to reheat