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

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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