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Cooking Verbs in Spanish

Follow a recipe from washing and chopping to simmering, seasoning and serving.

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Spanish verbs for preparing food

Recipe headings often use infinitives such as pelar and cortar. Instructions may instead use commands, such as pela or corte.

Pair these actions with vegetables.

  • lavarto wash · lah-BAHR
  • pelarto peel · peh-LAHR
  • cortarto cut · kor-TAHR
  • picarto chop finely · pee-KAHR
  • rebanarto slice · rreh-bah-NAHR
  • rallarto grate · rrah-YAHR
  • exprimirto squeeze (juice) · ehks-pree-MEER
  • machacarto crush · mah-chah-KAHR
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Cooking Verbs in Spanish: full list

Review the meanings, pronunciation and usage notes, then use the printable worksheet to recall the Spanish.

Quick answer: to wash is lavar, to peel is pelar, to cut is cortar, to chop finely is picar, to slice is rebanar, to grate is rallar, to squeeze (juice) is exprimir, and to crush is machacar.

Spanish verbs for preparing food

EnglishSpanishSay itChanges to
to washlavarlah-BAHR
to peelpelarpeh-LAHR
to cutcortarkor-TAHR
to chop finelypicarpee-KAHR
to slicerebanarrreh-bah-NAHR
to graterallarrrah-YAHR
to squeeze (juice)exprimirehks-pree-MEER
to crushmachacarmah-chah-KAHR

Spanish verbs for mixing and seasoning

EnglishSpanishSay itChanges to
to mixmezclarmehs-KLAHR
to beat (ingredients)batirbah-TEER
to stirremoverrreh-moh-BEHR
to kneadamasarah-mah-SAHR
to sifttamizartah-mee-SAHR
to seasonsazonarsah-soh-NAHR
to marinatemarinarmah-ree-NAHR
to addañadirah-nya-DEER

Spanish verbs for heat and serving

EnglishSpanishSay itChanges to
to boilhervirehr-BEER
to fryfreírfreh-EER
to bakehornearor-neh-AHR
to roastasarah-SAHR
to sautésaltearsahl-teh-AHR
to simmercocinar a fuego lentokoh-see-NAHR ah FWEH-goh LEHN-toh
to meltderretirdeh-rreh-TEER
to drain (food)escurrirehs-koo-RREER
to serveservirsehr-BEER
Cooking Verbs in Spanish chart with English meanings and Spanish answers
Cooking Verbs in Spanish chart with English meanings and Spanish answers. Download the chart · Printable worksheet · Save to Pinterest

Questions about cooking verbs in spanish

What is the difference between cocinar and cocer?

Cocinar broadly means to cook or prepare food. Cocer refers to cooking through heat, often in water, though the method depends on context.

How do you say bake in Spanish?

Hornear means to bake in an oven. Asar is used for roasting or grilling, depending on the method.

Does remover mean remove in a recipe?

Usually it means stir. To tell someone to remove an ingredient or utensil, a recipe normally uses quitar or retirar.

What is the difference between cortar and picar?

Cortar is the broad verb to cut. Picar commonly means to chop ingredients into small pieces.

How do you say simmer in Spanish?

Cocinar a fuego lento or cocer a fuego lento describes cooking over low heat. The exact wording depends on the recipe.

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Updated · Pronunciation guides use Latin American Spanish.