310 Spanish food words

You traveled to Spain for the holidays. You are at a Spanish Restaurant, trying to remember what is the Spanish word for “salt-cured ham”, but you can hardly remember even how to say “fork”. Too bad, Spanish cuisine is world renowned and you end up ordering “meat and potatoes” 🙁

Never again! Here you have all the Spanish food vocabulary your stomach will ever need, dished out in digestible chunks!

I’m using here the following color codes:

• blue background = basic (most frequent) words; gray background = less frequent words.
• red letters = mostly Latin American variant; green letters = mostly Spaniard variant (not strictly, but merely orientative).

 

Fruit (fruta)

orange	naranja
lemon	el limón
apple	manzana
pear	pera
banana	banana, plátano
coconut	coco
pineapple	el ananá, el ananás, la piña
watermelon	sandía
melon	la patilla, el melón
grape	uva
plum	ciruela
peach	el durazno, el melocotón
strawberry	frutilla, fresa

 

blackberry	mora
raspberry	frambuesa
blueberry	arándano azul, arándano
cranberry	arándano rojo
prune, dried plum	ciruela pasa
raisin, dried grape	pasa, uva pasa
fig	higo
mandarin	mandarina
lime	lima (*)
grapefruit	pomelo, toronja
kiwifruit	el kiwi
apricot	el albaricoque
cherry	cereza
quince	membrillo
cherimoya	chirimoya
persimmon	el caqui
mango	mango
papaya	papaya
passion fruit	el maracuyá

 

* In some countries, such as Mexico, “lime” is translated as limón, and “lemon” as lima.

 

Vegetables (verdura)

 

lettuce	lechuga
tomato	el tomate
pepper	pimiento
potato	patata
onion	cebolla
garlic	ajo
carrot	zanahoria
legume	la legumbre
pea	arveja, el guisante
bean	poroto, el frijol, habichuela, judía…
lentil	lenteja
chickpea	garbanzo
avocado	palta, el aguacate
eggplant, aubergine	berenjena
cucumber	pepino
asparagus	espárrago
spinach	espinaca
(edible) mushroom	seta (comestible), el champiñón
common mushroom, button mushroom	champiñón común, champiñón de París, champiñón

 

french fries	patatas fritas
mashed potatoes	el puré de patatas/papas
soybean	grano/semilla de soja/soya
olive	aceituna
cabbage	col, repollo
cauliflower	la coliflor
squash, marrow	calabaza
zucchini, courgette	el calabacín
turnip	nabo
carob	algarroba
radish	rábano
leek	puerro
celery	apio
beet	remolacha
sweet potato	batata, boniato
brussels sprout	la col de Bruselas
collard greens	berza
endive	endivia, escarola
kale	col rizada, col verde
artichoke	el alcaucil, alcachofa
broccoli	el brócoli, el brécol
ginger	el jengibre

 

Nuts and cereals (frutos secos* y cereales)

 

peanut	el maní, el cacahuate, el cacahuete
walnut	la nuez
chestnut	castaña
hazelnut	avellana
almond	almendra
wheat	trigo
rice	el arroz
maize, corn	el maíz
oats	avena
bread	el pan
pasta	pasta
noodle	fideo

 

whole-grain bread	pan integral
bread crumbs	pan rallado
cashew	el marañón, anacardo
pistachio	pistacho
pine nut	el piñón
barley	cebada
rye	centeno
corn flakes	hojuelas/copos de maíz
popcorn	el pororó, rosetas/palomitas de maíz
rolled oats	avena arrollada, copos de avena
puffed rice	arroz inflado
flour	harina
macaroni noodle	el macarrón
spaghetti	el espagueti
lasagne	lasaña

 

* The Spanish term fruto seco sometimes includes also dried fruits, such as prunes, raisins, etc.

 

Dairy and eggs (lácteos y huevos)

 

milk	la leche
butter	mantequilla
cheese	queso
yogurt	el yogur
egg	huevo
omelette	tortilla (francesa)

 

scrambled eggs	huevos revueltos, revuelto de huevo
skimmed milk	leche desnatada/descremada
semi skimmed milk	leche semidesnatada/semidescremada
whole milk	leche entera
dairy cow	vaca lechera
cheese slices	queso en lonchas
egg white	clara de huevo
egg yolk	yema de huevo

 

Oil and fats (aceite y grasas)

 

olive oil	el aceite de oliva
sunflower oil	aceite de girasol
soybean oil	aceite de soja
vegetable oil	aceite vegetal
peanut butter	mantequilla de cacahuete/maní
margarine	margarina
tallow	sebo
lard	manteca de cerdo

Fish and meat (pescado y carne)

meat	la carne
steak	el filete
chop	chuleta
pork	chancho, cerdo
ham	el jamón
beef	carne de vacuno
lamb	cordero
veal	ternera
chicken	pollo
turkey	pavo
sausage	salchicha
meatball	albóndiga
hamburger	hamburguesa
breast	pechuga
liver	hígado
shellfish	marisco
oyster	ostras
clams	almejas
shrimp, prawn	gamba, langostino
crab	cangrejo
swordfish	el pez espada
tuna	el atún
herring	el arenque
cod	bacalao
anchovy	anchoa
sardine	sardina
mackerel	macarela, caballa
salmon	el salmón
trout	trucha

 

duck	pato
rabbit	conejo
hare	la liebre
poultry	carne de ave
venison	carne de venado
fish farm	piscifactoría
whitefish	pescado blanco
oily fish	pescado azul, pescado graso
cold cut	el fiambre
meatloaf	el pastel de carne
roast beef	el rosbif
fish sticks, fish fingers	palitos de pescado
dry-cured Spanish ham	el jamón serrano
clawed lobster	el bogavante, el lubigante, cigala…
spiny lobster	langosta
hake	merluza
eel	anguila
turbot	rodaballo

 

Condiments (condimentos)

 

to season	sazonar, condimentar
sauce	salsa
spice	especia
mayonnaise	mayonesa, mahonesa
mustard	mostaza
ketchup	el kétchup, cátsup, cátchup
salt	la sal
pepper	pimienta
cinnamon	canela
oregano	orégano
mint	mastranto, menta
anis, asiseed	el anís

 

paprika	el pimentón
bay leaf, laurel	el laurel
spearmint	hierbabuena
sesame	sésamo, el ajonjolí
clove	clavo
cumin	comino
nutmeg	la nuez moscada
basil	albahaca

 

Sweets and sweeteners (dulces y endulzantes/edulcorantes)

 

sweeten	endulzar, edulcorar
honey	la miel
sugar	el azúcar
confectionery	golosinas, los dulces
cake	torta, tarta, el pastel
pancake	el panqueque, tortita
marmalade, jam	mermelada
ring-shaped doughnut	rosquilla
cookie	galleta
ice cream	helado
chocolate	el chocolate
bonbon, chocolate candy	el bombón
caramel	caramelo
candy	caramelo

 

chewing gum	el chicle, goma de mascar
brown sugar	azúcar moreno
saccharin	sacarina
syrup	el sirope
viennoiserie	facturas, bollería
waffle	el waffle (pronounced /waf-leh/), el gofre
cocoa powder	cacao en polvo
marzipan	el mazapán
lollipop	piruleta (flat candy), el chupa-chups (ball-shaped candy)
liquorice	caramelo de regaliz, el regaliz

 

Bebida (drink, beverage)

 

coffee	el café
tea	el té (*)
juice	jugo, zumo
milkshake	batida, batido
wine	vino
beer	cerveza

 

mineral water	agua mineral
soy milk	leche de soja
infusion	la infusión
chamomile	manzanilla, camomila
carbonated beverage, soft drink	gaseosa, refresco
white wine	vino blanco
red wine	vino tinto
ice cube	cubito de hielo

 

* Note that the accent mark distinguishes the noun té from the pronoun te.

 

Cooking

 

kitchen	cocina
cooking, cookery	cocina
to cook	cocinar
to boil	cocer
barbecue	barbacoa
grilled, barbecued	a la parrilla, a la brasa
griddled, pan grilled	a la plancha
to fry	freír
fried	frito
oven	horno
bake	hornear
to peel	pelar, mondar
cooking pot	cazuela, cacerola, olla
frying pan	la sartén

 

to dice	cortar en dados/tacos
spoonful	cucharada
tablespoonful	cucharada sopera
pressure cooker	olla a presión, olla express
microwave oven	horno (de) microondas
to simmer	cocer a fuego lento
to poach	escalfar
steam	cocer al vapor
to smoke (meat, fish…)	ahumar
roast	asar
broil	asar
cure	curar
garnish	la guarnición
stuffed	relleno
ferment	fermentar

 

General food related words

 

eat	comer
drink	beber
food	alimento, comida
meal	comida
breakfast	desayuno
to have (for) breakfast	desayunar
lunch	almuerzo
to lunch	almorzar
tea time, afternoon snack	merienda
to have (for) merienda	merendar
supper	cena
to have (for) supper	cenar
dessert	el postre
snack	aperitivo
to toast	tostar
toast	tostada
soup	sopa
spoon	cuchara
teaspoon	cucharilla
fork	tenedor
knife	cuchillo
plate	plato
dish	plato
course (of a meal)	plato
napkin	servilleta
salty	salado
sweet	dulce
bitter	amargo

 

edible	comestible
recipe	receta
cutlery	cubertería
kitchen knife	cuchillo de cocina
serrated knife	cuchillo de sierra
sour	ácido, agrio (milk, etc.)
nutritious	nutritivo
tasteless	insípido

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