Foods in Spanish

Whether to cook a Spanish recipe, eat out at a restaurant, order food, or do the shopping in a Spanish-speaking country, knowing the names of foods is a basic skill.

No como carne.
I don’t eat meat.

¿Te gusta la pizza?
Do you like pizza?

The four meals in Spanish are:

el desayuno: breakfast

el almuerzo: lunch

la merienda: afternoon snack

la cena: dinner

And some of the the most common food-related verbs are:

comer: to eat

beber, tomar: to drink

desayunar: to have breakfast

almorzar: to have lunch

merendar: to eat an afternoon snack

cenar: to have dinner

cocinar: to cook

tener hambre: to be hungry

tener sed: to be thirsty

estar lleno: to be full

Fun fact: The Spanish word comida means both “food” and “meal”.

Types of food in Spanish

Below are some of the most common foods in Spanish divided into food groups:

Fruits in Spanish

manzana apple	melón melon	lima lime
fresa strawberry	piña, ananá pineapple	pera pear
banana, plátano banana	limón lemon	arándano blueberry
naranja orange	durazno, melocotón peach	frambuesa raspberry
ciruela plum	damasco, albaricoque apricot	cereza cherry
uvas grapes	pomelo, toronja grapefruit	zarzamora, mora blackberry
sandía watermelon	granada pomegranate	aguacate, palta avocado

La granada es típica del sur de España.
Pomegranates are typical of southern Spain.

Me encantan las frambuesas.
I love raspberries.

• More on this: Fruits in Spanish

Vegetables in Spanish

papa, patata potato	champiñón mushroom	coliflor cauliflower
zanahoria carrot	pepino cucumber	calabacín zucchini
tomate tomato	maíz, choclo corn	brócoli broccoli
lechuga lettuce	berenjena eggplant	repollo cabbage
cebolla onion	ajo garlic	rábano radish
zapallo pumpkin	pimiento, morrón pepper	espárragos asparagus
espinaca spinach	apio celery	batata, boniato sweet potato

Me gusta la ensalada de zanahoria, repollo y cebolla.
I like carrot, cabbage, and onion salad.

Para la sopa, necesitamos apio, zapallo y ajo.
For the soup, we need celery, pumpkin, and garlic.

Meat and dairy products in Spanish

carne de res beef	jamón ham	huevo egg
pollo chicken	tocino bacon	leche milk
pescado fish	salchicha sausage	queso cheese
cerdo pork	chorizo chorizo	mantequilla butter
cordero lamb	bistec steak	yogur yogurt
pavo turkey	lomo sirloin	crema cream

Está comiendo un sándwich de jamón y queso.
He’s eating a ham and cheese sandwich.

El pescado está muy fresco.
The fish is very fresh.

Grains and staples in Spanish

harina flour	cereales cereals	garbanzos chickpeas
aceite oil	lentejas lentils	avena oats
arroz rice	frijoles, porotos beans	trigo wheat
azúcar sugar	guisantes, arvejas peas	cebada barley

Agrégale aceite de oliva a la ensalada.
Add some olive oil into the salad.

La niña come cereales con leche todas las mañanas.
The little girl eats cereal with milk every morning.

Spices and herbs in Spanish

sal salt	cúrcuma turmeric	perejil parsley
pimienta pepper	comino cumin	cilantro cilantro, coriander
pimentón paprika	cardamomo cardamom	romero rosemary
azafrán saffron	clavo de olor clove	tomillo thyme
canela cinnamon	albahaca basil	salvia sage
jengibre ginger	menta mint	laurel bay leaf
nuez moscada nutmeg	orégano oregano	eneldo dill

El té de jengibre es muy bueno para la garganta.
Ginger tea is very good for the throat.

Esta salsa tiene pimentón y laurel.
This sauce has paprika and bay leaves.

Nuts in Spanish

almendra almond	pistacho pistachio	anacardo, castaña de cajú cashew
nuez nut	avellana hazelnut	pacana, nuez pecán pecan
castaña chestnut	cacahuete, maní peanut	piñón pine nut

Una dieta vegana incluye leche de almendras.
A vegan diet includes almond milk.

No me gusta mucho la mantequilla de maní.
I don’t like peanut butter a lot.

Desserts and sweet foods in Spanish

helado ice cream	flan flan (caramel custard)	churro churro
pastel cake	mousse mousse	mermelada jam
chocolate chocolate	natilla custard	miel honey
tarta pie	alfajor cookie sandwich	dulce de leche dulce de leche (caramelized milk)
gelatina jelly	galleta cookie	vainilla vanilla

De postre quiero flan con crema.
For dessert, I’d like flan with cream

Los alfajores de dulce de leche son muy populares en Argentina.
Dulce de leche cookie sandwiches are very popular in Argentina.

More food-related vocabulary in Spanish

Besides the names of foods and drinks, there are many other must-know food-related words, including adjectives to describe foods and meals, cooking verbs, and nouns:

Adjectives to describe food in Spanish

The most common adjectives to describe food and meals in Spanish are:

salado/salada salty	picante spicy	caliente hot
dulce sweet	sabroso/sabrosa tasty	frío/fría cold
agrio/agria sour	delicioso/deliciosa delicious	fresco/fresca fresh
amargo/amarga bitter	soso/sosa bland	bien cocido/cocida well-cooked

Quisiera el lomo bien cocido, por favor.
I’d like the sirloin well-cooked, please.

La comida está demasiado picante.
The food is too spicy.

• See also: Adjectives in Spanish

Cooking verbs in Spanish

The following high-occurrence verbs are essential to understand a recipe in Spanish, give instructions on how you would like your food, or get by in a Spanish-speaking country:

cocinar to cook	hervir to boil	rallar to grate
calentar to heat up, warm up	pelar to peel	amasar to knead
cortar to cut	hornear to bake, to roast	licuar to blend
revolver to stir	freír to fry	moler to grind
mezclar to mix	picar to chop	derretir to melt
condimentar to season	rebanar to slice	verter to pour
descongelar to defrost	batir to whisk, to beat	agregar to add

Primero se debe picar y freír la cebolla.
First, chop and fry the onion.

Voy a hornear un pastel.
I’m going to bake a cake.

Utensils and cooking items in Spanish

tenedor fork	copa wine glass	cafetera coffee maker
cuchillo knife	plato plate	tostadora toaster
cuchara spoon	servilleta napkin	sartén frying pan
cucharita teaspoon	microondas microwave	olla pot
cubiertos cutlery	horno oven	cacerola saucepan
vaso glass	refrigerador refrigerator	abrelatas can opener
taza cup	freezer freezer	tabla de cortar cutting board

Necesito calentar mi café en el microondas.
I need to heat up my coffee in the microwave.

¿Dónde están los cubiertos?
Where is the cutlery?

Drinks in Spanish

The most common drinks (bebidas) in Spanish are:

agua water	limonada lemonade	vino wine
té tea	refresco, gaseosa soda	vino tinto red wine
café coffee	agua mineral mineral water	vino blanco white wine
café con leche coffee with milk	agua con gas sparkling water	vino rosado rose wine
zumo / jugo de naranja orange juice	cerveza beer	batido milkshake

Café solo, sin azúcar para mí, por favor.
Black coffee, no sugar for me, please.

Para beber, quisiéramos una copa de vino tinto y un agua mineral.
To drink, we’ll have a glass of red wine and a bottle of mineral water.

How to talk about food and drink in Spanish

Here are some common sample dialogues to talk about food and drink in Spanish:

—¿Cuál es tu comida favorita?
What’s your favorite food?
—Mi comida favorita es la pizza.
My favorite food is pizza.

—¿Te agrada la comida picante?
Do you like spicy food?
—¡Sí! De hecho me encanta la comida mexicana.
I do! Actually, I love Mexican food.

—¿Qué hay para cenar hoy?
What’s for dinner tonight?
—Pastel de papas.
Cottage pie.

—¿Tienes ganas de tomar un helado?
Do you feel like having an ice cream?
—¡Buena idea!
Good idea!

—¿Quieres un café?
Would you like a coffee?
—Sí, por favor.
Yes, please.

—¿Probaste sushi alguna vez?
Have you ever tried sushi before?
—Sí, de hecho como sushi todas las semanas.
Yes, in fact I eat sushi every week.

—¿Qué me recomienda?
What do you recommend?
—Le recomiendo la trucha con papas asadas.
I recommend the trout with baked potatoes.

Culture tip: The phrase buen provecho is equivalent to “bon appétit”. It is said in some Spanish-speaking countries to wish someone a good meal.

Practice: Foods in Spanish

References

• Wordreference.com, “piñón,” accessed October 3, 2024, https://www.wordreference.com/
• Oxford Spanish Dictionary, 3rd edition on CD-ROM, Oxford University Press.
• Merriam-Webster Dictionary, accessed October 3, 2024, under “cottage cheese,” https://www.merriam-webster.com/