Food & Cooking — B1 Essential Words

recipe /ˈres.ə.pi/ noun B1 Food

Meaning: Instructions that tell you how to cook a dish, including what you need and the steps to follow.

Example: Grandma Rose gave me her recipe for apple pie.

Another example: I found a great recipe for tomato soup online.

Collocations: follow a recipe · a recipe for cake · recipe book

Synonyms: cooking instructions

Word family: recipe (n)

⚠ Common mistake: Pronounce it ’RES-uh-pee’ — three parts, with the stress on the first. A ’recipe’ is for cooking; the paper from a store that proves you paid is a ’receipt’ — don’t mix them up.

🗣 In spoken American English: Cooking shows share ’easy recipes’ for busy families. People ask ’Can I get the recipe?’ when a dish tastes great.

Register: neutral — fine in speech and writing

ingredient /ɪnˈɡriː.di.ənt/ noun B1 Food

Meaning: One of the foods or substances that you use to make a dish.

Example: Flour, eggs, and sugar are the main ingredients of this cake.

Another example: Check that you have all the ingredients before you start cooking.

Collocations: main ingredient · fresh ingredients · list of ingredients

Synonyms: part, component

Word family: ingredient (n)

⚠ Common mistake: ’Ingredient’ is countable: ’an ingredient’, ’three ingredients’. The ’ingredients list’ on food packages tells you what is inside the food.

🗣 In spoken American English: Labels say ’Ingredients:’ followed by everything in the product, with the biggest amount first.

Register: neutral — fine in speech and writing

boil /bɔɪl/ verb B1 Food

Meaning: To heat water or another liquid until it is very hot and bubbles rise and break on the top; to cook food in that hot water.

Example: Boil the water before you add the pasta.

Another example: She boiled two eggs for breakfast.

Collocations: boil water · boil an egg · bring to a boil

Synonyms: simmer (more gently)

Antonyms: freeze

Word family: boil (v) · boiling (adj) · boiler (n)

⚠ Common mistake: You ’boil’ water and cook food in boiling water. Don’t say ’boil the chicken in hot oil’ — cooking in oil is ’fry’.

🗣 In spoken American English: ’A watched pot never boils’ is a saying: things feel slower when you stand and watch them.

Register: neutral — fine in speech and writing

fry /fraɪ/ verb B1 Food

Meaning: To cook food in hot oil or fat in a pan.

Example: He fried the potatoes in olive oil.

Another example: We often fry eggs for breakfast on Sundays.

Collocations: fry an egg · fried chicken · frying pan

Synonyms: sauté, cook in oil

Antonyms: bake

Word family: fry (v) · fried (adj) · frying pan (n) · French fries (n)

⚠ Common mistake: ’Fry’ is cooking in hot oil in a pan. Cooking in an oven with dry heat is ’bake’ or ’roast’. Don’t say ’fry the cake’ — cakes are baked.

🗣 In spoken American English: ’French fries’ are called just ’fries’ in the US. Small pieces of fried potato for breakfast are ’home fries’.

Register: neutral — fine in speech and writing

taste /teɪst/ verb and noun B1 Food

Meaning: As a verb: to put a small amount of food or drink in your mouth to check its flavor; it also means to have a particular flavor. As a noun: the flavor of food or drink.

Example: Taste the soup — does it need more salt?

Another example: This juice tastes sweet, like oranges.

Collocations: taste good · have a taste · taste the soup

Synonyms: flavor, sample (as a verb)

Word family: taste (v) · taste (n) · tasty (adj) · taste buds (n)

⚠ Common mistake: Use ’taste’ + adjective for flavor: ’The soup tastes good’ or ’It tastes salty.’ Don’t say ’The soup tastes well’ — for flavor, use an adjective, not ’well’.

🗣 In spoken American English: Cooks say ’Taste as you go!’ — check the flavor many times while cooking. ’Tasty’ means the food tastes good.

Register: neutral — fine in speech and writing

sour /saʊr/ adjective B1 Food

Meaning: Having a sharp flavor like a lemon or vinegar; not sweet. Milk that has gone bad also tastes sour.

Example: The lemon is so sour that it made her eyes close.

Another example: This milk tastes sour — don’t drink it.

Collocations: sour cream · taste sour · sour lemon

Synonyms: acidic, tart

Antonyms: sweet

Word family: sour (adj) · sourness (n)

⚠ Common mistake: ’Sour’ is a taste (lemon, vinegar). ’Bitter’ is a different, stronger taste (dark coffee, some medicine). Don’t use ’sour’ for a bad smell in general.

🗣 In spoken American English: ’Sour cream’ is a popular white sauce for baked potatoes and tacos in the US — it is not bad cream, it is made that way.

Register: neutral — fine in speech and writing

spicy /ˈspaɪ.si/ adjective B1 Food

Meaning: Having a strong, hot flavor from spices like chili peppers; food that makes your mouth feel hot.

Example: Mexican food can be very spicy.

Another example: The soup is too spicy for the children.

Collocations: spicy food · too spicy · spicy sauce

Synonyms: hot, peppery

Antonyms: mild, bland

Word family: spicy (adj) · spice (n) · spiciness (n)

⚠ Common mistake: ’Spicy’ means hot from chili. For food with many spices but no heat, say ’flavorful’ or ’well-seasoned’. Don’t say ’The food is spice’ — use the adjective ’spicy’.

🗣 In spoken American English: Restaurants ask ’Mild, medium, or hot?’ about spicy dishes. A person who cannot eat hot food says ’No spice, please.’

Register: neutral — fine in speech and writing

fresh /freʃ/ adjective B1 Food

Meaning: Newly made, picked, or prepared; not old, frozen, or in a can. Fresh air is clean, cool air from outside.

Example: We buy fresh vegetables at the farmers’ market in Denver.

Another example: Nothing is better than fresh bread in the morning.

Collocations: fresh food · fresh air · fresh water

Synonyms: new, just picked

Antonyms: stale, old, frozen

Word family: fresh (adj) · freshly (adv) · freshness (n)

⚠ Common mistake: For food, ’fresh’ is the opposite of ’frozen’ or ’old’. Don’t use ’fresh’ to mean ’cold’ — cold water is not ’fresh water’; ’fresh water’ means clean water that is not from the sea.

🗣 In spoken American English: Farmers’ markets sell fresh local food. People open a window to ’get some fresh air’.

Register: neutral — fine in speech and writing

frozen /ˈfroʊ.zən/ adjective B1 Food

Meaning: Kept at a very low temperature to stay good for a long time; also, turned into ice or made very hard by cold.

Example: We keep frozen peas and frozen pizza in the freezer.

Another example: The lake was frozen, and children skated on the ice.

Collocations: frozen food · frozen pizza · frozen vegetables

Synonyms: hard with cold

Antonyms: fresh, thawed

Word family: frozen (adj) · freeze (v) · freezer (n) · froze (past form)

⚠ Common mistake: The verb forms are ’freeze’ (present), ’froze’ (past), and ’frozen’ (past participle and adjective). Don’t say ’freezed’.

🗣 In spoken American English: The big cold section of an American supermarket is called the ’frozen food aisle’. ’Frozen’ can also describe a person who cannot move because of fear.

Register: neutral — fine in speech and writing

dessert /dɪˈzɝːt/ noun B1 Food

Meaning: Sweet food that you eat at the end of a meal, like cake, ice cream, or pie.

Example: For dessert, we had chocolate cake and ice cream.

Another example: Julia never skips dessert — it is her favorite part of the meal.

Collocations: for dessert · dessert menu · a sweet dessert

Synonyms: sweet dish

Antonyms: main course, appetizer

Word family: dessert (n)

⚠ Common mistake: ’Dessert’ (sweet food) has two S’s and the stress is on the second part: de-ZERT. ’Desert’ (dry land with sand) has one S and a different sound: DEZ-ert. Don’t mix up the spelling.

🗣 In spoken American English: Servers ask ’Would you like to see the dessert menu?’ Many Americans finish dinner with pie or ice cream.

Register: neutral — fine in speech and writing