Vocabulary for Food, Cooking, and Eating Out

 Your essential guide to English words about Meals, Menus, and more

🍽 Why this topic matters

Food is part of everyday life—whether you're cooking at home, dining in a restaurant, ordering takeout, or shopping at the grocery store. Learning vocabulary related to food and eating helps you communicate clearly, understand menus, follow recipes, and enjoy conversations with English speakers about your favorite dishes.

This guide gives you practical vocabulary grouped into helpful categories, with real-life examples, to make learning easier and more effective.

🍎 1. Food vocabulary by category

🥦 Fruits & vegetables

Word	Meaning	Example Sentence
Apple	A sweet fruit	I eat an apple every morning.
Carrot	An orange root vegetable	She chopped the carrots for the salad.
Broccoli	A green vegetable	Broccoli is healthy and full of fiber.

📝 Tip: Learn colors and shapes with fruits and vegetables to make vocabulary more memorable. (e.g., “A round red apple”)

🍗 Meat & protein

Word	Meaning	Example Sentence
Chicken	A common poultry meat	We had grilled chicken for dinner.
Beef	Meat from a cow	He ordered a beef burger.
Tofu	A soft protein made from soybeans	Tofu is a great option for vegetarians.

🍞 Grains, dairy & others

Word	Meaning	Example Sentence
Bread	Baked food made from flour	I made a sandwich with whole grain bread.
Cheese	A dairy product from milk	I like cheese on my pasta.
Rice	A common grain	She cooked rice with vegetables.

🍳 2. Cooking Verbs you should know

Verb	Meaning	Example Sentence
Boil	To cook in hot water	Please boil the eggs for 10 minutes.
Fry	To cook in hot oil	He fried the fish in a pan.
Bake	To cook using dry heat (oven)	She baked a chocolate cake.
Chop	To cut into small pieces	Chop the onions before frying them.
Stir	To mix with a spoon	Stir the soup gently.

🧠 Memory Tip: Imagine yourself doing these actions—this helps the verbs stick in your memory.

🍴 3. Useful words for Eating Out

📝 Common restaurant words

Word	Meaning	Example Sentence
Menu	A list of food items	Can I see the menu, please?
Order	To ask for food or drinks	I’d like to order the spaghetti.
Waiter/Waitress	A person who serves food	The waiter brought our drinks.
Bill/Check	A statement of money to pay	Could we get the check, please?
Tip	Extra money for good service	We left a 10% tip.

🧾 Useful phrases at a Restaurant

• “I’d like the chicken salad, please.”

• “Could I get a glass of water?”

• “What do you recommend?”

• “Is this dish spicy?”

• “Can I have the bill, please?”

🎯 Practice: Try role-playing with a friend or teacher. One is the waiter, one is the customer.

🧠 4. Tips to remember vocabulary long term

🔁 Use the S.E.E. technique:

S = See – Look at pictures of the food or actions.
E = Example – Always connect a word with a sample sentence.
E = Experience – Use the word in your real life or in practice (e.g., order food in English).

🎮 Fun practice ideas

• Label food in your kitchen with sticky notes in English.

• Watch English cooking shows or recipe videos.

• Write down what you eat in a daily food journal in English.

• Try a restaurant roleplay with a friend.

🧺 Mini practice quiz

Match the words to their meanings:

1. Boil

2. Menu

3. Waiter

4. Tofu

5. Chop

a) A person who serves food
b) A soft protein from soybeans
c) To cook something in hot water
d) A list of available dishes
e) To cut something into small pieces

👉 Answers: 1–c, 2–d, 3–a, 4–b, 5–e

✅ Final thoughts

Learning food and cooking vocabulary is one of the most useful topics for English learners. You use these words daily—at home, in restaurants, while shopping, or during travel. Focus on using them in real situations, and practice consistently.

🍴 Now it’s your turn: What’s your favorite dish? Try describing how to make it in English using the words from this lesson!