50 French Cooking Verbs 🥘

We could write a whole book about the French cooking terms.

My experience is that French students often know cooking ingredients but don’t know the French cooking verbs.

So here is a list of the common cooking verbs I teach to my French immersion students when they want to cook with me.

Table of Contents

1 – French Cooking Verbs: Chop, Dice, Cut…

2 – French Cooking Verbs: Heat, Bake…

3 – Other Verbs Used In Cooking

1 – French Cooking Verbs: Chop, Dice, Cut…

To chop: hacher, concasser, tailler en morceaux
To chunk : couper en gros morceaux
To cut : couper
To dice : couper en dés
To mince : émincer
To slice : couper en lamelles/ en tranches
To julienne : couper en julienne
To slice : trancher

2 – French Cooking Verbs: Heat, Bake…

To preheat : préchauffer (le four)
To heat on low : faire chauffer à feu doux
To heat on middle : faire chauffer à feu moyen
To heat on high : faire chauffer à feu fort
To cook in a double boiler : cuire au bain marie
To sauté : faire sauter
To bake : cuire au four
To boil : faire bouillir
To bring to a boil : porter à ébullition
To fry/to deep fry : frire
To melt : faire fondre (les oignons…)
To poach : pocher
To reduce : réduire
To roast : torréfier ou rôtir
To simmer : mijoter
To steam : cuire à la vapeur
To stir-fry : faire revenir rapidement

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More Details & Audio Samples

3 – Other Verbs Used In Cooking

To cook : cuisiner (it’s a bit complicated in French so Camille wrote a whole article about how to say to cook in French)
To drizzle : arroser
To sprinkle : saupoudrer/parsemer
To taste : goûter
To bread : paner
To add : ajouter
To blend : mélanger
To crush : écraser
To garnish : Garnir
To grate : râper
To grind : réduire en poudre, moudre, piler
To marinate : mariner
To measure : mesurer
To mix : mélanger
To peel : éplucher/peler
To shell : décortiquer
To pour : verser
To mix : mixer
To put : mettre
To remove the stems : enlever les tiges
To rinse : rincer
To scoop out : évider
To shred : râper
To soak : tremper
To squeeze : presser
To stir : mélanger
To weigh : peser
To deglaze : déglacer
To dilute : délayer
To sweat : faire suer
Assaisonner : to season