50 French Cooking Verbs 🥘

How do you say to chop in French? You may know the basic cooking terms but do you know the French cooking verbs? Here is my list of common verbs used to cook.

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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Une Semaine À Paris Bilingual Audiobook

An audio novel for all levels. Explore Paris with modern, lively and realistic dialogues

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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