French Kitchen Vocabulary: 100+ Essential Cooking Words and Phrases

Key takeaways

• French kitchen vocabulary divides into four practical areas: equipment (les équipements), cooking verbs (les verbes de cuisine), ingredients (les ingrédients), and recipe phrases (les expressions de recette).
• French cooking verbs have two registers: the infinitive form used in descriptions (faire revenir: to brown) and the imperative form used in recipes (faites revenir: brown the…).
• Many French cooking terms have entered English directly, including sauté, blanch, julienne, and flambé. Knowing these bridges between both languages makes kitchen vocabulary easier to expand.
• Gender matters for kitchen nouns: la casserole (feminine) and le couteau (masculine). Learning the article with the noun from the start is more efficient than memorizing gender rules afterward.

Most French learners can order at a restaurant. The kitchen is where the language gets genuinely useful and genuinely harder. A French recipe says faites revenir les oignons jusqu’à ce qu’ils soient translucides and you need to know what revenir means, which pan, and what translucides looks like when it happens.

italki connects learners with French teachers who can work through recipes, run kitchen vocabulary drills, and practice the cooking conversations that make this vocabulary stick.

This guide covers 100+ French kitchen vocabulary words organized into appliances, utensils, cooking verbs, ingredients, and recipe instruction phrases.

Kitchen appliances in French

French	English	Gender
le four	oven	masculine
le micro-ondes	microwave	masculine
le réfrigérateur / le frigo	refrigerator / fridge	masculine
le congélateur	freezer	masculine
le lave-vaisselle	dishwasher	masculine
le grille-pain	toaster	masculine
le mixeur / le blender	blender	masculine
le robot culinaire	food processor	masculine
la cafetière	coffee maker	feminine
la machine à expresso	espresso machine	feminine
la friteuse	deep fryer	feminine
la plaque de cuisson	cooktop/hob	feminine
la hotte aspirante	range hood	feminine
le four à vapeur	steam oven	masculine
la bouilloire	kettle	feminine

Le frigo is the everyday informal word for refrigerator. Le réfrigérateur is the formal term used in recipes, technical writing, and formal speech.

Kitchen utensils and tools in French

French	English	Gender
le couteau	knife	masculine
la poêle	frying pan	feminine
la casserole	saucepan	feminine
la marmite	large pot/stockpot	feminine
le bol	bowl	masculine
la planche à découper	cutting board	feminine
la passoire	colander/strainer	feminine
la spatule	spatula	feminine
le fouet	whisk	masculine
la râpe	grater	feminine
le moule	baking mold/tin	masculine
la plaque de cuisson / la lèchefrite	baking tray	feminine
la louche	ladle	feminine
les pinces	tongs	feminine plural
l’éplucheur (m)	peeler	masculine
le tire-bouchon	corkscrew	masculine
le rouleau à pâtisserie	rolling pin	masculine
l’ouvre-boîte (m)	can opener	masculine
le tamis	sieve	masculine
la balance de cuisine	kitchen scale	feminine

A French language tutor can run naming drills for kitchen objects, which fixes article errors (saying le poêle instead of la poêle) before they become habits.

Cooking verbs in French

French cooking verbs are used in two contexts: infinitive in descriptions and imperative in recipe instructions. Both matter for reading French recipes and following French cooking shows.

Heat methods

Infinitive	Imperative (vous)	English
faire frire	faites frire	to fry
faire sauter / sauter	faites sauter	to sauté
rôtir	faites rôtir	to roast
cuire au four	faites cuire au four	to bake
faire griller	faites griller	to grill/to toast
faire dorer	faites dorer	to brown/sear
faire bouillir	faites bouillir	to boil
mijoter	faites mijoter	to simmer
braiser	braisez	to braise
pocher	pochez	to poach
blanchir	blanchissez	to blanch
flamber	flambez	to flambé

Preparation verbs

Infinitive	Imperative (vous)	English
couper	coupez	to cut
hacher	hachez	to chop/mince
émincer	émincez	to slice thinly
râper	râpez	to grate
mélanger	mélangez	to mix
fouetter	fouettez	to whisk/beat
ajouter	ajoutez	to add
verser	versez	to pour
éplucher / peler	épluchez / pelez	to peel
égoutter	égouttez	to drain
mariner	marinez	to marinate
assaisonner	assaisonnez	to season
saupoudrer	saupoudrez	to sprinkle
incorporer	incorporez	to fold in/incorporate

Recipe language also uses avoir-based compound forms, so passé composé in French helps with cooking sentences such as j’ai fait revenir les oignons (I browned the onions).

Ingredients vocabulary in French

Vegetables (les légumes)

French	English
l’oignon (m)	onion
l’ail (m)	garlic
la tomate	tomato
le poivron	bell pepper
la carotte	carrot
la pomme de terre	potato
le champignon	mushroom
l’aubergine (f)	eggplant/aubergine
la courgette	zucchini/courgette
les haricots verts (m)	green beans
le poireau	leek
l’échalote (f)	shallot

Grocery shopping in French pairs naturally with kitchen vocabulary because ingredient names and market phrases often appear before the cooking starts.

Proteins and dairy

French	English
la viande	meat
le poulet	chicken
le boeuf	beef
le porc	pork
le poisson	fish
les fruits de mer (m)	seafood
l’oeuf (m)	egg
le lait	milk
le beurre	butter
le fromage	cheese
la crème fraîche	crème fraîche / heavy cream
le yaourt	yogurt

Pantry and seasonings

French	English
l’huile (f)	oil
le vinaigre	vinegar
le sel	salt
le poivre	pepper
le sucre	sugar
la farine	flour
le bouillon	broth/stock
les herbes aromatiques (f)	fresh herbs
les épices (f)	spices
la moutarde	mustard
le thym	thyme
le laurier	bay leaf
la cannelle	cinnamon

Recipe instruction phrases

French phrase	English meaning
Préchauffez le four à 180°C.	Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Faites chauffer l’huile à feu moyen.	Heat the oil over medium heat.
Ajoutez l’ail et faites revenir deux minutes.	Add the garlic and sauté for two minutes.
Versez le bouillon petit à petit.	Pour in the broth little by little.
Laissez mijoter à feu doux pendant 20 minutes.	Let it simmer on low heat for 20 minutes.
Salez et poivrez selon votre goût.	Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Laissez reposer avant de servir.	Let it rest before serving.
Saupoudrez de persil frais.	Sprinkle with fresh parsley.
Goûtez et rectifiez l’assaisonnement.	Taste and adjust the seasoning.
Retirez du feu et servez chaud.	Remove from the heat and serve hot.

Key measurements and heat levels:

French	English
une pincée	a pinch
une cuillère à soupe	a tablespoon
une cuillère à café	a teaspoon
selon votre goût	to taste
à feu vif	on high heat
à feu moyen	on medium heat
à feu doux	on low heat

Kitchen conversation phrases

French	English
Tu as une grande casserole?	Do you have a large saucepan?
Où est l’ouvre-boîte?	Where is the can opener?
Il me faut plus de sel.	I need more salt.
Le riz est prêt?	Is the rice ready?
L’eau bout déjà.	The water is already boiling.
Fais attention, la poêle est très chaude.	Careful, the pan is very hot.
Tu peux hacher les oignons?	Can you chop the onions?
Je n’ai plus d’huile.	I am out of oil.
Il faut laisser mariner la viande.	The meat needs to marinate.
Je mets à feu doux.	I will put it on low heat.

Practice these phrases in a kitchen roleplay with a private French tutor who can correct your pronunciation and article usage on the spot.

Ready to cook in French?

French kitchen vocabulary opens up recipes, cooking shows, and real kitchen conversations in a way that basic food vocabulary cannot. The bridge from recognizing these words to using them naturally in a real cooking situation takes practice with actual speech.

A French tutor can read through a recipe with you, check your article gender on kitchen nouns, and run quick kitchen conversation drills that move vocabulary from recognition into production. italki connects learners with 30,000+ expert tutors trusted by over 10 million learners worldwide, with French tutors who can focus lessons on exactly the cooking vocabulary you need. Book a trial lesson and bring a French recipe you want to cook.

FAQ

Are there French cooking terms that have entered English?

Yes. Many standard English cooking terms come directly from French: sauté, blanch, julienne, flambé, braise, marinate, mousse, purée, and gratin are all French in origin and carry the same meanings in English culinary use. Knowing this makes French recipes more accessible than they initially appear.

Is kitchen vocabulary the same in Quebec French as in European French?

Mostly yes, but some differences exist. Quebec French uses some regional terms: un chaudron for a large pot (versus une marmite in France), and a few appliance names differ. The core vocabulary in this guide is standard French and universally understood, but a Quebec teacher can flag regional variations if you plan to cook or work in a Quebec kitchen context.

What is the best way to practice French kitchen vocabulary before a trip to France?

Cook a French recipe in French. Read through the ingredient list, say the cooking steps aloud, and look up any term you do not recognize. This is more effective than flashcards because it places vocabulary in context: you see, say, and do the action at the same time.