Italian food vocabulary
The 500 most common words in Italian food writing, with English meanings, everyday words included.
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Words that stand out in food writing
| Word | Meaning | Food rank | Speaking rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| ricetta | recipe | 38 | 4,391 |
| olio | oil | 39 | 2,989 |
| vino | wine | 41 | 1,219 |
| ingredienti | ingredients | 47 | 8,920 |
| pasta | pasta | 48 | 4,289 |
| sale | salt | 53 | 2,492 |
| zucchero | sugar | 61 | 2,721 |
| vini | wines | 62 | 10,191 |
| piatto | dish; plate | 67 | 2,262 |
| forno | oven | 68 | 4,315 |
| farina | flour | 74 | 7,590 |
| ricette | recipes | 77 | 10,480 |
| cottura | cooking; cooking time | 85 | 15,629 |
| crema | cream; custard | 94 | 3,808 |
| prodotti | products | 99 | 3,915 |
| preparazione | preparation (of a dish) | 102 | 6,895 |
| burro | butter | 110 | 3,424 |
| impasto | dough; batter | 116 | 16,181 |
| pepe | pepper (black) | 136 | 7,002 |
| limone | lemon | 146 | 6,232 |
| cuocere | to cook; to bake | 170 | 14,521 |
| padella | frying pan; skillet | 174 | 10,655 |
| aggiungete | add! (you all); you add | 184 | — |
| lievito | yeast; leavening | 194 | — |
| composto | mixture; compound | 195 | 6,482 |
| oliva | olive | 196 | 12,966 |
| aglio | garlic | 200 | 8,542 |
| verdure | vegetables; greens | 204 | 6,837 |
| italiana | Italian (feminine) | 205 | 7,070 |
| panna | cream | 217 | 6,960 |
| cucchiaio | spoon; tablespoon | 236 | 7,334 |
| pomodoro | tomato | 247 | 8,827 |
| ricotta | ricotta (cheese) | 253 | — |
| cucchiai | spoons; tablespoons | 256 | 15,331 |
| ciotola | bowl | 261 | 8,083 |
| parmigiano | Parmesan cheese | 262 | — |
| zucchine | zucchini; courgettes | 269 | — |
| cipolla | onion | 270 | 9,957 |
| extravergine | extra virgin (olive oil) | 300 | — |
| pizzico | pinch | 321 | 9,612 |
| sapori | flavours; tastes | 329 | — |
| mandorle | almonds | 341 | 14,895 |
| teglia | baking tin; baking tray | 342 | — |
| prezzemolo | parsley | 347 | — |
| raffreddare | to cool down | 375 | — |
| fette | slices | 399 | 12,046 |
| ripieno | filling; stuffing | 409 | 13,380 |
| salata | salty; savoury (fem.) | 441 | 13,509 |
| cacao | cocoa | 446 | 15,693 |
| formaggi | cheeses | 450 | 14,823 |
50 of the 500, chosen for ranking much higher in food writing than on the Speaking list, which is counted from film and TV subtitles, or for not being on it at all (—). Words among its first 1,000 are not shown here; the downloads hold all 500, in order.
How it was counted
Apera counted every word on food pages from 121 sites, collected in 2021–2026. Left out: page furniture such as cookie banners, English, web addresses, names and numbers, and words used on only one site. Each form of a word is its own row. The Speaking ranks in the table are from the Speaking list.
This list: counted by Apera from food pages on 121 sites. Speaking ranks from FrequencyWords (CC BY-SA 3.0). Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0. Sources and credits