Spanish food vocabulary
The 500 most common words in Spanish 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| receta | recipe | 30 | 4,192 |
| ingredientes | ingredients | 33 | 7,881 |
| crianza | oak-aged (wine); aging | 38 | 15,065 |
| vinos | wines | 42 | 9,072 |
| sabor | flavor; taste | 45 | 3,156 |
| aceite | oil (olive oil) | 46 | 3,165 |
| queso | cheese | 54 | 1,934 |
| recetas | recipes | 57 | 10,034 |
| salsa | sauce | 62 | 2,664 |
| plato | dish; plate; course | 66 | 2,142 |
| azúcar | sugar | 68 | 2,479 |
| calidad | quality | 75 | 3,162 |
| bodegas | wineries; wine cellars | 76 | — |
| bodega | winery; wine cellar | 77 | 5,624 |
| horno | oven | 81 | 4,342 |
| mezcla | mixture; (it/you) mix | 103 | 4,020 |
| oliva | olive | 106 | 15,235 |
| masa | dough; batter | 107 | 3,545 |
| harina | flour | 109 | 8,018 |
| ajo | garlic | 113 | 7,981 |
| cebolla | onion | 122 | 7,814 |
| preparación | preparation | 123 | 6,999 |
| roble | oak (wine barrel ageing) | 124 | 10,804 |
| verduras | vegetables | 148 | 6,958 |
| limón | lemon | 153 | 5,992 |
| tempranillo | Tempranillo (red grape/wine) | 164 | — |
| tinto | red (wine) | 165 | 10,168 |
| textura | texture | 166 | 15,370 |
| tomate | tomato | 169 | 5,930 |
| pimienta | pepper (spice) | 171 | 7,944 |
| sabores | flavors | 175 | 12,605 |
| añade | add (you/he/she) | 181 | 12,722 |
| variedad | variety | 187 | 8,623 |
| cucharadas | tablespoons | 190 | — |
| sartén | frying pan | 196 | 12,203 |
| elaboración | making; preparation (of food/wine) | 202 | — |
| postres | desserts | 211 | 13,481 |
| barricas | wine barrels; oak casks | 220 | — |
| cata | tasting (wine tasting) | 227 | — |
| aromas | aromas; scents | 241 | — |
| nata | cream (dairy) | 246 | 13,750 |
| gastronomía | gastronomy; cuisine | 255 | — |
| caldo | broth; stock | 259 | 11,264 |
| cucharadita | teaspoon | 276 | — |
| barrica | oak barrel (wine ageing) | 280 | — |
| molde | baking mould; baking tin | 285 | 12,930 |
| bizcocho | sponge cake | 358 | 15,020 |
| elaborado | made; prepared | 384 | 15,249 |
| bol | bowl | 461 | 15,336 |
| carnes | meats | 519 | 16,672 |
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 107 sites in Spain, collected in 2025–2026. 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 107 sites. Speaking ranks from FrequencyWords (CC BY-SA 3.0). Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0. Sources and credits