Spanish food & drink vocabulary

52 words at level A0, with English translations and example sentences. Spain's words come first, with Latin American alternatives where they differ.

Spanish	English	Example
el agua (f.)	water (el agua, but agua fría)	¿Quieres agua? Would you like some water?
el café	coffee; café	Un café, por favor. A coffee, please.
el café con leche	white coffee (coffee with lots of milk)	Desayuno un café con leche. I have a white coffee for breakfast.
el cortado	espresso with a dash of milk (Spain)	Un cortado y una tostada, por favor. An espresso with a dash of milk and some toast, please.
el té	tea	¿Quieres un té? Would you like a tea?
la leche	milk	No bebo leche. I don't drink milk.
el zumo	juice (Spain; LatAm: el jugo)	Un zumo de naranja, por favor. An orange juice, please.
la cerveza	beer	Una cerveza, por favor. A beer, please.
el vino	wine	El vino de La Rioja es famoso. The wine from La Rioja is famous.
el vino tinto	red wine	Una copa de vino tinto. A glass of red wine.
el pan	bread	Compro pan todos los días. I buy bread every day.
el queso	cheese	Me encanta el queso manchego. I love Manchego cheese.
el jamón	ham	Un bocadillo de jamón, por favor. A ham sandwich, please.
el huevo	egg	Como dos huevos para desayunar. I eat two eggs for breakfast.
la carne	meat; flesh	No como carne. I don't eat meat.
el pollo	chicken (food)	Hoy comemos pollo con patatas. Today we're having chicken and potatoes.
el pescado	fish (as food); el pez = live fish	El pescado aquí es muy fresco. The fish here is very fresh.
el arroz	rice	La paella lleva arroz. Paella has rice in it.
la pasta	pasta; paste; (Spain, colloq.) money, dough	A los niños les gusta la pasta. The children like pasta.
la fruta	fruit	Como mucha fruta. I eat a lot of fruit.
la verdura	vegetables (often pl.: las verduras)	La verdura es buena para la salud. Vegetables are good for your health.
la manzana	apple; block (of buildings)	Una manzana verde, por favor. A green apple, please.
la naranja	orange; naranja (adj.) = orange	Las naranjas de Valencia son muy dulces. Oranges from Valencia are very sweet.
el plátano	banana (LatAm also: la banana, el banano; in many places plátano = plantain); plane tree	Tomo un plátano después del gimnasio. I have a banana after the gym.
el tomate	tomato (Mexico also: el jitomate)	Una ensalada de tomate. A tomato salad.
la patata	potato (Spain; LatAm: la papa)	Me gustan las patatas fritas. I like chips.
la tortilla de patatas	Spanish omelette (with potato) (in Mexico a tortilla is a flatbread)	La tortilla de patatas de mi madre es la mejor. My mother's Spanish omelette is the best.
la ensalada	salad	De primero, una ensalada mixta. For the first course, a mixed salad.
la sopa	soup (not "soap": el jabón)	La sopa está muy caliente. The soup is very hot.
el azúcar	sugar	Un café sin azúcar, por favor. A coffee without sugar, please.
la sal	salt	¿Me pasas la sal? Can you pass me the salt?
el aceite de oliva	olive oil	Pan con tomate y aceite de oliva. Bread with tomato and olive oil.
el desayuno	breakfast	El desayuno es a las ocho. Breakfast is at eight.
la comida	food; lunch (the main midday meal in Spain); meal	La comida en España es a las dos. Lunch in Spain is at two.
la cena	dinner, supper	La cena es a las nueve y media. Dinner is at half past nine.
desayunar	to have breakfast	Desayuno en casa. I have breakfast at home.
comer	to eat; to have lunch (Spain)	¿Comemos juntos hoy? Shall we have lunch together today?
cenar	to have dinner	Cenamos tarde en España. We have dinner late in Spain.
beber	to drink (LatAm also: tomar)	Bebo mucha agua. I drink a lot of water.
tener hambre	to be hungry	Tengo mucha hambre. I'm very hungry.
tener sed	to be thirsty	¿Tienes sed? Are you thirsty?
rico / rica	tasty, delicious (of food); rich; (colloq.) cute, sweet	¡Qué rica está la paella! The paella is delicious!
me gusta / me gustan	I like (it / them)	Me gusta el café. Me gustan las naranjas. I like coffee. I like oranges.
el plato	plate, dish; course	Es un plato típico de Asturias. It's a typical dish from Asturias.
el vaso	glass (for water etc.)	Un vaso de agua, por favor. A glass of water, please.
la taza	cup, mug	Una taza de té. A cup of tea.
la botella	bottle	Una botella de agua sin gas. A bottle of still water.
el tenedor	fork	No tengo tenedor. I don't have a fork.
el cuchillo	knife	¿Me trae un cuchillo, por favor? Could you bring me a knife, please?
la cuchara	spoon	La sopa se come con cuchara. You eat soup with a spoon.
el yogur	yoghurt	De postre, un yogur. For dessert, a yoghurt.
la mermelada	jam	Una tostada con mantequilla y mermelada. Toast with butter and jam.

Learn them with flashcards. SparkAI turns this list into flashcards that come back when they're due, with audio and example sentences.

Learn these words free All Spanish word lists

Spanish food & drink vocabulary

More Spanish vocabulary