Cooking Terms Worksheets

Related ELA Standard: L

Core Standard
Answer Keys Here

People love to eat. In order to eat, most often, you need to cook or at least have someone cook for you. In a recent survey of a hundred-thousand Americans it was found that close to sixty-three percent of people enjoy cooking. We not only like to cook, but we like to watch others cook. The Food Network is often rated as one of the top ten cable channels available today. They enjoy eating it and watch it being made by some real professionals and even novices that have brilliant personalities. There are many different vocabulary words that are solely focused on the art and science of cooking and these words are well known by professional chefs. This is where we share all this new terminology with you and help you to jet yourself off towards an entirely new trajectory with the culinary arts. These worksheets look at words that are often related to the process of cooking or kitchens. They cover a wide range of cuisines.

Cooking Terms Worksheets To Print:

Lost in the Sauce - A tasty word search puzzle for you to sink your teeth into. Find eight words hidden in the puzzle. Write each word on a line.

Cooking Term Matching Game - Do you know how to prepare these foods?

Writing about Cooking - When is the last time you had grilled ice cream. We look at some really tasty vocabulary. Special words are used to identify the various unique ways that food can be prepared.

Scramble Cooking Terms - First unscramble the word, then write a sentence for it. You will need to understand what each term means.

What's That Word? - We just do a lot of extra unscrambling here. You might be able to make multiple words too.

Cooking Terms Quick Reference Guide - A nice handy guide to have at your side in the kitchen. This covers all the common words you will run into.

Name That Cooking Term - Fill in the blank with the correct cooking term for each definition. That handy reference guide will be of big use to you now.

Do You Know Your Cooking Terms? - The definition is provided for you. You need to tell which word provides it for you.

Cooking Terms and Tools - Match each cooking term with the tool used to perform that task. Do you know how to use each tool?

In the Kitchen - Choose a word from the Word Bank to fill in the blank in each sentence.We recommend you understand the techniques of marinating, dredging, and basting.

Do You Know? - Write a definition for each cooking term. If you need help, consult a dictionary or a cookbook glossary.

What Are You Cooking? - Circle all the cooking terms that could pertain to working with flour. Then, for each term, write an example of the kind of thing you might be cooking if your recipe uses the term.

Kitchen Measurements - If you are not sure, consult a few cookbooks to get an idea of what kinds of measurements are typical for certain dishes and desserts.

Making Inferences in the Kitchen - Evan cut in the flour and butter until he could no longer tell them apart. Then he added a little water to turn the mixture into a dough. He reached for the rolling pin. His mouth was already watering for tonight's dessert! What is our boy Evan making?

First Boil The Water... - Write a descriptive paragraph about how you prepare something that you know how to cook.

Fun Facts Not Everyone Knows About Food and Cooking


Less than one-percent of Americans are vegetarians, at last look. Vegetarians are often looking for good protein sources. Avocadoes have the highest protein punch of all fruits out there.


Whoever invented the classification for berries really did not do a great job. The first head spinner is that eggplants are fruits that are classified as berries. Yet blackberries, raspberries, and strawberries are not actually classified as berries. It will leave you scratching your head.


Onions are one of the oldest foods known to humans. They have been mentioned in cave paintings from 3500 B.C. Onions have an average of thirty calories each and help the good bacteria in our guts thrive. Sliced onions have been known to help heal burns and sooth insect bites. Back in the times of the bubonic plague people would stock up on onions to ward off disease, there is little science to back up these claims. Want to cry less when chopping onion, just chill your onion, it will let less gas escape for them onion when cutting.


When never wanted to eat our greens as children. Even as adults, we know they aren't the most fun. There is an actual diagnosed fear of vegetables called lachanophobia. The vegetable aisle for these people may as well be a snake pit. They must really not be fond of the over 10,000 different varieties of apples. It does not help that apples are made up of a quarter of air. This is why the float so well.


Commonly Confused Cooking Terms


There are several things that people always question on a restaurant menu. Having worked in a top tier restaurant while I was in college, I can confirm that these are common terms that people are often unsure of and ask the waiting staff constantly.

Al dente - This is a word that is often associated with pasta and steamed or sauteed vegetables. This is when they are cooked until they are firm, if they were bitten.

Braise - This is a two-step process. The food is first fried in butter or oil and then stewed slowly for a long period of time. This is done mostly to meats to bring out their flavor.

Caramelize - This is when you heat sugar until it become a liquidity syrup. Done often with onions.

Dollop - This is an informal way of communicating an amount that is a spoonful. This is for semi-solid foods like whipped butter or cream.

Fillet - This is a boneless piece of meat. It is often used to discuss fish.

Julienne - This usually refers to how vegetables are cut. They are cut into long and very thin strips. This is a loosely held term by chefs. I have seen some that cut quarter-inch lengths and others that make sure they measure over two inches.

Marinate - This is soaking seasoning into the food. The food usually sits in the seasoning for hours before it is actually cooked.

Parboil - This is often associated with breakfast, specifically eggs. This is where a food is set in boiling water until it becomes soft.

Poach - This is similar to parboiling, but normally involves thoroughly cooking the food. The food is submerged in a boiling version of broth, milk, stock, water, or wine. This gives it a moist heat and result in very flavorful dishes.

Saute - The dish is fried very quickly in a small amount of oil or fat. There are many different ways this is done based on the food.

Sear - This is a method for preparing meat. The surface is quickly browned by using high heat. This is thought to seal in the flavor.

Zest - Using mostly citrus fruits (lemon, lime, oranges) the skin of the fruits are scraped and formed into small shavings. The shavings are added to many dishes as a flavor.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



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