German Cooking Actions Vocabulary List
This set covers the hands-on verbs of German cooking: what you do to food before, during, and after it hits the pan. You'll learn schälen (to peel), kneten (to knead), and the deceptively simple garen, which just means to cook something until it's done, with no English single-word equivalent. One trap here is abschmecken: English speakers reach for "taste" but abschmecken specifically means tasting to adjust seasoning, not just sampling a bite out of curiosity.
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Learn these 13 words
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All 13 words
- füllenA2
to fill / stuff
Wir füllen die Paprika mit Reis. — We stuff the peppers with rice.
- salzenA2
to salt
Salze das Wasser vor dem Kochen. — Salt the water before cooking.
- schälenA2
to peel
Ich schäle die Kartoffeln für das Abendessen. — I peel the potatoes for dinner.
to taste / season to taste
Zum Schluss die Suppe abschmecken. — Finally, taste and season the soup.
- auflösenB1
dissolve, disband
Die Tablette bitte in Wasser auflösen. — Please dissolve the tablet in water.
- dünstenB1
to steam / to braise
Man kann Fisch auch dünsten. — You can also steam fish.
- erhitzenB1
to heat up
Erhitze das Öl in der Pfanne. — Heat the oil in the pan.
- garenB1
to cook until done
Das Fleisch muss noch garen. — The meat still needs to cook.
- pressenB1
to press / squeeze
Sie presst eine Zitrone für den Saft. — She squeezes a lemon for the juice.
- röstenB1
to roast/toast
Wir rösten die Nüsse in der Pfanne. — We roast the nuts in the pan.
- würzenB1
to season
Man sollte die Suppe gut würzen. — You should season the soup well.
to chop up/mince
Man muss die Karotten zuerst zerkleinern. — You need to chop up the carrots first.
to chop through / have a laxative effect
Mit einer Axt durchschlug er den dichten Wald.
How to learn this set
Several of these verbs share the separable prefix ab- or auf-, and that prefix does real work: abschmecken pulls the meaning toward "taste and correct," while auflösen (dissolve) uses auf- to signal a breaking-open or breaking-apart, which also shows up in its unrelated sense of disbanding a group. When you drill zerkleinern, notice the zer- prefix itself means "into pieces," so you'll meet it again in other destruction verbs outside the kitchen. Group rösten, dünsten, garen, and erhitzen together and drill them by heat method, since they answer the same question (how is the food being cooked) rather than by rote alphabetical order. For durchschlagen, drill the kitchen sense on its own with a mental image (potatoes through a sieve) so it doesn't collide with its unrelated laxative meaning.
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Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between würzen and abschmecken?
Würzen means to add seasoning as you cook, based on the recipe or your judgment. Abschmecken means to taste the dish near the end and adjust the seasoning until it's right. A recipe will often end with 'mit Salz und Pfeffer abschmecken', meaning taste it and fix the seasoning.
What does dünsten mean in cooking?
Dünsten means to cook something gently in its own moisture or a little liquid, with a lid on, over low heat. It's closer to steaming or braising than to boiling and is common for vegetables and fish.
Is durchschlagen really about food?
Yes, but only in one sense: in the kitchen it means to pass something through a sieve or ricer, like potatoes for a smooth mash. Outside the kitchen it also means to have a laxative effect, so context decides which meaning you're getting.
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