Today's words · 👩🍳 Cooking & the kitchen
Pots, pans and recipes: 10 German kitchen words
A1A2B1
If a German friend suggests cooking together, pack these words before you go.
A friend invites me over: “Wir kochen zusammen!” As soon as I'm in the kitchen it's “Gib mir mal die Pfanne!” and “Ist der Backofen schon an?” — and my hand hovers helplessly between the pot and the pan.
Today's ten words are the ones you'll use most in a kitchen. With them you can read a German recipe and actually help when you cook with friends. 🍳
📋 The ten words at a glance
🧠 Words, examples and memory tricks
kochen
[KOKH-en]to cook; to boil(kocht – hat gekocht)
📌 Heute koche ich für dich.
→ Today I'm cooking for you.
💡 Same root as English cook 🍲 It cooks meals and boils water too.
Bonus to boil water = Wasser kochen · a cook = der Koch
die Küche
[KUE-khuh]kitchen; cooking, cuisine(Pl. die Küchen)
📌 Wir essen oft in der Küche.
→ We often eat in the kitchen.
💡 A cousin of English kitchen 🏠 The two dots on ü are your two hob rings.
⚠ Don't mix up Küche (kitchen) and Kuchen (cake).
das Rezept
[reh-TSEPT]prescription; recipe(Pl. die Rezepte)
📌 Für dieses Medikament brauchen Sie ein Rezept vom Arzt.
→ You need a doctor's prescription for this medication.
💡 Same root as English recipe 📖 It's also a doctor's prescription.
⚠ Not a receipt! That's die Quittung or der Kassenbon.
die Zutat
[TSOO-taht]ingredient(Pl. die Zutaten)
📌 Für den Kuchen brauchen wir nur fünf Zutaten.
→ We only need five ingredients for the cake.
💡 zu (in addition) + tun (to put) = the things you add in 🥕
⚠ In recipes you'll usually see the plural: die Zutaten.
das Messer
[MESS-er]knife(Pl. die Messer)
📌 Das Messer ist sehr scharf.
→ The knife is very sharp.
💡 Originally a ‘food blade’ 🔪 Don't make a mess with the Messer!
Bonus The knife is sharp = Das Messer ist scharf.
braten
[BRAH-ten]to fry; to roast(brät – hat gebraten)
📌 Ich brate die Kartoffeln in der Pfanne.
→ I'm frying the potatoes in the pan.
💡 Think of sizzling bratwurst in a pan 🥓
Bonus The noun der Braten = a roast
⚠ The vowel changes: du brätst, er brät.
backen
[BAK-en]to bake(backt / bäckt – hat gebacken)
📌 Am Wochenende backe ich einen Kuchen.
→ At the weekend I'm baking a cake.
💡 English bake's twin 🥖 The bakery is die Bäckerei, the baker der Bäcker.
der Topf
[TOPF]pot, saucepan(Pl. die Töpfe)
📌 Das Wasser kocht im Topf.
→ The water is boiling in the pot.
💡 Sounds like a lid popping on a boiling pot 🫕
⚠ Plural with umlaut: die Töpfe
die Pfanne
[PFAN-uh]frying pan, pan(Pl. die Pfannen)
📌 Die Eier brate ich in der Pfanne.
→ I fry the eggs in the pan.
💡 English pan with an extra P and -e 🍳 Ends in -e, so die.
Bonus a fried egg = das Spiegelei (literally a ‘mirror egg’)
der Backofen
[BAK-oh-fen]oven(Pl. die Backöfen · Austrian: das Backrohr)
📌 Die Pizza muss 15 Minuten in den Backofen.
→ The pizza has to go in the oven for 15 minutes.
💡 backen (to bake) + Ofen (oven) = baking oven 🔥
Bonus People often just say der Ofen.
🇩🇪 A spoonful of German culture
German recipes are full of EL and TL: Esslöffel (tablespoon) and Teelöffel (teaspoon). Ingredients are usually weighed in grams rather than measured in cups.
Next to the oven temperature you'll often see Ober-/Unterhitze (top and bottom heat) or Umluft (fan). With Umluft you usually set the temperature a little lower, so read carefully.
Many German households also keep the Abendbrot tradition: a simple evening meal of bread, cheese and cold meats. In those homes the hot meal is often lunch. 🥨
✅ Quick quiz
Q. Your friend wants to fry an egg. How do you say ‘Pass me the frying pan!’?
- ① Das Wasser kocht im Topf.
- ② Ich backe einen Kuchen.
- ③ Gib mir mal die Pfanne!
Show the answer
③ Gib mir mal die Pfanne!
Gib mir mal die Pfanne! = Pass me the pan! You braten eggs in a Pfanne.
While you cook tonight, name each thing you pick up in German: der Topf, die Pfanne, das Messer! 🍳
🔜 Tomorrow's topic: 👅 Describing taste