How to Read and Write Recipes in French

Besides being a language of love, French is also a language associated with gastronomy. Just think of the French Michelin Guides which award stars to the most outstanding culinary chefs in the world.

In this article, we will cover French recipe vocabulary terms, with the goal of teaching you to read and write cooking recipes in French. This is a fun way to enhance your level of fluency in French.

Learning to read French recipes will give you access to authentic French cuisine. Learning to write a recipe in French, will enable you to share your recipes with the francophone world.

What to write at the beginning of a French Recipe

At the top of a recipe, it is customary to provide information such as the preparation time, the cooking time, and the number of servings one batch yields.

Here are some French phrases which show how to write this part of a French recipe:

How to Write a Recipe Description in French

Your recipe description should come after the number of servings, the preparation time, and the cooking time. The information you choose to include in your introduction might differ depending on who your audience is.

If you are writing for a food blog, for example, you might want to explain how you came up with your recipe idea.

Here are some example French phrases which illustrate how to write a recipe description in French:

When writing a recipe description in French, it is a fairly common practice to suggest the best time to enjoy the recipe. Here are some examples:

The main thing to remember when introducing your recipe is to use descriptive and colorful language.

Here are some French vocabulary words which are used to describe delicious food:

Here are some French vocabulary words which are used to describe taste:

Below are some French culinary terms which are used to describe texture:

How to Write an Ingredient List in French

When writing a recipe in French (or in any language for that matter) it is nice to include a section detailing the list of ingredients. That way the reader can make sure that they have all the necessary ingredients before getting started.

In this section, you want to include every ingredient necessary to make your recipe in the order in which it will appear in the directions. Here is a list of vocabulary words for ingredients that are commonly used in French cuisine:

For each ingredient, you also want to make sure to include the quantity needed.

Lastly, if applicable, you want to include the state of the ingredient. For example:

When you put everything together, the ingredient list of a recipe that you are writing in French could look something like this:

How to Write Recipe Steps in French

In this section, you want to list your cooking steps in order while making sure that the instructions are simple and to the point. You want to describe each step in as few words as possible and avoid complicated explanations.

If you are writing a cake recipe, you can write your instructions in French as follows:

If instead, you are writing down a pasta recipe, these French phrases might be better:

Other useful French cooking expressions include:

Other Helpful Information to Include when writing a French Recipe

It can be useful for your readers to include some additional information about your dish in the recipe. For example, you can mention if and how the leftovers can be stored:

You can also list the equipment needed to prepare the recipe. Here is a list of French vocabulary words for various cooking utensils:

Including nutritional information when writing a French recipe

Including nutritional information about the recipe can also be useful, especially if you are writing a French recipe for a blog or a social media account. For example, you could say:

And there you have it, the perfect guide to writing a French recipe. This article taught you various French cooking words such as ingredients, appliances, utensils, and cooking verbs. You can now easily start writing down, in perfect French, your best culinary creations to pass along to friends and family.

For those wanting to learn how to read and write recipes in other foreign languages besides French, we have a tutorial on reading and writing recipes in Japanese.

One last pro tip: make sure to keep your writing simple. Not everyone reading your recipe will have the same cooking skills, so you should avoid specific jargon and complicated words. Remember how you were as a beginner cook and write the recipe in a way that you would have understood then.