French word about food

More than a necessity, in France food is an artform. Speaking about food in French is essential to communicate in French restaurants and markets, but food and French cuisine are also favorite topics of discussions among French people.

In this free French lesson, I’ll list essential food vocabulary such as French names of vegetables, fruits, meats etc…. As with any list, make sure that you learn the gender with the word: the two pieces of information should make one in your head.

This free French lesson – like many on French Today’s blog – features audio recordings. Click on the link next to the headphones to hear the French pronunciation.

First, let’s see how you say food in French.

How do you say food in French?

The most common way to say food is French is “la nourriture“. You may also find “l’alimentation” for food in French, especially on stores to indicate they are food stores.

In older French, so in French literature for example, you may run into “les victuailles (f)” for food, but that’s really old-fashioned.

A common French slang word to say food in French is “la bouffe“. Note that you may also hear it used as a verb : “bouffer” instead of the regular way of saying ‘to eat’ in French: “manger“.

This lesson took 4 full workdays to write, record, edit and publish.

Please consider supporting my free French lesson creation: we’re a tiny husband-and-wife company in France.
Support us on Patreon or by purchasing our unique audiobooks to learn French. Instant download. Learn French offline, at home or on the go on any device!

Now, let’s learn the fruit names in French.

60 Fruits Names in French 🍎

How do you say fruits in French?

The French word for fruit is “le fruit“. It’s spelled the same but the French pronunciation is very different!

“Un fruit” is a masculine word in French. In the plural, the final s is silent “des fruits“.

⚠️ In French, we wouldn’t say ‘a piece of fruit’. Just “un fruit“.

Now let’s look at how we say fruits names in French.

Fruit names in French

Here is a list of fruit names in French and English.

French fruit names

Un fruit	a piece of fruit
Une pomme	apple
Le raisin	grapes
Les raisins secs	raisins
Un melon	cantaloupe melon
Une pastèque	watermelon
Une pêche	peach
Un brugnon	halloween peach
Une nectarine	freestone peach
Une pêche de vigne	doughnut peach
Un abricot	apricot
Une poire	pear
Une figue	fig
Une prune	plum
Une mirabelle	mirabelle plum
Une quetsche	sweet purple plum
Une reine-claude	greengage plum
Un pruneau	prune
Un coing	quince

Citrus fruit names in French

Un agrume	citrus
Un citron	lemon
Un citron vert	lime
Un citron combava	kaffir lime
Un citron meyer	meyer lime
Un citron caviar	Finger lime
Une orange	orange
Une orange sanguine	blood orange
Un pamplemousse	grapefruit
Un pamplemousse rose	pink grapefruit
Une clémentine	clementine
Une mandarine	tangerine / mandarin orange
Une main de Bouddha	Buddha’s hand fruit
Un kumquat	kumquat

Berry fruit names in French

Un fruit rouge	berry
Une framboise	raspberry
Une mûre	blackberry
Une fraise	stawberry
Une airelle	cranberry
Une groseille	(red) currant
Une groseille à maquereau	gooseberry
Un cassis	blackcurrant
Une myrtille	blueberry
Une baie de goji	goji berry
Une cerise	cherry

Exotic fruit names in French

Les fruits tropicaux (m)	exotic fruits
Un ananas	pineapple
Un kiwi	kiwi
Une mangue	mango
Une banane	banana
Un litchi	litchi
Une papaye	papaya
Une goyave	guava
Un fruit de la passion	passion fruit
Un corossol	soursop
Un fruit du dragon	dragonfruit
Une carambole	carambolo
Un durian	durian
Un kaki	persimmon
Une grenade	pomegranate
Une nèfle	loquat
Une datte	date

And now let’s talk about vegetables in French.

50 Vegetables Names in French 🥕

How do you say vegetables in French?

The French word for vegetables is “les légumes“. We usually talk about vegetables in the plural, but the word is masculine: “un légume“.

⚠️ The word “le légume” is confusing in English because it looks like another English word ‘legume’. ‘ A Legume’ is a kind of vegetable, and in French it’s called “une légumineuse“.

So make sure that when you learn the French word for veggies “les légumes” you bring out mental images of veggies 🥦🥕🥒, not the English word which could lead to confusion…

How do you say vegetarian in French?

Vegetarian in French is “un végétarien” in the masculine, “une végétarienne” in the feminine.

Vegetarian food would be “la nourriture végétarienne” and ‘a vegetarian diet” is “un régime végétarien“.

Watch out that many French people think someone who is vegetarian eats fish, poultry, eggs, seafood… Anything but red meat. So you might want to explain precisely what you do eat, and research names of common French dishes that you could eat. 

What about vegan in French, or flexitarian? I wrote a specific article about being vegan in France with more vocabulary and tips. Follow the link to read more!

And now let’s study the vegetable names in French.

List of vegetables names in French

Green Leaf vegetable names in French

Un chou rouge, vert, blanc	red, green, white cabbage
Un chou-fleur	cauliflower
Un brocoli	brocoli
Un chou kale	kale
Un chou romanesco	romanesco cabbage
Un chou chinois	Jaroma cabbage
Un chou de Bruxelles	Brussels sprouts
Une blette	chard
Un épinard	spinach
La mâche	lamb’s lettuce
La roquette	rocket, arugula
La laitue	lettuce
La batavia	batavia lettuce
La salade romaine	romaine lettuce
La salade frisée	frisee lettuce
Une endive	Belgian endive
La chicorée	radicchio
Le cresson	watercress

Squash vegetable names in French

Une courge	squash
Une courgette	zucchini squash
Une courgette ronde	round zucchini squash
Une courgette jaune	crookneck squash
Une courge d’hiver	butternut squash
Une courge musquée	buttercup squash
Une courge patidou	dumpling squash
Une courge spaghetti	spaghetti squash
Un potimarron	hubbard squash
Un potiron	small pumpkin squash
Une citrouille	large pumpkin squash
Un pâtisson	patty pan squash

Root vegetable names in French

Une carotte	carrot
Un panais	parsnip
Une pomme de terre Une patate	potato
Une patate douce	sweet potato, yam
Un navet	turnip
Un celeri	celeri
Un topinambour	Jerusalem artichoke
Un poireau	leek
Un radis	radish

Other Vegetables names in French

Des haricots verts (m)	green beans
Des petits pois (m)	peas
Un artichaut	artichoke
Une asperge	asparagus
Un avocat	avocado
Un fenouil	fennel
Un champignon	mushroom
Un concombre	cucumber
Un poivron	pepper
Une aubergine	eggplant
L’ail (m)	garlic
Un oignon	onion
Une échalote	shallot
Une tomate	tomato

French food vocabulary is covered thoroughly in my French learning method: because food is such an important and common conversation topic in France, many chapters of the novel’s story illustrating my method take place in restaurants, markets, supermarkets. or in the kitchen.. Learning French within the context of a level-appropriate story is the best way to learn French!

Please consider supporting my free French lesson creation: we’re a tiny husband-and-wife company in France.
Support us on Patreon or by purchasing our unique audiobooks to learn French. Instant download. Learn French offline, at home or on the go on any device!

Now let’s see the names of nuts in French.

10 Nuts Names in French 🥜

How do you say nuts in French?

The French word for nuts as a family is “les noix”. We also call them “les fuits à coque” (fruits with a shell) but it’s much less common. The French word “une noix” is spelled with a silent x in the singular and the plural.

⚠️ “Une noix” is also the way we say a precise type of nut, a walnut.

How do you say “I’m allergic to nuts” in French?

To say ‘I’m allergic to nuts’ in French, we say: “Je suis allergique aux noix”, or “je suis allergique aux fruits à coque”.

If like me, you only have a problem with walnut, you’ll have to be a bit creative : “je suis allergique aux noix… Enfin, seulement aux noix “noix”… les noix du noyer (walnut tree)… pas les pistaches ou autres noix…”

Please be aware that nut allergy is much less common in France than it is in the US for example, so people are much less aware of this problem, and therefore much less cautious.

List of Nuts names in French

Les noix (f)	nuts in general
Une noix	walnut (also nut generic)
Une noisette	hazelnut
Une pistache	pistachio
Une cacahuète	peanut
Une amande	almond
Une noix de macadémia	macadamia nut
Une noix de pécan	pecan nut
Une noix de coco	coconut.
Une châtaigne	chestnut
Un marron	(horse) chestnut

We use both the word “une châtaigne” and “un marron” to talk about chestnuts in French. Follow the link for more on this subject and a fun French practice video I shot during my vacation in the Ardèche region.

10 Dry Food in French: Carbs etc… 🍝

Honestly, I’m not sure how to name that section…

In French, the word for carbs is “les glucides (m)”. Maybe I should call them ‘dry French food’… ‘French pantry essentials’… What do you think??

Des pâtes (f)	pastas
Des nouilles (f)	noodles
Du maïs	corn
Du riz	rice
Des lentilles (f)	lentils
Des haricots secs (m)	beans
Des pois chiches (m)	chickpeas
Des fèves (f)	fava beans
Du soja	soybean
Du blé	wheat

As a side note, we don’t eat all that many dry beans in France. In some countries, beans are an essential part of the daily diet. It’s not so in France and I really don’t know the names of the different kind of dry beans in French!

If there’s a bilingual dry bean expert out-there who would like to help me complete this list, please leave a comment with the dry bean names in French and English (you’ll have to be sure you do know them because I’ll trust you and just copy and paste! Please don’t make suggestions if you used an online translator since they are not reliable – yet).

Food in French: Bread 🥖

French bread is a super important element of our daily French food. A regular French person who is not on a special diet is pretty much going to eat bread at every meal.

I wrote a very extensive article covering the French bread vocabulary. Follow the link!

There’s also a lot of myths surrounding the French breakfast. That link will take you to another interesting article.

For now, let’s study some essential French food names for bread and breakfast.

Le pain	bread
Du pain grillé	toast
Du pain de mie	sandwich bread
La baguette	French loaf
Une tartine	a slice (of bread) with topping
La confiture	jam
Le beurre	butter
Le miel	honey
Les céréales (f)	cereals
Un croissant	croissant

Which brings me to another favorite French food: dairy products – and of course “le fromage” !

Dairy Products in French 🥛

French people like their dairy products… You should see our dairy aisle(s) in supermarkets… It’s just huge.

Here in Brittany, where I live, we prefer “le beurre salé” – salted butter. But you can also have “le beurre doux” – which is not salted.

How do you say dairy products in French?

To say dairy products in French, we say: “les produits laitiers“.

How do you say I’m lactose intolerant in French?

To say ‘I’m lactose intolerant’ in French, we say: “je suis allergique aux produits laitiers“.

Now let’s see the names of French dairies.

Les produits laitiers (m)	milk-based products
Le lait	milk
Le lait entier	whole milk
Le lait demi-écrémé	2% milk, semi-skimmed milk
Le lait écrémé	skim milk
Le lait ribot	buttermilk
Le lait cru	raw milk
La crème fraîche	sort of thick sour cream
La crème chantilly	whipped cream
Le beurre salé	salted butter
Le beurre doux	unsalted butter
La margarine	margarine, butter substitute
Le fromage	cheese
Le fromage frais	sort of cream cheese
Le fromage au lait de vache	cheese made of cow milk
Le fromage de chèvre	cheese made of goat milk
Les bleus	bluecheese
Le fromage blanc	sort of yogurt
Le yaourt	yogurt
La glace	ice-cream

Would you know how to properly cut a single serving of French cheese ? Follow the link!

You may also enjoy this bilingual French / English conversation at a cheese shop in France.

Finally, if you’re looking for the French cheese names, I’ll send you to this other website with names of cheese in French and pictures. Great site indeed! I only wish they included an article before the names to show you weather it’s masculine or feminine…

Now let’s talk about eggs in French.

Eggs and Egg Dish Names in French 🍳

How Do You Say Egg In French?

The French word for egg is “un oeuf“. In the plural, it’s “des oeufs“. As you can see, the French pronunciation is quite different from the spelling!

So let’s talk a bit about the pronunciation of “oeuf” in French.

How do you pronounce egg in French?

The word “oeuf” is a tricky French word because it’s going to change depending on the word which comes before.

• “Un oeuf”, an egg in French, is pronounced exactly as the French number “un neuf” – a nine.
  There is a strong liaison with the N, and the final F is pronounced.
• “L’oeuf”, the egg, F still pronounced.

So far, it’s not too bad. But wait for the plural form!

• “Des oeufs”, eggs in the plural, some eggs, is pronounced [dé zeu]. The F disappears, and the final S is silent. There is a strong liaison with the S of the des.
• The same thing is going to carry on for “les oeufs”, or “six oeufs”, “douze oeufs” (I chose some numbers often associated with eggs… big liaison in Z).

We also say “une douzaine d’oeufs” – twelve eggs.

7 Egg Dishes Names in French

Un oeuf à la coque	soft boiled egg
Un oeuf dur	hard-boiled egg
Un oeuf au plat	sunny-side egg
Un oeuf poché	poached egg
Une omelette	omelet
Une omelette baveuse	a runny omelet
Des oeufs brouillés	scrambled eggs

Whether served sunny-side, scrambled or as an omelet, eggs tend to be undercooked in France compared to the US and the UK.

I have never seen an egg ‘over easy’ (sunny-side and then flipped to cook the other side) in France: I wouldn’t know how to call it… You will have to explain the concept to a French person! 

I wrote a really cute article featuring many pictures of my daughter Leyla when she was four, with a French egg prank. Follow the link!

Now let’s study the French vocabulary for fish and seafoods.

30 Fish and Seafood French Names 🐟

How Do You Say Fish In French?

The French translation for fish is : un poisson, des poissons.

As a food, fish is usually used with a French partitive article (some) :
Tu veux manger du poisson ce soir ?
Would you like to eat fish tonight?

⚠️ What out! “un poisson” has a “sss” sound. “Le poison” (poison) has a “z” sound.

Fish names in French

Le saumon (fumé)	(smoked) salmon
Une truite	trout
Un cabillaud	fresh cod
Une morue	salted cod
Une sole	sole
Un thon	tuna
Une lotte	monk fish
Un bar	sea bass
Une sardine	sardine
Un maquereau	mackerel
Une pieuvre	octopus
Un calamar	calamari

Seafood Names in French

Les fruits de mer	Seafood
Un crustacé	crustacean
Un crabe	crab
Un tourteau	common French crab – a bit like a Dungeness
Une araignée de mer	sort of snow crab / spiney crab
Un homard	lobster
Une langouste	spiney lobster
Une langoustine	Norway lobster
Une écrevisse	crayfish / crawfish
Une crevette	shrimp
Un coquillage	shellfish, seashell
Une huître	oyster
Une moule	mussel
Une coquille saint-jacques	scallop
Une pétoncle	small scallop
Une praire	sort of clam
Une palourde	sort of clam
Une coque	sort of clam
Un bulot	whelk
Un bigorneau	periwinkle
Un ormeau	abalone

France has a lot of seashore and rivers, so we enjoy a wide variety of fresh fish.

It’s not uncommon for seafood restaurants to serve whole fish, and you have to know how to separate the flesh (la chair) from the skin (la peau) and bones (les arrêtes – f).

Same goes for crustaceans and seashells.

A fancy / gourmet restaurant however would serve all of these ready to eat.

Please consider supporting my free French lesson creation: we’re a tiny husband-and-wife company in France.
Support us on Patreon or by purchasing our unique audiobooks to learn French. Instant download. Learn French offline, at home or on the go on any device!

30 Meat Names in French 🥩

How do you say meat in French?

The French word for meat is “la viande“. “la viande” will refer to all kind of meat. The French word for poultry is “la volaille“.

List of meat names in French

La viande	meat
La viande rouge	red meat. In France: beef, lamb, horse, sheep
La viande blanche	white meat. In France: pork, rabbit, veal, poultry
Le gibier	game meat
Le boeuf	beef
Le porc	pork (note that the “c” is silent)
Le veau	veal
Le chevreuil	venison
Le sanglier	boar
Le lapin	rabbit
Un steak	steak
Un steak tartare	raw ground meat + seasonings
La viande hachée	ground meat
Un rôti	a roast
Les abats	offal / organ meat – more in my article about offal names in French
La charcuterie	cold cuts – more in my article about how to eat cold cuts in France?
Le jambon	ham
La saucisse	sausage
Le saucisson	dry sausage / salami

Poultry names in French

La volaille	poultry
Un poulet	chicken
Une poule	hen
Un coq	rooster
Une dinde	turkey
Un chapon	capon
Une caille	quail
Un faisan	pheasant
Une pintade	guinea fowl
Un pigeon	pigeon
Un canard	duck
Une oie	goose

Ordering a Steak in France: How to say Rare, Medium… in French

If you are going to order some red meat, the waiter will ask: “quelle cuisson ?” which means ‘how would you like this cooked’? In comparison to the US and England, the French eat their meat much, much less cooked. 

Here is the vocabulary you’ll need to order a steak in French:

1. Cru : raw.
   You don’t order a steak this way. But our famous “steak tartare” is raw beef with seasoning, and often a raw egg yolk on top…
2. Bleu : very rare, seared outside but almost cold inside.
3. Saignant : juicy when you cut, red but warm inside.
   This is what’s usually called “rare” in the US and the traditional way to serve steak in France.
   We use the term “rosé” for duck and veal.
4. À point : medium rare.
   But you can expect it to still have some red inside.
5. Bien cuit : medium to well done… depending on the willingness of the French cook!!

On the subject of steaks, would you know the adjectives we use to describe aged meat in French? Click on the link for more.

OK… we’ve already covered quite a number of French food name don’t you think? What else is there?

Food in French: Seasonings 🧂

How do you say seasonings in French?

Well, there is two possible French translations for ‘seasonings’.

1. Les condiments (m) is the French word for seasoning as in things used to season a dish : salt, pepper etc…
2. L’assaisonnement (m) is the French word to comment on the seasoning of a dish.

Would you like to know how to comment on food in French? Follow the link!

List of seasoning names in French

L’huile (f)	oil
Le vinaigre	vinegar
La moutarde	mustard
Le poivre	pepper
Le sel	salt
Le sucre	sugar
Les épices (f)	spices
Les fines herbes	herbs

Now let’s get to my favorite kind of food: desserts!!!

Dessert Names in French 🍨

How do you say desserts in French?

The French word for ‘dessert’ is “le dessert“. It’s exactly the same word as in English, but the pronunciation is quite different!

How do you pronounce dessert in French?

Just as in English, you have to be very careful:

1. Le dessert – with a “ss” sound : dessert (think of icccccce cream)
2. Le désert – with a [z] sound ; desert (think of… euh… zebras? Any zebras in the desert??? Why not…)

Note – there’s no tonic accent in French compare to an English tonic accent. More about French vs English pronunciation.

Un dessert	desserts – Note the ss sound, un désert is a desert
Une pâtisserie	pastry (also a cake shop)
Une tarte	tart
Un gâteau	cake
Une glace	ice cream
Un sorbet	sherbet

Why do we say “une glace à la fraise” but “une confiture de fraises?” Find out in my article !

What about French pastries…. Here is an article with French pastry names and explanations of what they are.

Names of Drinks in French 🍾

How do you say a drink in French?

The generic name for a drink is “une boisson“. With a b, hein, not a p like “un poisson” 🤣

Let’s go over the French drink vocabulary.

Drinks names in French

L’eau (f)	water
De l’eau plate	flat water
De l’eau gazeuse	sparkling water
De l’eau du robine	tap water
De l’eau minérale	bottled water
Le lait	milk
Le thé	tea
Le café	coffee
Un chocolat	hot chocolate, cocoa
Un jus de fruit	fruit juice
Un soda	soda
Le vin (rouge, blanc, rosé)	red, white, rosé wine
Le champagne	champagne
Une bière	beer
Le cidre	cider

With their meals, the French typically drink water and wine. Sometimes beer, especially at lunch time or as a before meal drink.

There’s so much to say about French wines and French beers… I have written so many articles about French wines… You’ll find them in the French food and wine section of this blog. You can also use the search option: type “wine” in the search.

Although sodas are popular among kids and young adults, typically French adults don’t drink sodas, especially not during dinner time.

And French kids usually don’t drink milk during meals, except for breakfast and maybe the after school snack for younger kids.

OK, now I’m thinking I need to talk about French meals… this free lesson is never going to end!

Meals Names in French 🍽

How do you say meals in French

The French word for meals “les repas“. It ends on a silent s in the singular as well as in the plural.

How do you say breakfast in French?

Breakfast in French is “le petit-déjeuner“. The verb is “prendre son petit-déjeuner“.

How do you say lunch in French?

Lunch in French is “le déjeuner“. “Déjeuner” is a noun and a regular ER verb.

⚠️ In French, we would not say “avoir le déjeuner” as in ‘to have lunch’ but just “déjeuner“.

How do you say dinner in French?

Dinner in French is close to the English word: it’s “dîner“. Note the difference in spelling and pronunciation!

Some comment: in French, we wouldn’t say “avoir le dîner” as in ‘to have dinner’ in English, just “dîner“.

Meal Names in French

Les repas (m)	meals
Le petit déjeuner	breakfast
Le déjeuner	lunch
Le goûter	after school snack
Un casse-croûte	snack
Le dîner	dinner
Manger	to eat
Prendre son petit déjeuner	to have breakfast
Déjeuner	to have lunch
Goûter	to taste / to have a snack (like kids do after school)
Dîner	to have dinner
Prendre un verre	to have a drink
Prendre	to have + food

Note, we don’t say “je vais manger mon déjeuner”, nor “je vais avoir le déjeuner” but “je vais déjeuner“. We use a specific verb for each specific meal: déjeuner, dîner…
Les Français déjeunent typiquement vers midi et demi, et ils dînent vers dix-neuf heures trente.
The French typically eat lunch around half past noon, and they eat dinner around seven thirty.

Meal names in other French speaking regions

In other French speaking regions such as French-speaking Switzerland, the names of the meals may change:

1. breakfast = le petit déjeuner en France, le déjeuner en Suisse
2. lunch = le déjeuner en France, le dîner  en Suisse
3. dinner = le dîner en France, le souper en Suisse

Thinking about confusing words made me think about something else: the French word “une entrée” versus the American English word “entrée”…

We’re almost done !!

Food Courses Names in French 🥗

Let’s finish this long list of French food names with the names of the different food courses in French.

Watch out with the word entrée in French and English

Some French words get students of French confused. They are called “false cognates” and ‘entrée’ is part of them.

To make things worse, ‘entrée’ doesn’t mean the same thing in American and British English!!

So, in French, “une entrée” is the very first course of a formal meal. It’s often something light. In American English, this is called appetizer, or first course.

Then, the main course, so in a formal meal often the second course, is called “le plat principal“. In American English, this is sometimes called “an entrée”… So confusing!

So let’s learn how we say the various food course names in French.

Various Food Course Names in French

Le plat	the dish
L’entrée	appetizer (f) – watch out, not the US English ‘entrée’
Le plat principal	the US English ‘entrée’ – the main course
La salade	salad
Le fromage	cheese
Le plateau de fromages	cheese selection
Le dessert	dessert
Le plat du jour	today’s special
Les hors-d’oeuvres (m)	finger food
Un pique-nique	picnic

In France, the traditional meal courses order would be:

1. une entrée,
2. un plat principal,
3. une salade verte,
4. un plateau de fromages
5. un dessert.

Of course, we don’t always eat this way, and many French people nowadays grab a sandwich for lunch or eat a pizza in front of TV at dinner time… But it is still quite common for families to eat together for dinner, or meet up for a fancy Sunday lunch. 

A lot of French people enjoy cooking, cook everyday and will bend over backwards to cook gourmet meals for their friends and relatives.

How can I memorize all this French food vocabulary?

The best way to memorize French vocabulary is to learn it in within the context of a story: your brain will links the words and verbs that are likely to be used together, you’ll remember whole sentences and the French will flow much more naturally to you.

If you enjoy learning French language and culture in context, check out French Today’s downloadable French audiobooks: French Today’s bilingual novels are recorded at different speeds and enunciation, and focus on today’s modern glided French pronunciation.

On this page you’ll find an extensive list of over 100 French food vocabulary. Learning the basic food words is an extremely important part of French culture. The French word for food is la nourriture. The following list of food words is broken down into categories including meats, vegetables, breads, dairy and more.

Meats – La Viande

The French are the masters of cooking meat dishes. One area of confusion for students learning French is which word to use for chicken. Le poulet is the word used to refer to any dish made with chicken. “Je mange du poulet ce soir” means I’m having chicken tonight.

However, la poule refers to the living female chicken. With regards to turkey, la dinde refers to the meat while le dindon refers to the live male animal.

• l’agneau lamb
• l’oie goose
• la côte de boeuf beef rib
• la côtelette chop
• la couenne rind
• la dinde turkey
• la viande meat
• la viande cuite cooked meat
• la viande hachée ground meat
• la viande maigre lean meat
• la viande rouge red meat
• la volaille poultry
• le bacon bacon
• le bifsteck d’alouyau sirloin steak
• le blanc chicken breast, white meat
• le boeuf beef
• le coeur heart
• le filet fillet
• le foie liver
• le giber game
• le jambon ham
• le lapin rabbit
• le mouton mutton
• le porc pork
• le poulet chicken
• le steak de boeuf beef steak
• le veau veal
• le venaison venison
• les cuisses de grenouilles frogs legs
• les saucissons sausages

Seafood and Fish – Les Fruits de Mer et Le Poisson

The French word for fish is le poisson. A related word, la pêche refers to the activity of fishing. Hence, “Je vais à la pêche” translates to I’m going fishing.

The word le fruit de mer refers to seafood. Thus, “Je commande une pizza aux fruits de mer” means I’m ordering a seafood pizza. Be careful of the word homard, which means lobster.

The -h is an aspirated -h. Thus, when preceded by the direct article (le) lobster is le homard and not l’homard.

• l’aiglefin haddock
• l’écrevisse crayfish
• l’espadon swordfish
• le homard lobster
• l’huître oyster
• la coquille Saint-Jacques scallop
• la crevette prawn/shrimp
• la daurade sea bream
• la limande-sole lemon sole
• la lotte monkfish
• la maquereau mackerel
• la morue cod
• la moule mussel
• la pieuvre octopus
• la raie skate
• la sardine sardine
• la seiche cuttlefish
• la sole sole
• la truite trout
• le bar sea bass
• le calmar squid
• le clam clam
• le crabe crab
• le flétin halibut
• le merlan whiting
• le poisson fish
• le saumon salmon
• le thon tuna

Bread & Pasta

While the quintessential French bread is the baguette, there are various kinds of baguettes. A baguette classique, also known as a baguette parisienne or baguette blanche (white baguette) is the most common type of baguette.

The second most common baguette is the la baguette de camapgne (countryside baguette). This baguette is also referred to as la baguette rustique, or rustic baguette.

• le bagel bagel
• la baguette baguette
• le pain bread
• la farine complète brown flour
• le pain au chocolat chocolate bread
• le pain de maïs corn bread
• le biscuit scandinave crispbread
• la croûte crust la croûte
• le pain plat flat bread
• le pain aux raisins secs fruit bread
• le pain complet granary bread
• le petit pain le petit pain
• les pâtes pasta
• le pita pita bread
• le riz rice
• le pain de seigle rye bread
• le pain aux graines seeded bread
• la farine avec la levure self-raising flour
• la tranche de pain slice of bread
• le pain tranché sliced bread
• le pain au bicarbonate de soude soda bread
• le pain au levain sourdough bread
• la faine traitée strong flour
• le pain grillé toast
• le pain blanc white bread
• la farine blanche white flour
• le pain de son wholemeal bread
• la farine brute wholemeal flour
• la levure yeast

Dairy Products – Les Produits Laitiers

The French have a limitless list of different kinds of dairy products. For those with allergies to cow’s milk, it’s important to be able to express this concern in a restaurant.

“Je suis allergique au lait de vâche” means I’m allergic to cow’s milk. “J’ai l’intolérance au lactose” means I have lactose intolerance.

Alternatives to cows milk are le lait de chèvre (goat milk), le lait d’amande (almond milk) and le lait de soja (soy milk).

• la crème allégée single cream
• la crème cream
• la crème épaisse double cream
• la crème fouettée whipped cream
• la glace ice-cream
• la margarine margarine
• le babeurre buttermilk
• le beurre butter
• le bleu blue cheese
• le camembert camembert
• le fromage blanc cottage cheese
• le fromage à crème cream cheese
• le fromage à pâté dure hard cheese
• le fromage à pâté semi-molle semi-soft cheese
• le fromage à pâté molle soft cheese
• le fromage de chèvre goat cheese
• le fromage râpé grated cheese
• le lactose lactose
• le lait condensé condensed milk
• le lait de brebis sheep’s milk
• le lait de chèvre goat’s milk
• le lait de vache cow’s milk
• le lait demi-écrémé semi-skimmed milk
• le lait écrémé skimmed milk
• le lait en poudre powdered milk
• le lait entier whole milk
• le lait homogénéisé homogenized milk
• le lait milk
• le lait non-pasteurisé unpasteurized milk
• le lait pasturisé pasteurized milk
• le milk-shake milkshake
• le pudding pudding
• le yaourt surgelé frozen yogurt
• le yaourt yogurt
• les oeufs eggs

Desserts – Les Desserts

The French are experts at desserts and the following is therefore a very short list. The word for cake is le gâteau and the word for pie is la tarte.

When expressing a specific kind of cake or pie, it must be followed by à + the flavor. Thus, a chocolate cake is le gâteau au chocolat and an apple pie is la tarte aux pommes.

• la brioche sweet bun
• la bûche de Noël Christmas cake
• la confiture jam
• la crème anglaise custard
• la crême glacée ice cream
• la gelatine jello
• la mousse au chocolat chocolate mousse
• la salade aux fruits fruit salad
• la tarte pie
• la tarte au sucre sugar pie
• la tarte aux pommes apple pie
• le beignet doughnut
• le chocolat chocolate
• le flan flan
• le gâteau cake
• le gâteau au chocolat chocolate cake
• le gâteau au citron lemon cake
• le gâteau au fromage cheesecake
• le gâteau aux carottes carrot cake
• le gâteau aux pommes apple cake
• le miel honey
• le sucre sugar
• les biscuits cookies
• les bonbons candy
• les choux à la crème cream puffs
• les crêpes crepes
• les croissants au beurre butter croissants
• les gaufres waffles
• les muffins muffins
• les pâtisseries cakes/pastries

Vegetables – Les Légumes

The following is a very comprehensive list of vegetables. Note that there are two commonly used words for potato: la pomme de terre and les patates.

Les patates is the less formal of the two terms. Similar to the term for lobster (homard), the -h in les haricots (beans) is also an aspirated -h. Thus, you must say le haricot and not l’haricot.

• l’ail garlic
• l’artichaut artichoke
• l’asperge (f) asparagus
• l’aurbergine aubergine (egg plant)
• l’échalote shallot
• l’endive chicory
• l’igname yam
• l’okra okra
• l’onion onion
• l’oseille sorrel
• la bette swiss chard
• la bettrave beetroot
• la carotte carrot
• la chicorée endive
• la ciboule spring onion
• la citrouille pumpkin
• la courge marrow
• la courge gland acorn squash
• la courge musquée butternut squash
• la courgette courgette
• la courgette zucchini
• la fève broad bean
• la germe de soja bean sprout
• la laitue lettuce
• la lentille lentil
• la patate douce sweet potato
• la pomme de terre potato
• la roquette arugula
• la salade salad
• la tomate cerise cherry tomato
• le bambou bamboo
• le brocoli broccoli
• le céleri celery
• le champignon mushroom
• le chou cabbage
• le chou chinois pak-choi
• le chou de Bruxelles brussel sprout
• le chou frisé kale
• le chou précoce spring greens
• le chou-fleur cauliflower
• le concombre cucumber
• le fenouil fennel
• le fruit de l’arbre à pain bread fruit
• le gingembre ginger
• le haricot vert green bean
• le maïs corn
• le manioc cassava
• le navet turnip
• le panais parsnip
• le petit pois garden pea
• le piment chilli
• le pissenlit dandelion
• le poireau leek
• le pois chiche chick pea
• le poivron bell pepper
• le poivron pepper
• le radicchio raddicchio
• le radis radish
• le raifort horseradish
• le soja soy bean
• le taro taro root
• le topinambour Jerusalem artichoke
• le truffle truffle
• les coeurs de palmier palm hearts
• les épinards spinach
• les haricots beans
• les pommes de terre potatoes

Fruit – Les Fruits

The following is an extensive list of words for different kinds of fruit. The word for grapes can cause a bit of confusion. The word for grapes is les raisins. The reason that this is confusing is that raisins in English refers to dried grapes.

What the English call raisins are les raisins secs (dried grapes) in French. It is also very easy to confuse the French word for plum, which is la prune. The translation for the English prune is le pruneau.

• l’ananas (m) pineapple
• l’avocat (m) avocado
• l’olive (f) olive
• l’orange (f) orange
• la banane banana
• la canneberge cranberry
• la cerise cherry
• la châtaigne chestnut
• la clémentine clementine
• la datte date
• la figue fig
• la fraise strawberry
• la framboise raspberry
• la groseille currant
• la groseille à maquereau gooseberry
• la mandarine Mandarin orange
• la mûre blackberry
• la myrtille blueberry
• la nectarine nectarine
• la noisette hazelnut
• la pastèque watermelon
• la pêche peach
• la poire pear
• la pomme apple
• la prune plum
• le citron lemon
• le citron vert lime
• le kaki, la plaquemine persimmon
• le kiwi kiwi
• le melon melon
• le melon miel honeydew melon
• le pamplemousse grapefruit
• le raisin grape
• le sureau elderberry

Tropical fruit

Tropical fruits typically do not grow in France. Thus, almost all names for tropical fruits come from other languages and resemble the English equivalents. For coconut (la noix de coco), the word noix translates to nut.

• la carambole star fruit
• la goyave guava
• la grenadille passion fruit
• la longane longan
• la mangue mango
• la noix de coco coconut
• la papaye papaya
• la pomme cannelle sugar-apple
• le cantaloup muskmelon
• le durian durian
• le fruit du dragon dragon fruit
• le jaque jackfruit
• le litchi lychee
• le mangoustan mangosteen
• le pomelo pomelo
• le ramboutan rambutan
• le tamarin tamarind

Canned, luxury, other

The list of canned and luxury foods contains many anglicisms, which are words that are borrowed from English. Examples are le ketchup, les chips and le caviar.

• l’huile d’olive olive oil
• l’huile végétale vegetable oil
• la compote de pomme apple sauce
• la mayonnaise mayonnaise
• la moutarde mustard
• la nourriture pour bébés baby food
• la pizza pizza
• la sauce bolognaise bolognese sauce
• la sauce tomate tomato sauce
• la vinaigrette salad dressing
• le beurre de cacahuète/d’arachide peanut butter
• le caviar caviar
• le ketchup ketchup
• le pâté de campagne pâté
• le poivre pepper
• le potage, la soupe soup
• le sandwich sandwich
• le saumon fumé smoked salmon
• le sel salt
• le tassergal bluefish tuna
• le thon tuna
• le truffle truffle
• les chips potato chips
• les épices spices
• les frites French fries
• les sardines sardines

Let’s review French food words:

PDF Lesson

Download PDF Vocabulary List

Here you can learn about the top-10 French dishes. Once you get these words down check out more related vocabulary lists: Restaurant phrases, coffee, wine, drinks and fast food.

Related lessons:

• Guide to French table manners
• “Bon Appétit” meaning and usage
• Drinks/beverages vocabulary
• How To Order Food In French
• French cheese list

Discover more:

• Food vocabulary (video)
• Food words PDF

Hey, have you seen our article about French food habits ?If not, then take a quick look at it here. It’s awesome, we promise you.

To supplement your learning about world-renowned French cuisine, here is a list of vocabulary that will help you breeze through it all.

Before you know it, you’ll be dazzling your date or friends (and everyone within hearing distance) with your impressive knowledge about everything related to French food.

Here, start memorizing this for starters, so you can easily order food in French!

General	Général
L’alimentation (f)	Food
Alimenter	To feed
La nourriture	Food
Nourrir	To feed
La nourriture à emporter	Takeaway food
Les denrées (f)	Food
Les denrées périssables	Perishables
La collation	Light meal
L’en-cas (m)	Snack
Le plat de résistance	Main course
Les plats prépares	Convenience food
Le plat du jour	Set menu
Le banquet	Feast
La restauration rapide	Fast food
La portion	Portion, helping

Fruit	Les Fruits
La macédoine de fruits	Fruit salad
La compote de fruits	Stewed fruit
Les fruits secs	Dried fruit
Le citron vert	Lime
La cerise	Cherry
L’abricot (m)	Apricot
La prune	Plum
La fraise	Strawberry
La framboise	Raspberry
Le cassis	Blackcurrant
La groseille	Gooseberry
Le pamplemousse	Grapefruit
La rhubarbe	Rhubarb
Le melon	Melon
La datte	Date
La noix de coco	Coconut
Le pruneau	Prune
Le brugnon	Nectarine
La clémentine	Clementine
La figue	Fig
Le raisin	Grape
La peau	Skin
La pelure	Peel
Le noyau	Stone
Le pépin	Pip
Acide	Sour
Aigre	Sour
Pourri	Rotten
Mûr	Ripe
Pas mûr	Unripe
Juteux	juicy

Nuts	Les noix
L’arachide (f)	Monkey nut
La cacahuète	Peanut
La noix de cajou	Cashew nut
La pistache	Pistachio nut
La noix de Brésil	Brazil nut
La noisette	hazelnut

Meat	Viande
Le porc	Pork
L’agneau (m)	Lamb
Le mouton	Mutton
La viande hachée	Minced Meat
Le veau	Veal
La côtelette	Chop, cutlet
Le rôti	Roast
Le ragoût	Stew
Saignant	Rare
A point	Medium-cooked
Griller	Griller, toast
Le pot au feu	Stew
Maigre	Lean
Gras	Fatty

Vegetables	Les légumes
Les petits pois (m)	Peas
L’artichaut	Artichoke
Les asperges (f)	Asparagus
La betterave	Beetroot
Le céleri	Celery
Le chou-fleur	Cauliflower
Les épinards (m)	Spinach
La fève	Broad-bean
La laitue	Lettuce
La lentille	Lentil
Le navet	Turnip
Le poireau	Leek
La patate douce	Sweet potato

Drinks	Les boissons
Le café nature	Black coffee
Le café crème	White coffee
Le café décaféiné	Decaffeinated coffee
Le café en poudre	Instant coffee
Le café express	Expresso
Le café filtre	Filtered coffee
Le café glacé	Iced coffee
Le café turc	Turkish coffee
Le cacao	Cocoa
Le thé nature	Black tea
Le thé au citron	Lemon tea
Le thé de Chine	China tea
Le thé à la menthe	Mint tea
La camomille	Camomile tea
La tisane	Herbal tea
L’infusion (f)	Herbal tea
L’eau minérale (f)	Mineral water
L’eau plate (f)	Still water
L’eau gazeuse (f)	Sparkling water
Le chocolat chaud	Hot chocolate
La citronnade	Lemonade
L’orangeade (f)	Orangeade
Le sirop	Cordial
Le jus d’oranges pressées	Fresh orange-juice
La bière pression	Draught beer

Sweets	Les douceurs
Le pop-corn sucré	Sweet popcorn
Le pop-corn salé	Salted popcorn
Le chewing-gum	Chewing gum
La tablette de chocolat	Bar of chocolate
Le paquet de chips	Packet of crisps

I hope this article helps you explore the food in French culture!

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