Spanish Food & Menu Guide for Travelers

Traveling in Spain and unsure what something means on a restaurant menu? This Spanish food translation guide explains the menu terms, dishes, ingredients, cooking methods, and regional food vocabulary travelers are most likely to encounter.

It covers seafood, meats, fruit and vegetables, drinks, desserts, and regional vocabulary, along with a practical guide to tapas, raciones, courses, and other Spanish menu terminology. If you think we should add a useful food or restaurant term, get in touch. ¡Buen provecho!

How to Read a Spanish Menu

• La carta – the full à-la-carte menu
• Menú del día – fixed-price daily menu, usually offering a choice of courses
• Entrantes – starters or appetizers
• Primer plato / primeros – first course
• Segundo plato / segundos – second or main course
• Plato principal – main dish
• Guarnición – side dish or accompaniment
• Postres – desserts
• Bebidas – drinks
• Tapa – small portion or snack, often served with a drink
• Media ración – half portion, often suitable for sharing
• Ración – full portion, often ordered for sharing
• Para compartir – to share
• Por unidad – priced per item or piece
• Especialidad de la casa – house specialty
• Plato del día – dish of the day
• Fuera de carta – off-menu dish or daily special
• Menú degustación – tasting menu
• La cuenta – the bill
• IVA incluido – VAT included

Spanish Cooking Terms & Menu Essentials

• Adobo – marinade or seasoning, typically made with vinegar, garlic, herbs, and spices
• Agridulce – sweet and sour
• Ahumado – smoked
• Alioli / allioli – garlic-and-oil emulsion; some versions also contain egg
• Arroz – rice
• Azafrán – saffron
• A la brasa – grilled or cooked over hot coals
• Bocadillo – sandwich made with a length of crusty bread
• Cabrales – blue cheese from Asturias, made from cow’s milk or a blend of cow’s, sheep’s, and goat’s milk
• Caldo – broth or stock
• Canela – cinnamon
• Caracoles – snails
• Cena – dinner or evening meal
• Cocido – traditional stew typically made with chickpeas, vegetables, and meat
• Croqueta – breaded and deep-fried croquette, usually with a creamy béchamel-based filling
• Crudo – raw
• Crujiente / crocante – crispy or crunchy
• Cuchara – spoon
• Cuchillo – knife
• Desayuno – breakfast
• Dulce – sweet
• Empanada – savory pastry filled with meat, fish, seafood, or vegetables
• En escabeche – marinated or preserved in an acidic mixture, usually vinegar, oil, and aromatics
• Ensalada – salad
• Escalfado – poached
• Estofado – stew or stewed
• Estragón – tarragon
• Fabada – traditional Asturian white-bean stew
• Fideos – thin noodles
• Frito – fried
• Gazpacho – chilled Andalusian soup traditionally made with tomato, peppers, cucumber, olive oil, and other ingredients
• Guisado – stew or casserole
• Huevos – eggs
• Idiazábal – aged sheep’s-milk cheese from the Basque Country and Navarra, sometimes smoked
• Leche – milk
• Mahón – cow’s-milk cheese from Menorca in the Balearic Islands
• Mantequilla – butter
• Mesa – table
• Miel – honey
• Nata – cream
• Paella – Valencian rice dish cooked in a wide, shallow pan; ingredients vary according to the style
• Pan – bread
• Parrilla – grill or grilled cooking
• Parrillada – mixed grill or assortment of grilled foods
• Patatas bravas – fried potatoes served with a spicy sauce
• Pimienta – pepper
• Piperrada / piperada – Basque-style preparation of peppers, onions, and tomatoes, sometimes served with eggs
• Platos combinados – combination plates, usually consisting of several simple foods served together
• Potaje – thick soup or stew, often made with pulses and vegetables
• Puré de patatas – mashed potatoes
• Queso – cheese
• Queso de oveja – sheep’s-milk cheese
• Revuelto – scrambled eggs, often prepared with vegetables, mushrooms, seafood, or ham
• A la romana – coated in batter and fried
• Romesco – Catalan sauce typically made with roasted tomatoes and peppers, nuts, garlic, olive oil, and vinegar
• Roncal – aged sheep’s-milk cheese from Navarra
• Sabor – flavor or taste
• Sal – salt
• Salsa – sauce
• Salvitxada – Catalan sauce similar to romesco, traditionally served with calçots
• Sofrito – slowly cooked flavor base typically made with olive oil, onion, tomato, and other aromatics
• Sopa – soup
• Tallarines – ribbon noodles
• Tenedor – fork
• Tetilla – mild cow’s-milk cheese from Galicia
• Tomillo – thyme
• Tostado – toasted
• Tortilla – Spanish omelet, usually made with eggs and potatoes and often onion
• Vaso – drinking glass
• Xató – Catalan salad, traditionally served with a nut-and-pepper-based sauce related to romesco
• Al pil-pil – Basque preparation with a sauce emulsified from olive oil, garlic, and the natural gelatin released by the fish
• A la vizcaína / a la bizkaina – Basque-style sauce traditionally based on onions and dried choricero peppers

Spanish Drinks & Wine Terms

• Batido – milkshake or blended fruit drink
• Café americano – espresso diluted with hot water
• Café con leche – coffee with hot milk
• Café cortado – espresso with a small amount of milk
• Café solo – espresso served without milk
• Cerveza – beer
• Jugo – juice; in Spain, “zumo” is more commonly used
• Manzanilla – dry white fortified wine made from Palomino grapes and aged under flor exclusively in Sanlúcar de Barrameda
• Orujo – Spanish pomace spirit distilled from grape skins and other winemaking residues
• Semidulce – medium-sweet; used to describe wines and other drinks
• Sidra – cider
• Tila – linden-flower herbal tea
• Vino – wine
• Zumo – juice

Spanish Fish & Seafood Terms

• Abulón – abalone
• Almejas – clams
• Anchoas – anchovies, usually salt-cured
• Angulas – baby eels or elvers
• Atún – tuna
• Bacalao – cod; often salted cod
• Berberechos – cockles
• Besugo – red sea bream
• Bogavante – clawed lobster, usually European lobster
• Bonito – bonito; bonito del norte refers specifically to albacore tuna (Thunnus alalunga)
• Boquerones – fresh anchovies, often marinated in vinegar
• Caballa – mackerel
• Calamares – squid
• Camarones – small shrimp or prawns
• Cangrejo – crab
• Cazón – dogfish
• Centollo / txangurro – spider crab; txangurro is the Basque name and can also refer to a prepared spider-crab dish
• Cherne – wreckfish
• Cigala – Norway lobster or langoustine
• Cigarra de mar – slipper lobster
• Dorada – gilthead sea bream
• Ensalada de angulas – baby-eel salad
• Galera – mantis shrimp
• Gambas – prawns or shrimp
• Kiskillas – small prawns or shrimp
• Kokotxas – fleshy pieces from beneath the jaw of hake or cod, often described as fish cheeks
• Langosta – spiny lobster
• Langostinos – large prawns
• Lenguado – sole
• Lubina – sea bass
• Lubina a la pimienta verde – sea bass with green-peppercorn sauce
• Mariscada – mixed seafood platter
• Mariscos – shellfish, especially edible crustaceans and molluscs.
• Mejillones – mussels
• Merluza – hake
• Mero – grouper
• Navajas – razor clams
• Nécora – velvet crab
• Ostras – oysters
• Percebes – goose barnacles
• Pescadilla – small or young hake
• Pescaditos fritos – small fried fish
• Pescado – fish
• Pez de San Pedro – John Dory
• Pez espada – swordfish
• Pulpo – octopus
• Quisquillas – small shrimp or prawns
• Rape – monkfish
• Raya – skate
• Rodaballo – turbot
• Salmonete – red mullet
• Salmón – salmon
• Salmón ahumado – smoked salmon
• Sardinas – sardines
• Sepia – cuttlefish
• Tiburón – shark
• Trucha – trout
• Txipirones en su tinta – small squid cooked in their own ink
• Txirlas – small clams
• Vieiras – scallops
• Zamburiñas – small scallops, particularly variegated scallops

Spanish Fruit & Vegetable Terms

• Aceitunas – olives
• Ajo – garlic
• Albahaca – basil
• Alcachofas – artichokes
• Alcaparras – capers
• Almendras – almonds
• Berenjena – eggplant
• Berza – leafy cabbage or collard greens
• Cacahuetes – peanuts
• Calabacines – zucchini
• Calabaza – pumpkin or squash
• Castañas – chestnuts
• Cebollas – onions
• Cerezas – cherries
• Champiñones – mushrooms, usually cultivated button mushrooms
• Ciruelas – plums
• Col – cabbage
• Coles de Bruselas – Brussels sprouts
• Coliflor – cauliflower
• Dátiles – dates
• Endivias – endives
• Espinacas – spinach
• Espárragos – asparagus
• Fresas – strawberries
• Fruta – fruit
• Garbanzos – chickpeas
• Granada – pomegranate
• Guisantes – peas
• Habas – broad beans
• Higos – figs
• Hinojo – fennel
• Judías – beans
• Limón – lemon
• Mandarinas – mandarins or tangerines
• Manzana – apple
• Melocotón – peach
• Melón – melon
• Membrillo – quince; also used for quince paste
• Nabos – turnips
• Naranja – orange
• Nísperos – loquats
• Ñora – small, round dried red pepper commonly used in Spanish cooking
• Nueces – walnuts
• Patatas – potatoes
• Pepinillos – gherkins or small pickled cucumbers
• Pepino – cucumber
• Pera – pear
• Perejil – parsley
• Pimientos – peppers; rojo means red, verde green, and amarillo yellow
• Pimientos rellenos – stuffed peppers
• Piña – pineapple
• Piñones – pine nuts
• Plátano – banana
• Pomelo – grapefruit
• Puerros – leeks
• Rábanos – radishes
• Remolacha – beetroot
• Romero – rosemary
• Sandía – watermelon
• Setas – mushrooms; a general term for mushroom-like fungi
• Tomate – tomato
• Uvas – grapes
• Verduras – vegetables
• Zanahorias – carrots

Spanish Meat & Poultry Terms

• Albóndigas – meatballs
• Bistec de ternera – beef or veal steak
• Butifarra – traditional Catalan sausage, also popular in the Balearic Islands
• Cabrito asado – roast kid goat
• Callos – tripe, often served in a rich stew
• Carne – meat
• Cerdo – pork
• Chorizo – seasoned Spanish pork sausage, typically flavored with paprika
• Chuletas – chops
• Cochinillo – suckling pig
• Codorniz – quail
• Conejo – rabbit
• Cordero – lamb
• Costillas – ribs
• Criadillas – bull’s or lamb’s testicles
• Entrecot – entrecôte or rib steak
• Escalope – thin slice of meat, usually breaded and fried
• Faisán – pheasant
• Filete – fillet or steak
• Gallina – hen
• Hígado – liver
• Jamón – ham
• Jabugo – town in Huelva and the name of a protected designation of origin for Iberian ham and shoulder
• Lechón / tostón / cochinillo – suckling pig
• Lengua – tongue
• Liebre – hare
• Manos de cerdo – pig’s trotters
• Morcilla – Spanish blood sausage; ingredients and seasonings vary by region
• Oca – goose
• Oreja de cerdo – pig’s ear
• Paloma – pigeon or dove
• Panceta – pork belly or streaky bacon
• Pato – duck
• Pavo – turkey
• Perdiz – partridge
• Pinchos morunos – skewers of marinated meat, traditionally seasoned with North African-inspired spices
• Pollo – chicken
• Riñones – kidneys
• Salchicha – sausage
• Sesos – brains
• Solomillo – tenderloin or fillet steak
• Ternera – young beef or veal
• Ternera picada – minced beef or veal
• Venado / ciervo – venison

Spanish Desserts & Sweets Terms

• Barquillos – thin, crisp wafer rolls
• Buñuelos – small pieces of fried dough or fried pastries, sometimes filled
• Caramelos – sweets or candies
• Churros – strips of fried dough, often served with sugar or hot chocolate
• Crema catalana – Catalan custard dessert traditionally flavored with cinnamon and citrus and topped with a layer of caramelized sugar
• Flan – caramel custard
• Helado – ice cream
• Mantecadas – traditional small Spanish cakes or pastries
• Natillas – soft Spanish custard dessert, typically flavored with cinnamon and lemon
• Pasteles – cakes or pastries
• Roscas – ring-shaped cakes, pastries, or sweet breads
• Tarta – cake or tart
• Turrón – Spanish nougat confection, traditionally made with almonds, honey, sugar, and egg white

Basque Menu Terms & Specialties

• Al pil-pil – Basque preparation, most famously used with salt cod, in which olive oil, garlic, and the fish’s natural gelatin are emulsified into a sauce
• A la vizcaína / bizkaina – Basque-style sauce traditionally made with onions and dried choricero peppers
• Angulas – baby eels or elvers, traditionally considered a delicacy in Basque cuisine
• Kokotxas – fleshy pieces from beneath the jaw of hake or cod, prized in Basque cooking
• Marmitako – traditional Basque tuna and potato stew, usually made with peppers, onions, and tomato
• Perretxiko – St George’s mushroom (Calocybe gambosa), a prized spring mushroom in Basque cuisine
• Pintxo – small Basque-style snack or bite, traditionally served in bars
• Piperrada / piperada – Basque preparation of peppers, onions, and tomatoes, sometimes served with eggs
• Porrusalda – Basque leek and potato soup or stew
• Txangurro – spider crab; the term can also refer to a traditional prepared spider-crab dish
• Txipirones en su tinta – small squid cooked in their own ink
• Txakoli – typically fresh, high-acid wine from the Basque Country, most commonly white