Some of my clearest memories of studying Arabic involve enjoying delicious food with friends - getting freshly made juices downtown, grabbing steaming falafel sandwiches, or snacking on sugary-sweet knafeh. Hopefully this food vocabulary list will help you describe your own food experiences in Arabic. For your next food adventure, صحتين (bon appetit)!

Scroll down for a few sentences using this Arabic food vocabulary. To experience more of these words in context, watch Chef Omar’s knafeh cooking video or listen to an episode of the Mahdoom podcast. For food shopping vocabulary, download our shopping vocabulary list.

Examples / مثال

بحب الشاي الحلو أكتر من الشاي المُر بس بفضّل العنب الحامض أكتر من الحلو
I like sweet tea more than bitter tea, but I prefer sour grapes to sweet ones.

الكنافة تقيلة كتير وما بحبها. بصراحة ما بحب جبنة أبداً
Knafeh is really heavy and I don’t like it. Honestly, I don’t like cheese at all.

كل سنة في عيد ميلادي, أبي يخبز كعك. كل سنة كعك مختلف وداْماً زاكي
Every year on my birthday, my dad bakes a cake. Each year it’s a different cake and it’s always delicious. 

إذا ما بشرب قهوة قبل الضهر, حيوجعني راسي
If I don’t drink coffee before noon, I’ll get a headache.

!كل(ي) صحنك
Eat (command) your meal!

السمك مالح متل الصّبر
The fish is really salty
Literal translation: the fish is salty like aloe 
The phrase, مالح متل الصّبر, is used to mean that something is so salty it’s nearly inedible. The word صبر also means patience.

يلا نشتري دجاج مع عضمو وخضرة - بدي أساوي شوربة الليلة - وخبز
Let’s buy chicken with the bones and veggies - I want to make soup tonight - and bread.