Take a Cooking Class in Spanish

Quick Answer

¡Hola!Learn how to take a cooking class in Spanish in this article and the lessons above! Specifically, learn how to do the following in Spanish:

• use common food-related vocabulary

• use food-related verbs

• learn tips about how to prepare tacos

Vocabulary

Let's start off with the vocab words in these lessons!

Adjectives

Spanish	English
enorme	enormous
vegetariano	vegetarian

examples
No los piquemos en trozos enormes. Let's not chop them into enormous pieces.
Preparemos tacos vegetarianos. Let's prepare vegetarian tacos.

Nouns

Spanish	English
el aguacate	avocado
el champiñón	mushroom
el cilantro	cilantro
el comal	griddle
el frijol	bean
el nopal	prickly pear
el pimiento	bell pepper
el trozo	piece

examples
Pongamos las tortillas en el comal. Let's put the tortillas on the griddle.
Mezclemos los frijoles con el arroz. Let's mix the beans with the rice.
Hagamos tacos de nopal. Let's make prickly pear tacos.

Noun Phrase

Spanish	English
el queso cheddar	cheddar cheese

examples
No pongamos queso cheddar. Let's not put in cheddar cheese.

Prepositional Phrase

Spanish	English
a la vez	at the same time

examples
No pongamos todas a la vez. Let's not put them all on at the same time.

Verbs: Nosotros Command Forms

In this skill, you learn the command forms for the following verbs!

Infinitive	English	Nosotros Command Form	Negative Nosotros Command Form
añadir	to add	añadamos	no añadamos
calentar	to warm up	calentemos	no calentemos
cocinar	to cook	cocinemos	no cocinemos
comer	to eat	comamos	no comamos
comprar	to buy	compremos	no compremos
cortar	to cut	cortemos	no cortemos
freír	to fry	friamos	no friamos
hacer	to make, to do	hagamos	no hagamos
ir	to go	vayamos	no vayamos
mezclar	to mix	mezclemos	no mezclemos
olvidar	to forget	olvidemos	no olvidemos
picar	to chop	piquemos	no piquemos
poner	to put	pongamos	no pongamos
preparar	to prepare	preparemos	no preparemos
ser	to be	seamos	no seamos
tener	to be, to have	tengamos	no tengamos

Forming Affirmative Commands

For regular verbs, you will simply use the nosotros form of the present subjunctive. That means regular -ar verbs will end in -emos, and regular -er and -ir verbs will end in -amos.

examples
Calentemos bien las tortillas. Let's really warm up the tortillas.
Cortemos la cebolla. Let's cut the onion.

There are also irregular verbs in the nosotros command form. Hagamos, tengamos, and vayamos are some of the irregular verbs that we studied in this lesson. You can learn more about irregular present subjunctive verbs in this article.

Forming Negative Commands

Negative nosotros commands are formed the same way as affirmative nosotros commands. All you have to do is add a no—or another negative word like nunca(never)—in front of the verb when forming a negative command.

examples
No pongamos todas a la vez. Let's not put them all on at the same time.
No los preparemos sin sal. Let's not prepare them without salt.

Pronoun Placement in Negative Nosotros Commands

If a pronoun accompanies the verb in a negative nosotros command, you put the reflexive, direct object, or indirect object pronoun between the negative word and the verb.

examples
No lo cocinemos sin agua. Let's not cook it without water.
No lo friamos demasiado. Let's not fry it too much.

Learn more about nosotros commands in this article.

Tener

Were you surprised to see tener translated as to be? Remember that tener means to be in certain set expressions, such as tener hambre(to be hungry) and tener paciencia(to be patient). You can read more about tener in this article.

Phrases

Here are some of the phrases used in these lessons!

Spanish	English
Tengamos paciencia.	Let's be patient.
Vayamos a la cocina.	Let's go to the kitchen.

Quiz Yourself!

Want more practice with the vocabulary you learned in these lessons? Click here!

Spanish Conversation

Fantastic! Let's put the grammar and vocab from above to the test in the following example of a conversation in Spanish.

José Andrés:

Seamos chefs por un día, Vega. ¡Preparemos tacos vegetarianos! Compremos los ingredientes.

Let’s be chefs for a day, Vega. Let’s prepare vegetarian tacos! Let’s buy the ingredients.

Vega:

Ya tengo los ingredientes aquí. Hagamos tacos de nopal. Me encanta el nopal, y es muy saludable.

I already have the ingredients here. Let’s make prickly pear tacos. I love prickly pear, and it’s very healthy.

José Andrés:

¡Sí! Me gusta el nopal también. Pero no hagamos tacos sin salsa, por favor.

Yes! I like prickly pear too. But, let’s not make tacos without salsa, please.

Vega:

Cocinemos el arroz en una olla.

Let’s cook the rice in a pot.

José Andrés:

Sí, pero no lo cocinemos sin agua. Vega, una cosa importante: no pongamos queso cheddar.

Yes, but let’s not cook it without water. Vega, one important thing—let’s not put in cheddar cheese.

Vega:

¿¡Queso cheddar a los tacos?! ¡Nunca!

Cheddar cheese on tacos?! Never!

Want to learn more about how to take a cooking class in Spanish? Check out the following articles!

• Measurements for Baking and Cooking in Spanish

• How to Make Mexican Tacos

• How to Make Paella