Brazilian Portuguese for Recipes: Kitchen Verbs and Measurements
Learn the verbs and quantities you need to talk through a recipe, from chopping and mixing to a spoonful or a cup.
Real Life Portuguese · 6 min read · Updated October 14, 2026
The short answer
Recipe instructions often use familiar infinitives: cortar (to cut), picar (to chop), misturar (to mix), acrescentar (to add), mexer (to stir), and assar (to bake or roast). In a spoken instruction, you may hear a direct command: Corte a cebola (Chop the onion).
Start with the action verbs
Some verbs change meaning with the food and method. Cozinhar can mean to cook generally or to boil in a particular context, while fritar means to fry. Use the ingredient and the rest of the instruction to understand the action.
Pique a cebola e o alho.
Chop the onion and garlic.
Misture os ingredientes em uma tigela.
Mix the ingredients in a bowl.
Acrescente o leite aos poucos.
Add the milk a little at a time.
Understand common quantities
A xícara is a cup, a colher de sopa is a tablespoon, and a colher de chá is a teaspoon. Recipes also use gramas (grams), quilo or quilograma (kilogram), and litro (liter). A pitada is a pinch, a fatia is a slice, and um pouco de means a little of. Follow the measurement system given in the recipe.
Uma colher de sopa de azeite.
One tablespoon of olive oil.
Duas xícaras de farinha.
Two cups of flour.
Coloque uma pitada de sal.
Add a pinch of salt.
Follow the order and check the texture
Recipes often use sequence words such as primeiro (first), depois (then), enquanto isso (meanwhile), and por último (last). Instructions like até ficar macio (until it becomes soft) or até dourar (until golden) describe the result rather than a fixed time.
Asse até dourar.
Bake until golden.
Mexa até ficar cremoso.
Stir until creamy.
Depois, deixe descansar por dez minutos.
Then let it rest for ten minutes.
Put it into practice
Choose a familiar recipe and explain three steps in Portuguese. Use an action verb, a measurement, and one sequence word.
Quick practice
Which Portuguese example matches “Add the milk a little at a time”?
Choose an answer to check yourself.
Keep practicing with the Real Life Portuguese app
Build on this guide with everyday expressions and native Brazilian audio. Choose iPhone, Android, or the web app.