Phrasal verbs: cooking

This ESL worksheet is about phrasal verbs used in the context of cooking and food preparation. Students will learn and practise 14 common phrasal verbs used to describe everyday cooking actions and techniques.

First, students read a recipe that incorporates 8 essential phrasal verbs (boil down, chop up, mash up, top with, mix in, stir in, cool down, season with). They deduce the meanings from context and match each phrasal verb to its correct definition. A follow-up matching activity helps consolidate understanding. Next, students describe how their favourite dish is prepared, using some of the phrasal verbs. You might also like the worksheets “Phrasal verbs: eating“, and “Idioms: eating and drinking”

Additional phrasal verbs (scrape off, peel off, heat up, whip up) are introduced through short dialogues. Students choose the correct phrasal verb in multiple-choice sentences and complete a multiple-choice task to reinforce form and meaning.

In the final section, students personalise the language by applying the phrasal verbs to cooking problems and solutions. Then, in pairs, they take turns giving each other ingredients and creating recipes using the new vocabulary. These interactive tasks build fluency and help students use phrasal verbs naturally in real-life contexts.

For more xpeaking practice, you can use the conversation cards.