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You are here: Home / Resources / 150 Words To Describe Food

150 Words To Describe Food

By Jennifer Updated: December 20, 2019. First published: December 6, 2011. This post may contain affiliate links. 38 Comments  

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This tastes good! Mmmmmm yummy! What a delicious dish! What a nice chicken! The peas are wonderful!

As an adult, it bothers me when someone tells me a food or a dish tastes good. Good to one person may be horrific to another person. I always feel obligated to agree that yes, this food does indeed taste “good” even if I do not particularly care for it. I hate to rain on someone’s taste parade. I much prefer it when someone says something like “this dish is pretty spicy which I love.” This language does not corner me into agreeing, dishonestly, that I like something or admitting that I do not like something then feeling bad about it.

Describing food as good or bad apparently bothered me enough that I decided to provide a list of better words to describe food. This list describes both the taste and in some cases the texture of the food in question.

Collage of various menu items with "words to describe flavors and textures of food" written on a green banner

This list of words to describe food is fantastic for chefs doing some menu writing. Food adjectives can be a make or break it when it comes to what a customer decides to order. Culinary students might also find this list helpful!

Parents can also benefits from the various food adjectives presented here. How you describe food to children is something parents should strive to be more mindful of. “Good” and “bad” and similar phrasing do not tell children much about the food, only that they are supposed to like it or not like it. Good and bad stifle a child’s ability to form their own opinion about their taste preferences. It also does nothing to expand their vocabulary. Hence why these words to describe food can be helpful.

Collage of food around a sign saying need ideas on how to describe food.

Here are 120 words to describe food to get your started. These words are related to the taste and texture of food.

  1. Acidic
  2. Acrid
  3. Aged
  4. Bitter
  5. Bittersweet
  6. Bland
  7. Burnt
  8. Buttery
  9. Chalky
  10. Cheesy
  11. Chewy
  12. Chocolaty
  13. Citrusy
  14. Cool
  15. Creamy
  16. Crispy
  17. Crumbly
  18. Crunchy
  19. Crusty
  20. Doughy
  21. Dry
  22. Earthy
  23. Eggy
  24. Fatty
  25. Fermented
  26. Fiery
  27. Fishy
  28. Fizzy
  29. Flakey
  30. Flat
  31. Flavorful (my favorite flavorful recipes can be found in the Art Of Great Cooking With Your Instant Pot)
  32. Fresh
  33. Fried (this gluten free funnel cake is some really incredible fried food goodness!)
  34. Fruity
  35. Full-bodied
  36. Gamey (refers to the flavor or strong odor of game, like Elk or Deer.
  37. Garlicky
  38. Gelatinous
  39. Gingery
  40. Glazed
  41. Grainy
  42. Greasy
  43. Gooey
  44. Gritty
  45. Harsh
  46. Hearty
  47. Heavy
  48. Herbal
  49. Hot
  50. Icy
  51. Infused
  52. Juicy
  53. Lean
  54. Light
  55. Lemony
  56. Malty
  57. Mashed
  58. Meaty
  59. Mellow
  60. Mild
  61. Minty
  62. Moist
  63. Mushy
  64. Nutty
  65. Oily
  66. Oniony
  67. Overripe
  68. Pasty
  69. Peppery
  70. Pickled
  71. Plain
  72. Powdery
  73. Raw
  74. Refreshing
  75. Rich
  76. Ripe
  77. Roasted
  78. Robust
  79. Rubbery
  80. Runny
  81. Salty
  82. Sautéed
  83. Savory (try this savory Pumpkin Meatloaf recipe)
  84. Seared
  85. Seasoned
  86. Sharp
  87. Silky
  88. Slimy
  89. Smokey
  90. Smothered
  91. Smooth
  92. Soggy
  93. Soupy
  94. Sour
  95. Spicy (this gluten free Kung Pao Chicken recipe brings the heat!)
  96. Spongy
  97. Stale
  98. Sticky
  99. Stale
  100. Stringy
  101. Strong
  102. Sugary or sweet
  103. Sweet-and-sour (the absolute best sweet and sour chicken recipe is in this Paleo Takeout cookbook)
  104. Syrupy
  105. Tangy
  106. Tart
  107. Tasteless
  108. Tender (this Puerto Rican Sofrito Steak is the definition of tender!)
  109. Toasted
  110. Tough
  111. Unflavored
  112. Unseasoned
  113. Velvety
  114. Vinegary
  115. Watery
  116. Whipped
  117. Woody
  118. Yeasty
  119. Zesty
  120. Zingy

30 words to describe food instead of saying good or bad.

  1. Amazing (Amazing Mexican Favorites with Your Instant Pot is a killer cookbook!)
  2. Appealing
  3. Appetizing
  4. Delectable
  5. Delicious
  6. Delightful
  7. Divine
  8. Enjoyable
  9. Enticing
  10. Excellent
  11. Exquisite
  12. Extraordinary
  13. Fantastic
  14. Finger Licking (every recipe in this Air Fryer cookbook is finger-licking good!)
  15. Heavenly
  16. Lip Smacking
  17. Luscious
  18. Marvelous
  19. Mouthwatering
  20. Palatable
  21. Pleasant
  22. Pleasing
  23. Satisfying
  24. Scrumptious
  25. Superb
  26. Tantalizing
  27. Tasty (this 5 ingredient Chocolate Cake is truly the tastiest!)
  28. Terrific
  29. Wonderful
  30. Yummy

Speaking of words to describe food…

Are you looking for some additional recipe inspiration? Check out all the offerings I have on my recipe page! Also be sure to take a look at the cookbooks I have authored and contributed to. You can also see all my favorite cookbooks on my Amazon Influencer Storefront!

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About The Author

Jennifer, author of Hybrid Rasta Mama, is a former government recruiter turned work-at-home mama to a daughter brought earthside in early 2009. She is passionate about and writes about holistic health and wellness, natural/green living, toxic mold awareness, and the benefits of coconut oil. She frequently shares allergy friendly recipes on her site as well as DIY herbal remedies, DIY natural body care, and natural cleaning recipes.

Jennifer graduated with honors with a Bachelor's Degree in Ethnic Studies. In January 2019 she became a certified mold and moisture intrusion inspector. She has completed coursework in the naturopathic series offered by the Avicenna Institute and accredited through the Board of Natural Medicine Certification Council.

Jennifer is a member of the International Association of Certified Home Inspectors as well as the International Society for Environmentally Acquired Illness.

Stuff I Have To Tell You

Statements on this website have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. Products and/or information are not intended to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent any disease. Readers are advised to do their own research and make decisions in partnership with your health care provider. If you are pregnant, nursing, have a medical condition, or are taking any medication, please consult your physician. Nothing you read here should be relied upon to determine dietary changes, a medical diagnosis or courses of treatment.

I may receive a commission if you purchase through links in this post.

Hybrid Rasta Mama is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com and affiliates sites. For additional information, please visit my Terms & Conditions page and/or my Affiliate Disclosure page page.

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Comments

  1. Zoie @ TouchstoneZ says

    December 6, 2011 at 10:31 PM

    Yes, thank you! This is another example of how we try to “make” children feel or not feel, like or not like certain things. It’s controlling and it sets them up to not trust themselves.

    It seems like a small thing, but it really is something to be mindful about. At it’s pleasurable once you get in the habit.

    Reply
    • maddy says

      May 15, 2013 at 7:46 PM

      cheers mate

      Reply
      • bryson says

        September 7, 2017 at 7:46 AM

        your website helps so much thank you so much i will use this in the future as well

        Reply
  2. Hybrid Rasta Mama says

    December 10, 2011 at 5:36 AM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    Reply
  3. mason young says

    September 12, 2013 at 5:49 PM

    thank you so much this helped me tremendously. I got an A on my project thanks to this website.

    Reply
  4. Aprustudent says

    October 20, 2013 at 3:04 PM

    This helped a lot on my homework

    Reply
    • Jennifer says

      October 20, 2013 at 8:32 PM

      Yay! I am happy to hear that! 🙂 This post seems popular with students.

      Reply
      • Van says

        April 21, 2014 at 8:32 PM

        Yeah specially with EFL students! X) Thank you!!

        Reply
  5. Jai says

    October 27, 2013 at 4:34 PM

    This was bloody superb mate, helped me discover my fantasy for food, took my breath away

    Reply
  6. tan jolnn says

    June 27, 2014 at 5:23 AM

    thank you so much, it really did help me a lot in my homework. i appreciate your help and kindness.

    Reply
  7. mollie says

    December 11, 2014 at 4:17 PM

    I am ohhhhhhh so glad that you have this!! For my english class we HAVE to write journal, (if you want to make grades that are Cs and better) and we wrote 2 this paricular week, and EACH journal is worth 5 points and I only wrote one, it was 2 1/2 pages long, and I got a 10/10 so an A+ on it and our journal was: write a journal about a Thanksgiving meal, use vivid words to make it to where you can almost “Taste” the food as you are reading it!! Thankyou sooooooooo much!!!!!!!!!!! This was a HUGE HUGE HUGE help!!!!!!!!!!!

    Reply
    • Jennifer says

      December 13, 2014 at 9:35 PM

      Oh I am so glad!!! Congrats on a great journal and I am glad my post helped so much. 🙂

      Reply
  8. Jorge says

    March 1, 2015 at 1:46 PM

    Thank you for your personal outlook! I definitely agree and am using some of your descriptive words for a product description I am writing! Thank you!!

    Reply
  9. Katie says

    March 10, 2015 at 9:58 AM

    Hello –
    thanks for the great post. I have just used it as a resource to create a handout for my ESL students. We will be tasting 10 different kinds of salad dressing, and I wanted them to have more flavor words. I will also ask them to look through the list and mark which ones refer more to texture than flavor. Although both answer the question “how does it taste” 🙂

    I’ll also be using the list as we continue to introduce more foods to our toddler son and as he gains more language.
    Thanks again!

    Reply
    • Jennifer says

      March 13, 2015 at 8:54 PM

      So glad this was helpful. It has become one of my most popular posts! I am glad it is helping so many people.

      Reply
  10. camala thompson says

    March 18, 2015 at 7:06 AM

    hey love this conspectus it is great work

    Reply
  11. felicia lim says

    May 21, 2015 at 3:03 AM

    hello, thank you so much for the words,
    i used it in my design project!!

    Reply
  12. sam says

    August 8, 2015 at 7:57 PM

    look i don’t know how to say it but… this website saved my ass when coming up with descriptive words for my food tech class, thanks!

    Reply
    • Jennifer says

      August 9, 2015 at 9:05 PM

      HAHA! You are not the first to say that. 😉 Glad I could help!

      Reply
  13. hafsa Rasheed says

    January 19, 2016 at 6:27 AM

    That was great! Thanks a lot .you know what ?it realy helped me in my Home work ……keeping the secret that I was to do it on my own

    Reply
  14. LoLoLOL says

    April 15, 2016 at 2:53 PM

    thanks so much needed these descriptive words so so so bad

    Reply
    • Jennifer says

      May 11, 2016 at 8:29 PM

      You are welcome! Glad they helped.

      Reply
  15. Shalene Sodal says

    September 28, 2016 at 11:02 PM

    Thank you for this! Writer’s block can be very frustrating and this helped me so much.

    Reply
    • Jennifer says

      December 7, 2016 at 9:02 AM

      Happy to help!

      Reply
  16. Dordaneh says

    April 5, 2017 at 12:12 AM

    Thank you for introducing delicious words! 🙂

    Reply
  17. pavitra says

    May 10, 2017 at 4:16 AM

    Wonderful collection, I was in search exactly what i get here. Thanks for great share.

    Reply
  18. cupcakemaster says

    May 18, 2017 at 7:39 PM

    1) Learn to spell.
    2) Are you a parent, because if you’re not keep your parenting advice to yourself.
    3) I think there’s bigger problems in the world than how you describe your food.

    Reply
    • Jennifer says

      May 31, 2017 at 1:50 PM

      Yes, I am a parent and yes there are bigger problems in this world than how to describe food. However, this post has actually become one of my most viewed posts as it has helped thousands of parents, culinary students and professionals describe food. I am happy to have put something online that has value. Sorry you don’t agree.

      Reply
  19. Dave says

    June 22, 2017 at 11:31 PM

    You forgot ‘icky’

    Reply
    • Jennifer says

      July 4, 2017 at 10:10 AM

      😉 Good One!

      Reply
  20. Edwin says

    July 18, 2017 at 6:26 PM

    Hi.

    I need to describe a freshly baked bread.

    Any words that can BEST describe?

    Thanks

    Reply
    • Jennifer says

      August 8, 2017 at 12:42 PM

      Warm, moist, pungent, flaky, crisp….

      Reply
  21. Eva says

    September 22, 2017 at 3:13 AM

    Another EFL teacher here to say thanks for compiling this!

    Reply
  22. mai magdy says

    September 22, 2017 at 6:14 AM

    thank you very much
    it is really helpful

    Reply
  23. My Boozy Kitchen says

    October 10, 2018 at 9:47 AM

    As a food blogger – you are always looking for alternative words other than amazing / fantastic / this helps me a lot especially if I want to make people drool over their keybords. So thank you for sharing this. This has become my guide

    Reply
    • Jennifer says

      October 15, 2018 at 10:53 AM

      I am so glad to hear this! Thank you for sharing!

      Reply
  24. Elezabeta says

    December 7, 2019 at 8:27 AM

    Great!!!

    Reply

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