Glossary of Kitchen Utensils in English and Spanish

Below is a bilingual glossary of 400+ kitchen utensils and cooking tools, categorized by type and listed alphabetically within each group. This resource was developed using a variety of reliable culinary websites in English and Spanish. It is intended to support bilingual communication in the kitchen, culinary education, and language learning.

This glossary pairs well with the Glossary of Cooking Verbs in English and Spanish for a complete foundational culinary vocabulary resource.

Preparation Tools / Herramientas de Preparación

English	Spanish	Description (English)	Descripción (Español)
Apple corer	Descorazonador de manzanas	Removes the core from apples	Quita el corazón de las manzanas
Bench scraper	Raspador de banco	Flat tool to scrape or portion dough	Herramienta plana para raspar o porcionar masa
Cherry pitter	Deshuesador de cerezas	Removes pits from cherries	Quita los huesos de las cerezas
Cookie scoop	Cucharón para galletas	Scoops uniform amounts of cookie dough	Sirve porciones uniformes de masa para galletas
Dough cutter	Cortador de masa	Cuts dough into shapes or pieces	Corta la masa en formas o piezas
Garlic press	Prensa ajos	Crushes garlic cloves	Tritura dientes de ajo
Grater	Rallador	Grates cheese, vegetables, or other foods	Ralla queso, vegetales u otros alimentos
Kitchen shears	Tijeras de cocina	Heavy-duty scissors for food prep	Tijeras resistentes para preparar alimentos
Lemon zester	Rallador de limón	Scrapes zest from citrus fruits	Ralla la cáscara de frutas cítricas
Mandoline slicer	Mandolina	Adjustable slicer for vegetables and fruits	Rebanadora ajustable para verduras y frutas
Meat tenderizer	Ablandador de carne	Tool to soften meat fibers	Herramienta para ablandar fibras de carne
Mortar and pestle	Mortero y maja	Used to grind spices or make pastes	Para moler especias o hacer pastas
Pastry blender	Mezclador de repostería	Cuts fat into flour for dough	Incorpora grasa a la harina para la masa
Peeler	Pelador	Removes skin from fruits and vegetables	Quita la piel de frutas y vegetales
Rolling pin	Rodillo	Rolls out dough evenly	Extiende la masa de manera uniforme
Sifter	Tamiz	Aerates and removes lumps from flour	Airea y elimina grumos de la harina
Whisk	Batidor	Mixes ingredients by hand	Mezcla ingredientes manualmente

Cooking Tools / Herramientas para Cocinar

English	Spanish	Description (English)	Descripción (Español)
Baster	Inyector de jugos	Suctions and sprays cooking liquid over food	Succiona y rocía jugo sobre los alimentos
Can opener	Abrelatas	Opens metal cans	Abre latas de metal
Colander	Colador	Drains water from cooked food	Escurre agua de los alimentos cocidos
Dutch oven	Horno holandés	Heavy pot for braising or baking	Olla pesada para asar o hornear
Frying pan/skillet	Sartén	Shallow pan for frying or sautéing	Sartén poco profundo para freír o saltear
Ladle	Cucharón	Serves soups or liquids	Sirve sopas o líquidos
Pressure cooker	Olla a presión	Cooks food quickly under steam pressure	Cocina rápido con vapor a presión
Saucepan	Cacerola	Small pan for sauces and small dishes	Cacerola pequeña para salsas y platillos
Slotted spoon	Cuchara ranurada	Lifts solid food while draining liquid	Levanta comida sólida drenando el líquido
Spatula (flat)	Espátula plana	Flips or moves food in pans	Voltea o mueve alimentos en el sartén
Spatula (rubber)	Espátula de goma	Scrapes bowls and folds ingredients	Raspa tazones y mezcla ingredientes
Stockpot	Olla grande	Large pot for soups or stocks	Olla grande para caldos o sopas
Tongs	Pinzas	Grabs and turns food during cooking	Agarra y voltea alimentos al cocinar
Wok	Wok	Deep round-bottom pan for stir-frying	Sartén hondo para salteado rápido

Baking Tools / Utensilios para hornear

English	Spanish	Description (English)	Descripción (Español)
Baking sheet / Cookie sheet	Bandeja para hornear	Flat tray for baking cookies and pastries	Bandeja plana para hornear galletas y pasteles
Bundt pan	Molde Bundt	Decorative cake pan with a central tube	Molde de pastel decorativo con tubo central
Cake server	Servidor de pasteles	Flat utensil for lifting and serving cake slices	Utensilio plano para levantar y servir porciones de pastel
Cupcake pan / Muffin tin	Molde para cupcakes / muffins	Tray with cups for baking muffins or cupcakes	Bandeja con cavidades para hornear muffins o cupcakes
Dough scraper	Raspador de masa	Used to scrape and cut dough	Usado para raspar y cortar masa
Measuring cups	Tazas medidoras	Used to measure dry or liquid ingredients by volume	Sirven para medir ingredientes líquidos o secos por volumen
Measuring spoons	Cucharas medidoras	Small spoons to measure small quantities of ingredients	Cucharitas para medir cantidades pequeñas de ingredientes
Mixing bowl	Tazón para mezclar	Large bowl used to mix ingredients	Recipiente grande para mezclar ingredientes
Pastry blender	Mezclador de repostería	Tool used to cut butter into flour for dough	Herramienta para mezclar mantequilla con harina
Pie server	Cortador de pastel	Triangular spatula for serving pie	Espátula triangular para servir pastel

Measuring Tools / Herramientas de medición

English	Spanish	Description (English)	Descripción (Español)
Digital scale	Balanza digital	Measures ingredients by weight	Mide ingredientes por peso
Food thermometer	Termómetro de cocina	Measures internal temperature of food	Mide la temperatura interna de los alimentos
Measuring cups	Tazas medidoras	See Baking Tools	Ver Utensilios para hornear
Measuring spoons	Cucharas medidoras	See Baking Tools	Ver Utensilios para hornear
Oven thermometer	Termómetro de horno	Checks accuracy of oven temperature	Verifica la temperatura real del horno

Serving Tools

English	Spanish	Description (English)	Descripción (Español)
Pie server	Servidor para pasteles	Tool for lifting and serving slices of pie	Utensilio para levantar y servir porciones de pastel
Cake server	Servidor de torta	Similar to pie server but often wider or angled	Similar al servidor de pasteles, pero más ancho o en ángulo
Ladle	Cucharón	Deep spoon for serving soups or stews	Cuchara profunda para servir sopas o guisos
Soup spoon	Cuchara sopera	Round-bowled spoon for eating soup	Cuchara con cuenco redondo para comer sopa
Serving fork	Tenedor para servir	Large fork used to lift and serve meat	Tenedor grande para levantar y servir carne

Specialty Baking & Pastry Tools

English	Spanish	Description (English)	Descripción (Español)
Bench scraper	Rasqueta de panadero	Scrapes dough and cleans work surface	Raspa masa y limpia la superficie de trabajo
Cake leveler	Nivelador de pasteles	Slices cake layers evenly	Corta capas de pastel de forma uniforme
Cookie cutter	Cortador de galletas	Cuts dough into shapes	Corta la masa en formas
Cookie scoop	Cuchara para galletas	Measures and portions cookie dough	Mide y divide la masa de galletas
Cooling rack	Rejilla de enfriamiento	Cools baked goods evenly	Enfría productos horneados de forma uniforme
Decorating comb	Peine decorativo	Creates patterns on frosting	Crea patrones en el glaseado
Dough docker	Perforador de masa	Prevents bubbles in dough	Evita burbujas en la masa
Dough scraper	Rasqueta de masa	Cuts and lifts dough	Corta y levanta masa
Fondant smoother	Alisador de fondant	Smooths fondant on cakes	Alisa el fondant en pasteles
Pastry bag	Manga pastelera	Holds fillings for decorating or piping	Sostiene rellenos para decorar o servir
Pastry brush	Brocha de repostería	Applies glaze, egg wash, or butter	Aplica glaseado, huevo batido o mantequilla
Pastry cutter	Cortador de repostería	Cuts pastry dough	Corta masa de repostería
Pastry wheel	Rueda de repostería	Cuts dough with decorative edge	Corta masa con borde decorativo
Pie bird	Pájaro para tarta	Vents steam from pie while baking	Libera vapor de una tarta al hornear
Pie server	Servidor de pasteles	Lifts and serves slices of pie	Sirve y levanta porciones de tarta
Rolling mat	Tapete para estirar masa	Non-stick surface for rolling dough	Superficie antiadherente para estirar masa
Silicone mat	Tapete de silicona	Provides non-stick baking surface	Superficie de horneado antiadherente
Tart pan	Molde para tartas	Pan with removable bottom for tarts	Molde con base desmontable para tartas
Whisk	Batidor	Mixes ingredients, aerates batter	Mezcla ingredientes, airea masas
Zester	Rallador fino	Grates citrus zest or spices finely	Ralla finamente ralladura de cítricos o especias

About the Author

Andrew Lillie is a professional Spanish-English translator and interpreter with over 30 years of experience. He holds graduate degrees in translation from Brigham Young University and the University of Puerto Rico and has lived and worked in Argentina and Puerto Rico. He has served as a certified interpreter for Washington State DSHS and the US Customs and Immigration Service. He is the founder of Firefly Linguistic Services LLC and the creator of the Spanish by Topic bilingual vocabulary platform.

Methodology

This glossary was compiled from professional culinary, linguistic, and industry reference sources and reviewed by Andrew Lillie, a credentialed Spanish-English translator with over 30 years of professional experience. Entries were selected for their practical relevance to professional kitchens, culinary education, and food service contexts. Both English and Spanish terminology reflect standard usage across major Spanish-speaking regions unless otherwise noted.

Sources consulted include:

https://utensiliosdecocina.net/
https://lacocinadevero.com/utensilios-de-cocina-en-ingles-y-espanol/
https://www.cocinayvino.com/
https://www.seriouseats.com/
https://www.thespruceeats.com/
Utensilios de cocina – Recetas de cocina fáciles
Glossary of Cooking Utensils – About Español
Chef’s Pencil: Spanish Kitchen Vocabulary
Food Service Equipment Glossary – eLearning