Food vocabulary and cooking
ESL food vocabulary works best when it is the food students actually eat. The worksheet Food Vocabulary teaches 14 everyday words and phrases for adult beginners, from soup and pasta to eggs and flour. Boil, Fry, Bake! is an A2-B1 worksheet with the verbs students need to follow a simple recipe.
Dinner with Friends gets A1-A2 students talking about cooking together, and Coffee Geek uses a street interview about everyone's favorite way to drink coffee. Both make good follow-ups once the basic words are in place.
Food vocabulary sticks when students use it about their own life. After the worksheet, ask them to write their shopping list for the week or describe what they cooked last night. Food ESL lesson plans for adults work best when the language goes straight back into the student's kitchen.
Menus, restaurants and ordering food
An ESL lesson plan for ordering food in a restaurant starts with the menu. Menus Unplugged, a free A1-A2 lesson and the most popular one on the page, has students read four different types of menus and choose what to order. At the other end of the scale, It Melts In My Mouth teaches B2-C1 students to describe food and dishes with real precision.
Finish either lesson with a role-play. One student is the server with a short menu, the other is a guest with a food allergy or a tight budget, and then they swap. The guest's problem gives both students a reason to ask questions, and the menu gives them all the words they need.
Taste is where the vocabulary of most students runs out. They know delicious and maybe disgusting, but not crunchy, creamy or a bit too salty. Teach a few of these words before a restaurant role-play, and the guests will have far more to say about their meal.
Grocery shopping and the kitchen at home
Grocery Shopping teaches A2-B1 students the vocabulary and phrases for a trip to the supermarket. Fridge Restock is about planning a week of food at A1-A2, and Add To Cart brings in informal shopping and food vocabulary through interviews. More lessons about shopping and money are on the shopping page.
Shopping for food is one of the first real tasks adults face in a new country. Give students a list and a budget, and ask them to plan a week of meals with the vocabulary from Grocery Shopping and Fridge Restock. The task brings together numbers, food words and polite requests in one short activity.
Food lessons by level
| Level | Lessons to start with |
| A1-A2 | Food Vocabulary, Menus Unplugged, Fridge Restock, Dinner with Friends |
| A2-B1 | Boil, Fry, Bake!, Grocery Shopping, Coffee Geek, Do You Diet? |
| B2-C1 | It Melts In My Mouth, Hyperrealistic Cakes |
An ESL lesson plan for food beginners can start with Food Vocabulary and Menus Unplugged in the same week. For an ESL food lesson at intermediate level, Grocery Shopping and Do You Diet? give students more to discuss. Holiday recipes, such as Christmas food and Thanksgiving dishes, are on the holidays page.
For a whole unit on food, follow the order of the table: vocabulary first, then the menu, then shopping and finally a discussion. Every lesson reuses the words of the one before, so students feel their progress by the end of the month.
Questions about food and meals
These ESL questions about meals go from easy to B2:
- What did you have for breakfast today?
- What is a typical dinner in your country?
- Do you prefer cooking at home or eating out?
- What is the best restaurant you have ever been to?
- Is there a food you couldn't eat as a child but love now?
- How often do you order takeout?
- Would you try a dish if you didn't know what was in it?
- Should restaurants show calories on the menu?
For 30 more, see our food discussion questions for adult classes.
Food lessons FAQ
Where should I start with a complete beginner?
Start with the Food Vocabulary worksheet, then move to Menus Unplugged. Both are A1-A2 and use the food students already know.
Is there a restaurant role-play?
Menus Unplugged is the best lesson to end with one: after students read the menus, one plays the server and the other the guest. It Melts In My Mouth gives higher levels the words to describe a dish properly.
Are any of the lessons free?
Yes. Menus Unplugged is free to try. The rest of the library comes with a subscription.
Can I teach these lessons online?
Yes. Every lesson has a printable PDF that you can share on screen, and the menus and recipes work just as well online.
All food ESL lesson plans for adults on this page come with a teacher subscription, together with the rest of the library.