Cooking idioms

These cooking idioms are often used in everyday conversational English. Learning and using them will make you sound more natural when speaking English.

An idiom is a fixed phrase that doesn't change. It's meaning is metaphorical rather than literal so you cannot usually understand it from the individual words. I have created several different lists of idioms and infographics to help you as study English idioms.

More examples of cooking idioms

Here are a few more examples to help make the meaning of these cooking idioms even clearer. I've also added a couple more cooking idioms that aren't in the infographic:

turn up the heat:  To intensify criticism or pressure on someone.

• My girlfriend is turning up the heat for me to propose but I'm really not ready to get married and start a family.
• I think it's time to turn up the heat and try to close the sale or we won't make our sales quota this month.
  
• My parents are turning up the heat on me to move back home so I really need to find a job soon or I won't have any choice.

half-baked ideas:  Ideas which have not been thought out very well.

• My assistant usually has half-baked ideas but I never discourage her because once in a while she thinks of something brilliant.
• I have to admit my suggestion was a half-baked idea. I didn't think of the complications or downsides and it's cost me a lot of headaches and money.

simmer down:  To become less angry and agitated; to become calm and quiet after being angry.

• Kids if you don't simmer down and be nice to each other I'm going to take the game away from you.
• Take a walk and simmer down. We'll talk when you're calmer. I'm not in the mood to fight.
  
• My husband simmered down after he found out I gave our daughter permission to stay out late last night.
  

stir the pot:  To deliberately try to make a situation/people more tense and upset.

• My old girlfriend was always trying to stir the pot and I really hated the drama.
• I look fat in these jeans? Wow, you're really trying to stir the pot.
• Please don't invite the marketing director to this meeting. He's very critical and always tries to stir the pot.

cook the books:  To falsify the financial figures of a company's accounting books.

• She used to work in our finance department but she was convicted of fraud and cooking the books.
• I think our company is being investigated for cooking the books.
• Believe me, if you cook the books it will only get worse later on.

whip something up:  To quickly prepare some food.

• How did you whip up dinner so quickly?
• I'd rather stay home and whip up a simple meal than waste money eating out again.
• I'll meet you at the movies in 30 minutes.  I'll just go home and whip up a sandwich and change clothes.

from scratch:  To make something from basic ingredients.

• I never have time to cook anything from scratch anymore—I just buy everything pre-made from the grocery store.
• My date pretended that she made dinner from scratch but I saw the empty food containers in the trash can.
• My children are always really happy when I bake cakes from scratch. They definitely taste better than store-bought cakes.

butter someone up:  To praise, flatter or be very nice to someone so they will do something you want.

• Stop trying to butter me up. I already told you that I'm not buying you a new iPhone.
• It's embarrassing how Sandra keeps trying to butter up our boss.  She would be better off if she just did her work.
• I have to admit I love it when my boyfriend butters me up.

what's cooking/cookin'?:  What's happening, what's new, what's going on?

Note: this is a very informal idiom and the final "g"  is normally not pronounced ("cookin').

• It's been so long since I've seen you! What's cookin'?
• What's cooking tonight? Are we going to the club?
• Welcome, come on in guys. What's cooking?

cook up a storm:  To enthusiastically and energetically cook a large amount of food

• My husband's cooking up a storm again. Although I love it when he cooks, he makes a complete mess of the kitchen.
• I hope you'll join us for the barbecue this weekend. My colleagues and I plan to cook up a storm.
• I'm exhausted after cooking up a storm all week for my relatives who were in town.

grill someone:  To interrogate or intensely question someone in order to try to get a confession or answers.

• My parents keep grilling me about what we did Saturday night but I keep telling them that we stayed at your house and watched movies.
• Doesn't it annoy you that your boyfriend is always grilling you about what you do when you're apart?
• The principal tried to grill my son about which students painted graffiti on the school's front door but my son would rather get expelled than lose his friends.

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