Food & Drinks

Food is one of the most enjoyable topics to explore in any new language. Dutch cuisine may not have the worldwide fame of French or Italian cooking, but it has its own delicious character — hearty, practical and deeply satisfying. From the famous Dutch breakfast of bread and cheese to the Indonesian-influenced rijsttafel, this article covers all the essential food and drink vocabulary you need.

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Wist je dat?

The Netherlands is one of the world's largest exporters of cheese! Gouda (named after the city of Gouda) and Edam (named after the city of Edam) are exported worldwide. There are traditional cheese markets still held in cities like Alkmaar and Gouda where you can see the classic cheese-carrying traditions.

🌅 Breakfast: Het Ontbijt

A typical Dutch breakfast is built around brood (bread) and boter (butter). The Dutch are world champions of the open sandwich!

Emoji	Dutch	English
🍞	het brood	bread
🧈	de boter	butter
🧀	de kaas	cheese
🍯	de jam / de marmelade	jam / marmalade
🥚	het ei / de eieren	egg / eggs
🍳	het spiegelei	fried egg (sunny side up)
🍳	het roerei	scrambled eggs
🥚	het gekookt ei	boiled egg
☕	de koffie	coffee
🍵	de thee	tea
🥛	de melk	milk
🧃	het sap	juice

🍽️ Meals of the Day

Dutch	English	Typical content
het ontbijt	breakfast	Bread, cheese, cold cuts, coffee
de lunch / het middageten	lunch	Open sandwiches, soup
het avondeten / het diner	dinner	Hot meal: potatoes, veg, meat
de snack / het tussendoortje	snack	Fruit, biscuits

🥩 Meat & Protein

Emoji	Dutch	English
🥩	het vlees	meat
🐔	de kip	chicken
🐄	het rundvlees	beef
🐷	het varkensvlees	pork
🐑	het lamsvlees	lamb
🐟	de vis	fish
🦐	de garnaal	shrimp / prawn

🥦 Vegetables: De Groenten

Emoji	Dutch	English
🥔	de aardappel	potato
🥕	de wortel	carrot
🧅	de ui	onion
🧄	de knoflook	garlic
🥦	de broccoli	broccoli
🫑	de paprika	bell pepper
🍅	de tomaat	tomato
🥬	de sla	lettuce / salad

🍺 Dutch Drinks

Emoji	Dutch	English
🍺	het bier	beer
🍷	de wijn	wine
💧	het water	water
🧃	het vruchtensap	fruit juice
🥤	de frisdrank	fizzy drink / soda
☕	de koffie met melk	coffee with milk