American English to British English cooking terms

Good to know when shopping for food or reading recipes.

A relation of American cooking terms and their equivalents in British English. Some are not the words you would find in a recipe book, but you would hear in everyday speaking or when shopping for food.

American to British cooking terms

American terms appear first, in bold characters. When they say zucchini in the USA, it is courgette in the UK.

all-purpose flour – plain flour
American bacon – bacon rashers of the streaky sort
American bacon – streaky bacon
apple, fruit crisp – apple, fruit crumble
baked potato – jacket potato
beet – beetroot
Bordeaux, red wine – claret
bread flour – strong flour
brown sugar – Demerara sugar
Canadian bacon, ham – bacon of the round short
candy – sweets
canola oil – rapeseed oil
cheesecloth – muslin.
chili or chile pepper – chilli
confectioners’ sugar – icing sugar.
cook top, stove – kitchen hob
cookies, crackers – biscuits
corn – maize
cornstarch – maize flour, corn flour
cornstarch, corn starch – corn flour
cotton candy – candy floss
cupcakes – fairy cakes
dessert – pudding
eggplant – aubergine
eggs over-easy, sunny side up – fried eggs
fava beans – broad beans
French fries – chips
fruit jam – fruit preserves
garbage bag – bin liner
golden raisins – sultanas
graham crackers – digestive biscuits
granola – muesli
green beans – French beans
grocery cart – shopping trolley
grocery store – supermarket
ground – minced
ground meat – mince
ham – gammon
heavy cream – double cream
jello – jelly
jelly roll – Swiss roll
Kentucky beans – runner beans
light cream – single cream, table cream
liquor store – wine merchant, off-license
molasses – dark treacle
navy beans – haricot beans
peanut oil – groundnut oil
pie shell – pastry case
pie spice mix – mixed spice
plastic wrap – cling film
popsicle – ice lolly
potato chips – crisps
roast – joint of meat
sausages  – bangers
sear – seal
seeded – stoned
seeds – pips
sherry – sack
shopping bag – carrier bag, usually plastic
slice of streaky bacon – rasher of bacon
soft, round bread rolls  – baps
sour cherries – morello cherries
soy – soya
squash – marrow
superfine granulated sugar – caster sugar, castor sugar
tomato paste – tomato puree
trash can – rubbish bin
wax paper – grease proof paper
whole wheat – wholemeal
zucchini – courgette