What does precook mean?
Precook means to cook food before it is needed. The verb is usually transitive, meaning that the food, rather than the person cooking, is the object of the action. A cook may precook vegetables, beans, or meat to reduce the work required at mealtime, or to prepare food in advance for freezing. Cooked beforehand, the food is often described as “precooked” or “pre-cooked,” and the verb can also occur in more general planning contexts such as preparing meals before a busy period. The term is neutral and practical rather than literary, and it is particularly common in food preparation, retail, and household instructions. Unlike a dish cooked to order, food that has been precooked is intended to be ready for use when needed. Its usefulness lies in this simple temporal shift: a task associated with mealtime is moved to an earlier point in the day.
verbTo cook food in advance, usually so that it is ready when needed or to reduce the work required at mealtime.
- To cook food before it is needed, especially to save time later or prepare it for storage.
"She precooks the beans the night before so that they are ready for the salad."
"She precooks the vegetables in the morning and adds them to the evening meal."
"Food-service companies precook large batches of ingredients to streamline service."
Precook turns a future meal into a present-day task.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does precook come from?
The word is an English compound of the prefix pre- and the verb cook. The prefix comes through French from Latin prae, meaning “before,” while cook is a Middle English word borrowed from Old French coc. Its development reflects the ordinary English use of pre- to form verbs that carry out an action before another event or stage.
Related word forms
How precook is actually used
The term is neutral and especially common in food preparation, retail, and household instructions. It is usually transitive, with the food as its object. As a modifier, both “precooked” and “pre-cooked” are established, with hyphenation varying by context and style.