Do you want to practice commands in Spanish in a way that feels natural, fun, and real?
One of my favorite methods to teach the imperative form is through easy-to-follow family recipes—especially classic Argentine dishes.
Think asado, empanadas, milanesas… ¡sí, tal cual!
These recipes are packed with everyday command forms in Spanish—making them a fantastic grammar practice tool, especially when it comes to informal commands with tú and vos, as well as formal commands with usted and ustedes.
Why Recipes Are Perfect to Practice Commands in Spanish
Spanish recipes often use affirmative commands like pon, agrega, or sazona—all verbs in the imperative form. In Argentina, though, the informal tú commands get a twist: we use vos instead of tú. So instead of pon, we say poné. Instead of agrega, we say agregá.
Want to practice Spanish grammar in a way that doesn’t feel like a grammar lesson? Recipes are your new best friend.
Today, I’ll show you how to learn and practice Spanish commands through a delicious flan recipe passed down in my family. You’ll get examples of regular verbs, irregular forms, and even how to use object pronouns and reflexive verbs with commands.
Spanish Kitchen Verbs to Practice Commands
Before we jump into the recipe, let’s learn some basic verbs commonly used in the kitchen. These verbs will help you practice both affirmative and negative commands in Spanish.
Here are five useful regular verbs:
- Hornear (to bake) → hornea (tú) / horneá (vos)
- Condimentar (to season) → condimenta / condimentá
- Salpimentar (to salt and pepper) → salpimienta / salpimentá
- Agregar (to add) → agrega / agregá
- Mezclar (to mix) → mezcla / mezclá
Irregular Kitchen Verbs
Now let’s review irregular verbs that often appear in cooking instructions. These verbs are super useful to practice, because their command forms don’t follow standard conjugation rules.
- Poner (to put) = pon (tú) / poné (vos)
- Hervir (to boil) = hierve (tú) / herví (vos)
- Servir = sirve (tú) / serví (vos)
- Freír (to fry) = fríe (tú) / freí (vos)
- Revolver (to stir) = revuelve (tú) / revolvé (vos)
You can also flip these into negative commands:
No pongas, no hiervas, no sirvas, no frías, no revuelvas…
My Mother’s Favorite Flan Recipe🍮
Let’s now practice with one of my favorite homemade desserts: flan casero. This is my mom’s go-to recipe, and it’s perfect for learning Spanish commands in context.
First, let’s start with the ingredients.
- Leche 1 Lt.
- Huevo 8 u.
- Azúcar 250 Gr.
- Esencia de Vainilla 1 Cda.
- Azúcar 200 Gr. (para el caramelo)
Follow the recipe to practice commands
Now read the instructions carefully. Every step uses imperative verbs, perfect to polish your grammar skills! Can you spot the verbs?
👀 Tip: Look for verbs at the beginning of each sentence. That’s a clue you’re looking at a command!
Example of Spanish Commands (Tú and Vos Forms)
These are some of the affirmative informal commands used in the flan recipe:
- Coloca (x3)
- Agrega (x2)
- Ve
- Retira
- Mueve
- Reserva
- Deja
- Calienta
- Mezcla
- Bate
- Incorpora
- Vierte
- Hornea
🗣 Try converting a few of these to vos form:
– Colocá, agregá, reservá…
Want an extra challenge? Rewrite them as negative tú commands:
– No coloques, no agregues, no reserves…
Practice your Spanish with My Family’s Recipes
Would you like to keep practicing Spanish commands? My mom and I created a mini recipe book called “Cocina de mamá – Recetas de nuestro hogar”—made especially to help Spanish learners like you master the imperative mood.
You’ll practice:
- Informal and formal commands (tú, vos, usted, ustedes, nosotros)
- Reflexive commands like lavate las manos
- Object pronouns in commands, like agregalos, pásamela, mételo al horno
- Commands in both affirmative and negative forms
- Spanish grammar lessons wrapped in tasty, real-world context!
✨This recipe book is a bonus inside our course: Argentine Spanish Bites—your go-to course to sound more natural in Spanish when you order at a café, restaurant, shop or market in Argentina. Click here to learn more about this course.
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