Cooking · Food and eating

use up

finish ingredients

To use up food means to eat or cook it before it goes bad.

B1 common speech & writing

phrasal verb

use up

This vs that

eat or cook them before they spoil

We need to use up the vegetables.

discard them

We need to throw away the vegetables.

Hear it in real life

Why are you making curry tonight?

I want to use up the vegetables in the fridge.

Play the conversation

I need to use up these tomatoes before they start going soft.

Which sounds natural?

Psst — which one would you actually say?

The mistake everyone makes

Not: We need to use all the vegetables up before they ~~will be~~ bad.

Say: We need to use up all the vegetables before they go bad.

Use 'go bad' for food becoming spoiled.

Say it together

Whole chunks natives use with it.

use up ___

Let's use up the mushrooms in an omelette.

I made soup to use up the vegetables in the fridge.

More for talking about cooking.

bring to the boil

Bring the water to the boil, then add the pasta.

keep an eye on ___

Keep an eye on the onions while I set the table.

Food and eating · Cooking: the words around “use up”.

More connectionsMore cooking words8

Your turn: say it out loud

We should use up the veg before it goes off.

Say it out loud two or three times, until it feels like yours.

use up

finish ingredients

“I need to use up these tomatoes before they start going soft.”

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