saltear
/salteˈaɾ/
To saute in Spanish is saltear.
The verb saltear means to fry food quickly in a small amount of fat over high heat. You can also use the related noun salteado to refer to a dish that has been sauteed, such as un salteado de verduras (a sauteed vegetable dish).
Is it said differently in some regions?
In Spain, the word rehogar is primarily used as an alternative to saltear.
How does it change in a sentence?
To express the action in different tenses, you can use the first-person singular preterite form salteé for "I sauteed" or the gerund form salteando for "sauteing".
How do you pronounce it?
/salteˈaɾ/
Did you know?
- While saltear refers to the cooking technique, the word saltear is also used in Spanish to mean 'to skip' or 'to omit' a step or a page in a book.
- The root of saltear traces back to the Latin 'saltus', which describes a leap or a sudden movement, reflecting how food is tossed in the pan.
- While saltear implies high heat, the Spanish term rehogar describes softening vegetables in oil until they are translucent without letting them brown.
Examples in context
- Para preparar el plato principal, deberás saltear las verduras en un poco de aceite de oliva.To prepare the main course, you should saute the vegetables in a little bit of olive oil.
- La receta dice que debes sofreír la cebolla antes de añadir el pollo.The recipe says you should saute the onion before adding the chicken.
- ¿Podrías freír rápidamente estos champiñones para la ensalada?Could you quickly saute these mushrooms for the salad?
- Saltea las verduras a fuego alto.Saute the vegetables over high heat.
- Voy a saltear las verduras ahora.I am going to saute the vegetables now.
- Puedes saltear el pollo con ajo.You can saute the chicken with garlic.
- Es mejor saltear los champiñones a fuego alto.It is better to saute the mushrooms over high heat.
Example conversation
Mateo and Lucía are cooking dinner together in the kitchen.
- MateoLucía, ¿cómo preparo el brócoli?Lucía, how do I prepare the broccoli?
- LucíaDebes saltear el brócoli con un poco de sal.You should saute the broccoli with a bit of salt.
- MateoEstá bien, lo haré ahora mismo.All right, I'll do it right now.
- LucíaPerfecto, Mateo, así queda más rico.Perfect, Mateo, it tastes better that way.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry saltear, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries saltear, CC BY-SA 4.0.
