How to ask what's in a dish in Spanish
¿Qué lleva este plato?
“What is in this dish?”
When: Before ordering something unfamiliar
The moment
You are at a tapas bar in Madrid and a dish on the board sounds great, but you cannot eat shellfish and you hate onion. You need to ask before you order.
A1 · Unit 2 · Café & food
The lines
Asking what a dish contains
Spanish uses "llevar" for what a dish carries: "¿Qué lleva este plato?" means "what is in this dish?". Point at the menu line as you say it.
¿Qué lleva este plato?
“What is in this dish?”
When to use it: Before ordering something unfamiliar
What you’ll hear back: Lleva huevo, patata y cebolla. (It has egg, potato and onion.)
Saying what you can't eat
"No puedo comer marisco" means "I can't eat shellfish". Swap "marisco" for "gluten", "lácteos" or "cerdo" — the rest of the sentence never changes.
No puedo comer marisco
“I can't eat shellfish”
When to use it: As soon as you order, or before
What you’ll hear back: ¿Es alergia? Se lo digo al cocinero. (Is it an allergy? I'll tell the chef.)
Words for this scene
| Spanish | Say it | English |
|---|---|---|
| soy alérgico a | soy ah-LEHR-hee-koh ah | I'm allergic to |
Soy alérgico a los frutos secos. I'm allergic to nuts. Tip: Women say "alérgica"; Spanish kitchens take allergies seriously. | ||
| ¿Puede ser sin cebolla? | PWEH-deh sehr seen theh-BOH-yah | Could it be without onion? |
Quiero la ensalada. ¿Puede ser sin cebolla? I want the salad. Could it be without onion? Tip: Onion hides everywhere here — salads, tortilla, even gazpacho. | ||
| ¿Tenéis algo vegetariano? | teh-NAYS AHL-goh beh-heh-tah-RYAH-noh | Do you have anything vegetarian? |
Perdona, ¿tenéis algo vegetariano? Excuse me, do you have anything vegetarian? Tip: Ask about jamón too — many people here forget ham is meat. | ||
Your objective
Ask what’s in the dish, say one thing you can’t eat, and ask for it without that.
- what’s in it
- what you can’t eat
- asking for it without
Lines that get it done
- ¿Qué lleva este plato?
- No puedo comer marisco
- ¿Puede ser sin cebolla? · Could it be without onion?
In the live scene the objective stays on screen, and the Replay afterwards says whether you got it done.
Check yourself
1. You want to know what is in the gazpacho. What do you ask?
- ¿Qué lleva el gazpacho?
- ¿Cómo está el gazpacho?
- ¿Cuánto cuesta el gazpacho?
- ¿Dónde está el gazpacho?
Show the answer
¿Qué lleva el gazpacho?
"Llevar" is the verb Spaniards use for what a dish contains.
2. You cannot eat shellfish. What do you tell the waiter?
- No puedo comer marisco
- No me gusta el marisco
- El marisco está muy bueno
- Quiero marisco, por favor
Show the answer
No puedo comer marisco
"No puedo comer" signals a real restriction; "no me gusta" only means you dislike it.
3. The salad comes with onion and you don't want it. What do you say?
- ¿Puede ser sin cebolla?
- La cebolla, por favor
- No hay cebolla
- ¿Dónde está la cebolla?
Show the answer
¿Puede ser sin cebolla?
"¿Puede ser sin...?" is the polite way to have an ingredient left out.