Meaning & use
frittata
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountable or uncountable
An Italian egg dish in which beaten eggs are cooked with vegetables, cheese or meat in a pan and set without being folded.
Grammar: Countable for a whole dish: bake two frittatas; uncountable for the food: some frittata.
Patterns
- a frittata with something
- a frittata of something
I made a frittata with spinach and feta for brunch.
Leftover potatoes make a good frittata.
She sliced the frittata into wedges like a pie.
Word forms
| plural | frittatas |
|---|
Common combinations
- bake a frittata
- He baked a frittata for the whole family.
- vegetable frittata
- A vegetable frittata is an easy weeknight dinner.
- cheese frittata
- The cheese frittata puffed up in the oven.
- slice of frittata
- She took a slice of frittata for lunch.
- spinach frittata
- A spinach frittata was on the cafe menu.
Synonyms and how they differ
- omelet
- An omelet is usually cooked quickly and folded around its filling, whereas a frittata is thick and finished open.
- tortilla española
- The Spanish tortilla is similar but is built around potatoes and is flipped rather than baked.
- quiche
- A quiche has a pastry crust and cream, while a frittata has neither.
Word family
- fritta adjective
- Italian for fried, the root of the word
- frittatas noun
- the plural
Commonly confused: frittata or fritter?
frittata vs fritter
A fritter is a small piece of food coated in batter and fried; a frittata is a large egg dish.
Practice
What is the main difference between a frittata and a typical omelet?
Choose one answer.
A frittata sets open, often in the oven, while an omelet is folded. Both use eggs, so the second option is wrong.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “frittata”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.