Meaning & use
pimentón
Last updated
Meaning
noununcountable
A Spanish spice made from dried, ground red peppers, often smoked, used to flavor stews, sausages and rice dishes.
Grammar: Used like other spices without an or the plural: add some pimentón.
Patterns
- a teaspoon of pimentón
- season something with pimentón
She stirred a spoonful of smoked pimentón into the chickpea stew.
Chorizo gets its deep red color from pimentón.
Pimentón gives roasted potatoes a warm, smoky flavor.
Common combinations
- smoked pimentón
- Smoked pimentón gives the paella a rich flavor.
- sweet pimentón
- Use sweet pimentón if you do not like heat.
- hot pimentón
- A pinch of hot pimentón livens up the sauce.
- a pinch of pimentón
- Finish the eggs with a pinch of pimentón.
- sprinkle with pimentón
- Sprinkle the octopus with pimentón before serving.
Synonyms and how they differ
- paprika
- Paprika is the general English word for ground red pepper, whereas pimentón usually means the Spanish, often smoked, kind.
- cayenne
- Cayenne is much hotter and has no smoky character, so it is not a substitute for sweet pimentón.
Word family
- pimiento noun
- a sweet red pepper, the fruit that pimentón is made from
- pimento noun
- an alternative spelling of pimiento
- paprika noun
- a related spice made from ground peppers
Commonly confused: pimentón or pimentón vs. pimento?
pimentón vs pimentón vs. pimento
Pimentón is a ground spice, while a pimento is a whole sweet red pepper.
Practice
The chorizo gets its smoky flavor and red color from ___.
Choose one answer.
Pimentón is smoked ground pepper used in Spanish sausages. Turmeric is yellow, and cinnamon and nutmeg are sweet spices.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “pimentón”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.