Meaning & use
prep cook
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountable
A kitchen worker who gets ingredients ready for the chefs by washing, chopping, measuring and portioning them before service begins.
Grammar: Has a plural: two prep cooks. Often shortened in speech to just prep.
Patterns
- work as a prep cook
- a prep cook at somewhere
Maria started as a prep cook and worked her way up to sous chef.
The prep cook had already diced forty pounds of onions by nine o'clock.
They are hiring a prep cook for the morning shift.
Word forms
| plural | prep cooks |
|---|
Common combinations
- hire a prep cook
- The new bistro still needs to hire a prep cook before opening.
- work as a prep cook
- He worked as a prep cook while studying nursing.
- morning prep cook
- The morning prep cook unlocks the kitchen at six.
- line cook and prep cook
- The kitchen employs one line cook and one prep cook per shift.
Synonyms and how they differ
- commis
- Commis is a junior-chef term from classical French kitchens and implies a training path, whereas prep cook describes the task of preparing ingredients.
- kitchen assistant
- Kitchen assistant is broader and may include washing dishes or cleaning, while a prep cook focuses on food preparation.
- line cook
- A line cook cooks dishes to order during service, while a prep cook mostly works beforehand.
Word family
Commonly confused: prep cook or sous chef?
prep cook vs sous chef
A sous chef is the second-in-command who manages the kitchen team, a much more senior role than a prep cook.
Practice
Who is most likely to spend the early morning peeling and chopping vegetables for the lunch menu?
Choose one answer.
A prep cook readies ingredients before service. A dishwasher and waiter have other tasks, and a sommelier handles wine.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “prep cook”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.