purée
Americannoun
-
purées
plural
-
a cooked food, especially a vegetable or fruit, that has been put through a sieve, blender, or the like.
-
a soup made with ingredients that have been puréed.
verb (used with object)
noun
verb
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of purée
1700–10; < French, noun use of feminine past participle of purer to strain, literally, make pure; see pure
Explanation
A puree is a very smooth, crushed or blended food — like applesauce or mashed potatoes. To puree something is to blend, chop, mash, or strain a food until it reaches this soft consistency. If it tastes like mush, then it's a puree! You might think of purees as baby food, and it's true that a vegetable or fruit puree is the perfect first food for a baby to eat before she has teeth. There are plenty of things that adults like to puree too, though, like chickpeas (to make hummus) and avocados (to make guacamole). Puree is from the French purée, "pea soup."
Vocabulary lists containing puree
English Words Derived from French, List 10
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Concrete Rose
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"A Place at the Table" by Saadia Faruqi and Laura Shovan, Chapters 25–34
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The night I went, the menu included eggplant purée, linguine alle vongole and sea bass with saffron.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026
The menu featured soybean purée, soybean cheese, soybean bread, soybean coffee and even apple pie baked in a soybean crust.
From Salon ● Sep. 13, 2026
You can find many salads without lettuce as a main ingredient on the site, such as this eggplant purée with tomato salad or this summer medley of melon, mozzarella and prosciutto.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
Finished with the vivid pea purée and crispy toppings, the whole thing tasted far more luxurious than its pantry origins would suggest.
From Salon ● May 12, 2026
Tender freshwater shrimp garnished with cream and rose leaves, devilled barley pearls in acorn purée, apple and carrot chews, marinated cabbage stalks steeped in creamed white turnip with nutmeg.
From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques
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Sold as powder, extract, paste, or frozen puree, ube is easily mixed into coffee, pastries, ice cream, spreads and even make-up.
From Barron's ● Oct. 6, 2026
In the course of the 20th century, tomatoes became ubiquitous enough in Egyptian cuisine to make “salsa” a usual word for sauce and, more specifically, tomato puree.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 24, 2025
"Disrespect the s**t out of vegetables. Beat them up. Blister them. Puree them. Add tons of chili, vinegars, sweet stuff. Throw in something ridiculous you love. You like pepperoni pizza? Cool, puree pepperoni with vegetables."
From Salon ● May 23, 2025
Sarah Champion’s comments come after a BBC Eye Investigation found that tomato puree sold in four leading UK supermarkets appeared to contain tomatoes produced using harsh and coercive forced labour in Xinjiang.
From BBC ● Dec. 3, 2024
And the lives of these old black women were synthesized in their eyes—a puree of tragedy and humor, wickedness and serenity, truth and fantasy.
From "The Bluest Eye" by Toni Morrison
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On Saturday, HiPP recalled its entire range of jarred purées sold in Spar supermarkets in Austria, saying consuming them many be potentially "life-threatening".
From BBC ● Apr. 19, 2026
Her idea was to serve super cold soda with a twist, like lime, fruit or purées.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 5, 2026
Into the cream base, he purées whole croissants to produce Morning in Paris, swirled with raspberry jam; he blends bananas and Nilla Wafers to make Banana Pudding.
From New York Times ● Jun. 16, 2023
And nearly a third of savory foods for toddlers contain fruit purées, as well.
From Salon ● Nov. 28, 2022
Thus stewed, it may be served with the following purées: asparagus, beans, lentils, lima beans, mushrooms, and peas.
From Hand-Book of Practical Cookery for Ladies and Professional Cooks by Pierre Blot
Toppings included puréed pumpkin, diced chicken and sweet potato.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026
“I was on a tube feeder then a puréed diet for a couple months. Then speech and swallow therapy. Then a vocal coach.”
From Los Angeles Times ● May 15, 2026
For example, add finely chopped or puréed vegetables to macaroni and cheese, pasta sauces, tacos or pizza.
From Salon ● Jan. 12, 2025
In the baby food aisle, pouches of puréed blueberries and spinach are in; Gerber’s glass jars of stewed pears are out.
From New York Times ● Feb. 2, 2023
Then, the vegetables and broth are puréed together.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 16, 2023
This time-saving hummus recipe calls for soaking dried chickpeas overnight and puréeing them with tahini, lemon juice, garlic, salt, and a little bit of ice water.
From Salon ● May 6, 2022
Okara is the sediment left over after puréeing soybeans to make soy milk, and it is very perishable.
From Salon ● Oct. 13, 2021
You can use fresh or frozen berries for this; if frozen, thaw and retain the juice before puréeing.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 20, 2021
Finally, after puréeing, the soup is strained through a fine sieve and the seasonings are adjusted.
From New York Times ● Mar. 13, 2019
As the chefs prepped for lunch back in the kitchen — browning rabbit legs and puréeing warm beans with their cooking water and olive oil — Ms. Shi set up in the dining room.
From New York Times ● Jul. 17, 2018
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