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.
1700–10; < French, noun use of feminine past participle of purer to strain, literally, make pure; see pure
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."
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
I like to finely grate or purée zucchini and carrots into the mixture for extra juiciness.
From Salon ● Jul. 12, 2026
A can of pumpkin purée for making pies on Thanksgiving is $5 on the American food store website, and it’s difficult to find a turkey.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 23, 2026
Police in Austria have warned about potentially poisoned HiPP baby food circulating in the country, after a sample of the brand's purée tested positive for rat poison.
From BBC ● Apr. 19, 2026
“It’s sparkling water, sugar-free pineapple, sugar-free peach, sugar-free vanilla, raspberry purée with a fresh lime.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 5, 2026
The jerricans smelled of petrol, and I saw packs of batteries, bottles of oil, and cans of tomato purée in one box.
From "Flying Through Water" by Mamle Wolo
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
If you’re looking to enliven jarred sauce or some plain tomato puree, you can never go wrong with enriching the latent flavors.
From Salon ● Mar. 21, 2025
It is not uncommon to puree this soup, but generally each bowl would then be garnished with a whole oyster or two and some chunkier bits of artichoke.
From Salon ● Nov. 7, 2024
A green pouch advertised as broccoli-pear might turn out to be little more than pear puree.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 17, 2024
But they all sounded like witches’ brews: the plasma of chickens, puree of calf fetuses, special salts, and blood from human umbilical cords.
From "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot
Epicurious’ recipe for a delicious summertime lettuce soup seasons, boils and purées a whole head of lettuce, including both the leaves and ribs, coarsely chopped.
From Salon ● Jul. 25, 2026
Baby food brand HiPP has recalled its entire range of jarred purées sold in Spar supermarkets in Austria over fears they may have been contaminated.
From BBC ● Apr. 18, 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
Ali Slagle’s version can be made with fresh, canned or frozen corn, and she purées some of the kernels to thicken it up.
From New York Times ● Oct. 10, 2022
Soups may be divided into four classes: clear, thick, purées or bisques, and chowders.
From Fifty Soups by Murrey, Thomas J. (Thomas Jefferson)
“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
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
They're puréed with lemon juice and then stirred into a homemade lemonade mixture for a purpley nonalcoholic cocktail that everyone will love.
From Salon ● Jan. 13, 2023
In a food processor or high-speed blender, pulse the oranges until smooth with a bit of texture but not puréed.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 27, 2022
Plain, canned, puréed pumpkin can serve as a treat, but not spiced pumpkin pie filling.
From Washington Times ● Nov. 23, 2022
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
He last wrote about a neuroscientist who has made groundbreaking discoveries by puréeing brains.
From New York Times ● Jan. 9, 2019
It starts with puréeing herbs into olive oil, then whisking that fragrant oil into a stiff mayonnaise with avocado, garlic and anchovy.
From New York Times ● Apr. 24, 2018
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
