Italians will often ask what you think of the food, so knowing a few ways to say “yummy” is a great way to show you’re enjoying it. It’s also handy if you’d like to compliment whoever’s done the cooking.
In this post, you’ll learn the words Italians actually use when something tastes good. You’ll also see why the word delizioso isn’t the best choice (even though it’s the one most tourists go for).
Buono - Lit. Good
Pronunciation: BWOH-noh
Buono is a simple word that you can use to say “yummy” in Italian.
For example:
- Com’ è il tuo gelato? -How’s your ice-cream?
-Buono! -Yummy!
Che buono - Lit. How good
Pronunciation: keh BWOH-noh
You can use che buono to say “yummy” when you’re really enjoying something you’re eating. Or maybe you haven’t even tried the food yet, but you think it just looks or sounds yummy.
For example:
- Stasera mangiamo il fritto misto. -This evening we’re eating fried seafood.
-Che buono! -Yummy! (lit. how good!)
Buonissimo - Lit. Very good
Pronunciation: Bwoh-NEES-see-moh
Buonissimo is literally the word buono (“good”) with -issimo added to the end. Adding the -issimo on the end of a word is really common in Italian. It’s like saying “very”, but instead of using a separate word for it, the ending shows the extra emphasis.
So you can use buonissimo in Italian if you think something is really, really yummy.
For example:
-Ti piace il tiramisù? -Do you like the tiramisù?
-È buonissimo! -It’s delicious! (lit. very good)
Katie enjoying a fritto misto (fried seafood) and vino bianco (white wine). It was definitely buonissimo!
Che bontà - Lit. What goodness
Pronunciation: Keh bon-TAH
Che bontà is a friendly way to say something is really yummy in Italian. You can also use it when something looks or sounds yummy.
For example:
-C’è cioccolato, panna montata e nocciola -There’s chocolate, whipped cream and hazlenuts
-Mhmm, che bontà! -Mmm, yummy!
Che bontà questa pizza! -This pizza is so yummy!
Ottimo - Great
Pronunciation: OHT-tee-moh
You can use ottimo when something tastes really good and you want to sound enthusiastic or impressed.
For example:
Il caffè qui è ottimo! -The coffee here is great!
Questo formaggio è ottimo! -This cheese is great!
Fantastico - Fantastic
Pronunciation: Fan-TAH-stee-koh
You can use fantastico to show that something doesn’t just taste good, it tastes really good. It’s a fun way to show your appreciation for a yummy meal.
For example:
Questo pollo arrosto è fantastico! -This roast chicken is fantastic!
Squisito - Exquisite
Pronunciation: Skwee-ZEE-toh
Squisito is the Italian way of saying “exquisite” or “absolutely delicious”.
You can use it if you’re really impressed with the food.
For example:
Questo dolce è squisito! -This dessert is exquisite!
Il risotto della nonna è squisito! - Grandma’s risotto is exquisite!
Gustoso - Tasty
Pronunciation: Goos-TOH-soh
You can use gustoso as a way of saying something is yummy or tasty. It can also mean that a dish is really rich in flavor.
For example:
Questo sugo è molto gustoso. -This sauce is really flavorful.
In Italia il pesce è molto gustoso. -In Italy, the fish is really tasty.
Che buon* profumo - Lit. what a good smell
Pronunciation: Keh bwohn pro-FOO-moh
Che buon profumo is perfect for complimenting someone’s cooking when it smells delicious. Or if you walk past something, like an Italian pasticceria (pastry shop), and you smell something tasty.
For example:
Che buon profumo qui! -It smells delicious here!
Che buon profumo la pizza! -The pizza smells delicious!
* Buono (good) gets shortened to buon when it comes in front of a word, like in buongiorno (good morning).
Complimenti al cuoco - Compliments to the cook / chef
Pronunciation: Kom-plee-MEN-tee al KWOH-koh
If you want to be polite and connect with Italians, complimenting the cook (or chef) is a great idea. You can say complimenti al cuoco whether you’re at an Italian’s house for dinner, or whether you want the waiter to pass on to the chef that you enjoyed your meal.
For example:
- Tutto bene? -Everything all good?
- Sì grazie, complimenti al cuoco! -Delicious thank you, compliments to the chef!
For more expressions that you can use and hear in restaurants, you can read our blog post on Italian restaurant phrases most tourists don’t understand .
Da morire - To die for
Pronunciation: Dah moh-REE-reh
Da morire is a playful expression that Italians use in everyday conversation to say that they’re particularly enjoying something.
For example:
Questa focaccia è buona da morire! -This focaccia is to die for! (lit. good to die for)
Il pesto qui è buono da morire! -The pesto here is to die for! (lit. good to die for)
Avoid This Mistake When You Say Yummy in Italian
So far, you’ve seen that buono works as a simple way to say “yummy” in Italian. But what if you wanted to say your pizza was yummy? (Something you’ve very likely to want to say in Italy.)
You’d have to say: la pizza è buona.
We add an -a on the end because pizza is feminine.
Here’s how it works for masculine, feminine and plural:
| Il gelato è buono | The ice-cream is yummy | Masculine singular |
| La pizza è buona | The pizza is yummy | Feminine singular |
| I biscotti sono buoni | The biscuits are yummy | Masculine plural |
| Le olive sono buone | The olives are yummy | Feminine plural |
Why Delizioso Isn’t The Best Choice for Yummy in Italian
You’d think that if you wanted to show how much you liked your meal, you could say mhmm, delizioso!
Delizioso is a word tourists often use, but Italians don’t say it that much, so it can sound unnatural.
To really blend in with Italians, it’s better to use the other words for “yummy” that you’ve seen in this post.
How Do You Say Yummy in Italian? (Hint: It’s Not Delizioso): Review
-
Buono - Lit. Good
You can use buono to say “yummy” in Italian.
For example:
- Com’ è il tuo gelato? -How’s your ice-cream?
-Buono! -Yummy!
-
Che buono - Lit. How good
You can use che buono to say that something looks, sounds or tastes “yummy”.
For example:
- Stasera mangiamo il fritto misto. -This evening we’re eating fried seafood.
-Che buono! -Yummy! (lit. how good!)
-
Buonissimo - Lit. Very good
You can use buonissimo in Italian if you think something is really, really yummy.For example:
- Ti piace il tiramisù? -Do you like the tiramisù?
-È buonissimo! -It’s delicious! (lit. very good)
-
Che bontà - Lit. What goodness
Che bontà means really yummy. You can use it when something looks or sounds yummy.
For example: Che bontà questa pizza! -This pizza is so yummy!
-
Ottimo - Great
You can use ottimo to show you're really enthusiastic about the food.
For example: Il caffè qui è ottimo! -The coffee here is great!
-
Fantastico - Fantastic
Fantastic is a fun way to show you are enjoying a yummy meal.
For example:
Questo pollo arrosto è fantastico! -This roast chicken is fantastic!
-
Squisito - Exquisite
You can use squisito if you think food is particularly yummy.
For example: Questo dolce è squisito! -This dessert is exquisite!
Il risotto della nonna è squisito! - Grandma’s risotto is exquisite!
-
Gustoso - Tasty
Gustoso can mean “yummy”, also in the sense of tasty or flavorful.
For example:
Questo sugo è molto gustoso. -This sauce is really flavorful.
-
Che buon profumo - Lit. what a good smell
Che buon profumo is perfect when something smells good.
For example: Che buon profumo la pizza! -The pizza smells delicious!
-
Complimenti al cuoco - Compliments to the cook / chef
If you want to be polite and connect with Italians, you can use this phrase to compliment the cook.
For example:
-Tutto bene? -Everything all good?
-Sì grazie, complimenti al cuoco! -Delicious thank you, compliments to the chef!
-
Da morire - To die for
Da morire is a fun, light-hearted way to say that something is yummy.
For example: Questa focaccia è buona da morire! -This focaccia is to die for! (lit. good to die for)
K: Ciao a tutti e benvenuti! Hi everyone and welcome to “Learn Italian with Joy of Languages”.
M: We came back from the UK a few weeks ago and now that we’re back in Italy, I find myself saying “yummy” all the time because I missed the food so much.
K: In this episode, we’ll share the phrases for “yummy” that Matteo’s been using recently. They’re phrases that Italians use all the time and you can start using them in Italy too to show you’re really enjoying your meal, especially if you want to compliment the cook.
But before we get started, can we ask you a quick favore ? If you’re listening to this on your podcast app, could you click the subscribe or follow button? This way you’ll get notified when we release a new episode and you’ll help our podcast grow so we can keep making free lessons like this. Grazie!
M: One really common and simple way to say “yummy” in Italian is buono (x2). It literally means “good” or “nice”.
K: For example, if an Italian asks you what you think of your gelato , and you want to say it’s yummy, you could say buono.
M: But if an Italian asks you if you’re enjoying your pizza, you’d say: buona (x2) . So instead of an -o, you put an -a on the end.
K: This is because pizza is a feminine word. We know because like most feminine words it ends in -a. So to say it’s yummy we’d say buona. But gelato is masculine. We know because like most masculine words it ends in -o. So to say il gelato is yummy we’d use:
M: Buono (x2)
K: And to say la pizza is yummy, we’d say:
M: Buona (x2)
If you want to make it a bit stronger, to say that something is really yummy, you can say another phrase: che buono! (x2) . Literally:
Che - how
Buono - good
Che buono!
K: For example, you could say this if you’re at dinner with friends and you’ve just taken a bite of your risotto and can’t believe how good it is.
M: Che buono!
K: Or maybe you haven’t even tried the food yet, but you see it go past and it just looks yummy. You could say che buono here too.
M: But if you’re eating some fresh mozzarella, you’d say che buona, because mozzarella is a feminine word. Che buona.
K: If you want to go even stronger still and say that something is really, really yummy, there’s another phrase you can use.
M: Buonissimo (x2)
K: Adding the -issimo on the end of the word in Italian is really common. It’s like saying “very”, but instead of using a separate word for it, the ending shows the extra emphasis.
M: So buonissimo is just the word you heard before ( buono ) with -issimo added to the end to make it literally mean “very good”.
K: But again, if you’re describing pizza or mozzarella , which are feminine words, you’d have to add an -a on the end.
M: So it would become: buonissima (x2)
K: Lastly, you’d think that if you were really enjoying your meal in Italian, you could say “mmm, delicious!”
M: Which in Italian is delizioso (x2) .
K: This is a word I hear learners use a lot and I’m sure I used it a lot in the beginning too! But Italians don’t actually say it much. It’s correct, because it’s a real Italian word, but if you want to blend in with Italians, it’s better to use the other words for “yummy” that you’ve learnt in this episode.
M: Let’s see if you can remember the three common ways to say “yummy” in Italian.
K: If you were describing a gelato as being “yummy”, what’s a word that you can use that literally means “good” or “nice”?
[...]
M: Buono (x2) . We say buono , with an -o on the end, because gelato is a masculine word.
K: And what about that same word for “yummy”, but the feminine version you’d use to describe pizza ?
[...]
M: Buona (x2). This time there’s an -a on the end because pizza is feminine.
K: What’s a slightly stronger expression that you can use to say “yummy” in Italian?
[...]
M: You can say che buono (x2) , if you were describing gelato or another masculine word, or che buona (x2) if you were describing pizza or another feminine word .
K: And finally, what can you say if something’s really, really yummy? Remember it has that fun, typically Italian sounding -issimo on the end.
[...]
M: Buonissimo (x2) Or buonissima (x2), again depending on if the food is masculine or feminine.
K: You’ve heard how to say something’s yummy in Italian for words like pizza or gelato . But what about when there’s more than one thing, like biscotti (biscuits) or olive (olives).
M: To find out how to say “yummy” in these situations, plus some other really common ways of complimenting food in Italian, click the link in the description to head over to our website, or go to italian.joyoflanguages.com/podcast and search for episode 199.
M: See you next time.
K: Or as we say in Italian.
Alla prossima!
Time to check your understanding and remember everything you just learned! Below you’ll find a mini-quiz and some vocabulary cards to help it all go in.
Quiz: How Do You Say Yummy in Italian?
How much did you learn? Find out in the quiz!
Click here to take the quiz for this episode: How Do You Say Yummy in Italian?
Vocabulary
La pizza è buona = the pizza is yummy
È buonissimo! = it’s very yummy (lit. it’s very good, masculine)
Che buon profumo la pizza! = The pizza smells delicious! (lit. what a good smell the pizza)
Che bontà questa pizza! = This pizza is so yummy! (lit. what goodness this pizza)
Il risotto della nonna è squisito! = Grandma’s risotto is exquisite!
In Italia il pesce è molto gustoso = In Italy the fish is really tasty
Complimenti al cuoco = Compliments to the cook
Buono = Yummy (lit. good, masculine)
Buona = Yummy (lit. good, feminine)
Che buono = Yummy (lit. how good, masculine)
Che buona = Yummy (lit. how good, feminine)
Buonissimo = Very yummy (lit. very good, masculine)
Buonissima = Very yummy (lit. very good, feminine)
Flashcards: How Do You Say Yummy in Italian?
Not sure how it works? Click here to watch the tutorial
