Eggs in Spanish: Huevo, Huevos and How to Order Them
Egg in Spanish is huevo (WEH-boh), and eggs is huevos. The word is masculine: el huevo, un huevo, los huevos. Fried eggs are huevos fritos, scrambled eggs huevos revueltos, and a hard-boiled egg is un huevo duro.
That covers most breakfast orders, but eggs come with more vocabulary than you might expect: names for the yolk and the white, cooking words that change between Spain and Latin America, a famous false friend (tortilla), and a slang meaning of huevos that every learner should know about before using it in a shop. All of it is below, with real sentences, a short dialogue and a practice set. For more food and everyday words, see the Spanish vocabulary hub.
Egg vocabulary at a glance
| English | Spanish | Example |
|---|---|---|
| egg / eggs | el huevo / los huevos | Necesito tres huevos. I need three eggs. |
| yolk | la yema | Me gusta la yema líquida. I like a runny yolk. |
| egg white | la clara | Separa las claras de las yemas. Separate the whites from the yolks. |
| eggshell | la cáscara | Hay un trozo de cáscara en la masa. There’s a bit of shell in the batter. |
| a dozen eggs | una docena de huevos | Compré una docena de huevos. |
| egg carton | el cartón de huevos; in Spain also la huevera | In Spain huevera is also an egg cup. |
| hen | la gallina | huevos de gallina = hens’ eggs |
| to lay an egg | poner un huevo | La gallina puso un huevo. |
| to crack an egg | cascar or romper un huevo | Casca los huevos en un bol. |
| to beat eggs | batir los huevos | Bate los huevos con un tenedor. |
| to whisk whites to stiff peaks | montar las claras a punto de nieve | A standard recipe phrase in Spain. |
| free-range eggs | huevos camperos (Spain), huevos de corral, huevos de gallinas libres | The label varies by country. |
| organic eggs | huevos ecológicos (Spain), huevos orgánicos (most of Latin America) | |
| Easter egg | el huevo de Pascua | Also used for a hidden joke in a film or game. |
Pronunciation, spelling and gender
The h is silent. The hue sounds like the English “weh”, and the v is a soft b, with the lips almost but not quite touching: WEH-boh, WEH-bohs. In relaxed speech many people add a slight g-like sound at the start, which is why you may see the jokey spelling güevo in informal texts.
Why the h? Spanish spelling puts an h before any word that begins with the sound ue: hueso (bone), hueco (hole), huerta (vegetable garden), huevo. The Latin word was ovum, which you can still see in English “oval” and in Spanish óvalo and ovalado.
Huevo is masculine, so articles and adjectives take masculine forms: el huevo está fresco, los huevos están frescos, unos huevos rotos. Don’t swap the ending to -a: hueva is a different word, meaning fish roe (huevas de merluza), and in Mexican slang ¡Qué hueva! means “What a drag!” or “I can’t be bothered”.
How eggs are cooked, in Spain and in Latin America
Most cooking words are shared, but a few change from country to country. When in doubt, the first word in each row is understood everywhere.
| English | Spanish | Regional notes |
|---|---|---|
| fried egg | huevo frito | In Mexico also huevo estrellado. |
| scrambled eggs | huevos revueltos | In Spain un revuelto is a soft scramble with something else in it: revuelto de setas, revuelto de gambas. |
| hard-boiled egg | huevo duro, huevo cocido | Both are common; duro makes clear the yolk is set. |
| soft-boiled egg | huevo pasado por agua | In Mexico huevo tibio. |
| poached egg | huevo escalfado | Also huevo poché on many menus. |
| plain omelette | tortilla francesa | Spain. In much of Latin America people just say omelet or omelette. |
| Spanish potato omelette | tortilla española, tortilla de patatas | Tortilla de papas in Latin America and the Canary Islands. |
| deviled eggs | huevos rellenos | Literally “stuffed eggs”; in Spain usually filled with tuna and mayonnaise. |
The tortilla trap
In Spain a tortilla is an omelette, and tortilla on its own usually means the thick potato-and-egg tortilla de patatas. In Mexico and Central America, a tortilla is the flat corn or wheat bread used for tacos, with no egg in it at all. Ask for “una tortilla” in Madrid and in Mexico City and you will get two very different plates.
Egg dishes you will see on menus
- huevos rancheros (Mexico): fried eggs on lightly fried corn tortillas, covered in a tomato and chile salsa.
- huevos divorciados (Mexico): two fried eggs, one with red salsa and one with green, usually separated by beans.
- huevos a la mexicana (Mexico): eggs scrambled with tomato, onion and green chile, the three colours of the flag.
- huevos motuleños (Yucatán, Mexico): fried eggs on a tortilla with black beans and salsa, often with ham, peas and fried plantain.
- huevos pericos (Colombia, Venezuela): eggs scrambled with tomato and spring onion.
- huevos rotos (Spain): fried eggs broken over a plate of fried potatoes, often with ham or chorizo.
- huevos a la flamenca (Andalusia, Spain): eggs baked in a tomato sauce with vegetables, usually with ham or chorizo.
A word of warning: huevos as slang
In much of the Spanish-speaking world, huevos is also a vulgar slang word for testicles, and many fixed expressions with huevo carry that second meaning. That is why, in Mexico, many people avoid asking a shopkeeper ¿Tiene huevos? and say blanquillos instead, a polite word for eggs that is common there. Using huevos in the kitchen or at the market is perfectly normal everywhere; just be aware that a cheeky listener may hear a double meaning.
These expressions are coarse or vulgar, so recognise them rather than use them with people you don’t know well:
- costar un huevo (Spain): to cost a fortune. Colloquial and a bit crude.
- tener huevos: to have guts; can also mean to have a nerve. Vulgar.
- estar hasta los huevos: to be completely fed up. Vulgar.
- ¡A huevo! (Mexico): “Hell yes!” or “No choice”. Vulgar.
Safe set phrases with huevo
- poner todos los huevos en la misma canasta (or cesta): to put all your eggs in one basket.
- parecerse como un huevo a una castaña: to be nothing alike (literally “to look like an egg looks like a chestnut”).
- ¿Qué fue primero, el huevo o la gallina?: which came first, the chicken or the egg?
- matar la gallina de los huevos de oro: to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs.
- ir pisando huevos (Spain): to go very slowly and carefully.
Real sentences: shopping, cooking and ordering
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| Una docena de huevos, por favor. | A dozen eggs, please. |
| ¿Estos huevos son camperos? | Are these eggs free-range? (Spain) |
| ¿Cómo quiere los huevos? – Revueltos, por favor. | How would you like your eggs? – Scrambled, please. |
| Quiero dos huevos fritos con la yema blandita. | I’d like two fried eggs with soft yolks. |
| Bate los huevos y añade una pizca de sal. | Beat the eggs and add a pinch of salt. |
| Hierve los huevos diez minutos para que queden duros. | Boil the eggs for ten minutes so they’re hard-boiled. |
| Se me cayó un huevo y se rompió. | I dropped an egg and it broke. |
| No como huevo; soy alérgica. | I don’t eat egg; I’m allergic. (a woman speaking) |
| ¿Lleva huevo esta salsa? | Does this sauce have egg in it? |
| Los niños pintaron huevos de Pascua. | The children painted Easter eggs. |
Notice No como huevo and ¿Lleva huevo?: when egg is an ingredient rather than a countable object, Spanish often uses the singular with no article, the same way English says “egg” in “Does it contain egg?”.
A short dialogue: breakfast at a café
Camarero: Buenos días. ¿Qué le pongo?
Good morning. What can I get you?
Clienta: Un café con leche y unos huevos revueltos, por favor.
A white coffee and some scrambled eggs, please.
Camarero: ¿Los quiere solos o con jamón?
Would you like them plain or with ham?
Clienta: Con jamón. Y una tostada, si puede ser.
With ham. And a slice of toast, if possible.
Camarero: Perfecto. Los huevos tardan unos cinco minutos.
Fine. The eggs will take about five minutes.
The waiter uses los (masculine plural) to refer back to huevos: ¿Los quiere solos?
Mistakes learners really make
| Not this | Say this | Why |
|---|---|---|
| la huevo | el huevo | Huevo is masculine. |
| Me gusta los huevos. | Me gustan los huevos. | With gustar, the verb agrees with the thing liked. |
| huevos revuelto | huevos revueltos | The adjective agrees with the plural noun. |
| huevos de pollo | huevos de gallina | Eggs come from the hen; pollo is a young chicken or chicken meat. |
| Ordering “una tortilla” in Mexico and expecting an omelette | un omelet or huevos revueltos | In Mexico a tortilla is flatbread. |
Practice
Fill in the gap. Answers are in the second column.
| Sentence | Answer |
|---|---|
| 1. ____ huevo está en la nevera. | El |
| 2. Los huevos están ____. (fresco) | frescos |
| 3. The yellow part of an egg is la ____. | yema |
| 4. The white is la ____. | clara |
| 5. Scrambled eggs: huevos ____. | revueltos |
| 6. A hard-boiled egg: un huevo ____. | duro |
| 7. Me ____ los huevos fritos. (gustar) | gustan |
| 8. La gallina ____ un huevo. (poner, past) | puso |
| 9. Twelve eggs: una ____ de huevos. | docena |
| 10. A polite word for eggs common in Mexico: | blanquillos |
Quick answers
How do you say “egg” in Spanish?
Huevo; the plural “eggs” is huevos.
Is “huevo” masculine or feminine?
Masculine: el huevo, los huevos, un huevo frito.
How do you say “scrambled eggs” and “fried eggs”?
Huevos revueltos and huevos fritos. In Mexico fried eggs are also huevos estrellados.
How do you say “boiled egg” in Spanish?
Hard-boiled is huevo duro or huevo cocido; soft-boiled is huevo pasado por agua, or huevo tibio in Mexico.
Why do some Mexicans say “blanquillos”?
Because huevos is also vulgar slang, many people prefer blanquillos when buying eggs, especially in shops.
How do you say “I eat eggs for breakfast”?
Desayuno huevos or Como huevos en el desayuno. For the verb itself, see eat in Spanish.
More kitchen words: food in Spanish and “cooked” in the Spanish past tense.
