French Phrase
Prends du beurre bien froid.
Meaning
A cooking instruction that tells the listener to take some butter that is very cold. In French cuisine, using cold butter is crucial for creating flaky pastries and a light dough texture.
When to use
Use this phrase when giving a recipe step, teaching a cooking class, or chatting with a friend about how to prepare a pastry, croissant dough, or any batter that requires chilled butter.
✦Grammar Breakdown
Prendsdubeurrebienfroid
Imperative (2nd person singular)
‘Prends’ is the imperative form of the verb ‘prendre’ used when speaking to one person informally.
Partitive article ‘du’
‘du’ = de + le; it indicates an indefinite amount of a masculine singular noun (butter).
Adverb ‘bien’ as intensifier
‘bien’ modifies the adjective ‘froid’, meaning ‘very’ or ‘quite’.
Adjective agreement
‘froid’ agrees with the masculine singular noun ‘beurre’; it would become ‘froide’ with a feminine noun.
🗨In Conversation
Prends du beurre bien froid, sinon la pâte sera trop molle.
Take some butter that’s very cold, otherwise the dough will be too soft.
D’accord, je le coupe en petits cubes maintenant.
Okay, I’ll cut it into small cubes now.
✕Common Mistakes
Prenez du beurre bien froid.
‘Prenez’ is the formal/plural imperative; the phrase is usually spoken informally to one assistant.
Prends du beurre très froid.
‘Très froid’ is grammatically correct but loses the colloquial, emphatic tone of ‘bien froid’.
Prends le beurre bien froid.
Using the definite article ‘le’ changes the meaning to a specific piece of butter rather than an indefinite amount.
↔Alternatives
Utilise du beurre très froid.
Use very cold butter.
Mets du beurre bien frais dans le bol.
Put very fresh butter in the bowl.
Prends du beurre bien froid, pas à température ambiante.
Take butter that’s really cold, not at room temperature.
Cultural Tip
French pastry chefs swear by ‘beurre bien froid’ because the cold fat creates steam pockets when baked, giving the classic flaky layers of croissants and puff pastry. In everyday conversation, ‘bien’ as an intensifier is more informal than ‘très’, so the phrase feels like a quick kitchen tip rather than a formal instruction.