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Glite Dictionary
to garnish with

to garnish with

14 3.5
To add small pieces of food on top of a dish to make it look nicer
  • phrasal verb
  • /ˈɡɑrnɪʃ wɪð/
: decorar con
  • You may want to garnish it with sweet basil or Thai basil leaves before serving.
  • garnish with parsley
  • garnish with cilantro
  • garnish with lemon

First you want a garlic onion and then garnish with this green onion, Chinese onion.

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Examples

  • It's hard to resist succulent pork buns, especially when they are fried and garnished with fresh spring onion and toasted sesame.

    Blog text (27)

  • When ready to serve, ladle porridge into bowls and garnish with the leek-onion-garlic mixture.

    Academic text (2004)

  • "The chicken was garnished with rosemary," I say.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • So tip for you, if you make this, garnish it with fresh basil.

  • Let's also garnish it with my shredded cheese.

  • Pour hot chocolate in the mugs and garnish with whipped cream and marshmallows.

    Blog text (10)

  • The fish is cooked in the sauce, stirred into prepared pasta, and garnished with fresh basil and grated cheese.

    Blog text (5)

  • When I visit, she takes me to wonderful restaurants where they serve black-eyed peas garnished with cilantro and spoonbread hot with chiles.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • "The braised sweetbreads garnished with truffles, mushrooms, and olives were absolutely beyond reproach," Jonathan continued.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • Pour the mixture into a margarita glass and garnish with a lime slice.

Synonyms

to garnish
vsto garnish with
22 3.5

To decorate food with small pieces to add color and flavor

focuses on adding small amounts specifically around or on a dish
to garnish the dish
vsto garnish with
1 3.4

To add small food items, like herbs or lemon peel, to a dish to make it look nicer

also aims to improve taste as well as appearance

Antonyms

to remove
∞ 1.5

To move something or someone away from a place

How Decorative

to embellish
28 6.1
to adorn
29 4.9
to decorate
224 1.9
to garnish with
14 3.5
to sprinkle
106 1.1

Surface Forms

garnish infinitive
garnished past
garnished past participle
garnishing present participle
garnishes third person singular

Morphology

garnish + with

The meaning 'to decorate or enhance a dish by adding small food items' is directly compositional from 'garnish' (to add decorative or flavoring items) plus the preposition 'with' (indicating the thing used). This verb + preposition pattern is straightforward and cross-linguistically common (e.g., Spanish 'adornar/decorar con'), so a B1 learner who knows both constituents should be able to infer the MWE meaning.

Etymology

Garnish with comes from the simple picture of adding a small, pretty piece of food—like fresh herbs or a lemon slice—on top of a plate. The little piece is the garnish and with shows what you add, so to garnish with something means 'to decorate' or 'enhance' a dish before serving.