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Glite Dictionary
to garnish with

to garnish with

9 3.5
To add small pieces of food on top of a dish to make it look nicer
  • phrasal verb
  • /ˈɡɑrnɪʃ wɪð/
translation icon : 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
15 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
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
19 6.1
to adorn
45 4.9
to decorate
226 1.9
to garnish with
9 3.5
to sprinkle
100 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.