uncooked

"Uncooked" mainly describes food that has not been heated by baking, boiling, frying, or similar methods. It is a simple everyday word for food in a raw state, such as uncooked rice, uncooked pasta, or uncooked meat. Sometimes this is perfectly fine, as with fruit or vegetables in a salad. In other cases, it means the food still needs to be prepared before eating.

The term "uncooked" most often refers to food before heat has been applied to it. If something has not been baked, boiled, fried, roasted, or steamed, it can be described as uncooked. You might use the word for uncooked rice before it goes into a pot, uncooked pasta before it softens in water, or uncooked chicken before it is safe to eat. It is the clear opposite of "cooked."

The word is most common in kitchen and food contexts. Some foods are normally eaten this way, such as apples, carrots, or salad greens. Other foods may be called uncooked simply because they are at an earlier stage of preparation, like dough before baking or a frozen meal before heating. In many cases, especially with meat, eggs, or some packaged foods, calling something uncooked suggests that more preparation is needed.

People do sometimes use similar ideas in a figurative way, but that is less common than the direct food meaning. In normal use, "uncooked" is a practical word that tells you the item is still raw or still waiting to be prepared. Whether you are reading a recipe, looking at food labels, or talking about a meal, the word signals that cooking has not happened yet.