Food Items
It is not always easy to determine the proper blessing for every food. Sometimes, it is difficult to remember whether a particular food is considered a vegetable or a fruit, whether it is made from one of the five species of grain, whether the manner of its preparation causes the appropriate blessing for the food to change, and all the other details that are necessary in order to make this determination.
To avoid some of the potential confusion, we present the reader with a detailed listing of many common food items, along with the blessings recited before and after their consumption. In order to use this table properly, please be aware of the following:
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- The blessings listed in this table apply to each food item only when it is eaten alone.
- In general, a blessing is not recited on a food that is eaten as part of a meal in which bread is also consumed. One also should generally refrain from reciting a blessing over a food when that same blessing has already been recited at this meal over a different food. These rules are discussed at length above.
- When two different foods are eaten together, and one of them can be considered secondary to the other, the blessing of the secondary food item is eliminated. For instance, the blessing for a potato knish is mezonot, even though the boureka contains actual potatoes, on which we would generally recite the blessing of ha’adamah. In this situation, since the potato filling inside the boureka is considered a secondary component of a single unit, whose primary component is the outer crust, only the blessing of mezonot is recited.
The Blessings on Common Food Items
| Food | Blessing Before Eating | After-Blessing |
|---|---|---|
| Biscuit | Mezonot | Al Hamichya |
| Blintzes | Mezonot | Al Hamichya |
| Bread (all kinds) | Hamotzi | Grace After Meals |
| Cake (when made of grain flour) | Mezonot | Al Hamichya |
| Candy | Shehakol | Borei Nefashot |
| Candy | Shehakol | Borei Nefashot |
| Challah | Hamotzi | Grace After Meals |
| Cheese | Shehakol | Borei Nefashot |
| Chewing Gum | Shehakol | No after-blessing is recited |
| Chicken | Shehakol | Borei Nefashot |
| Chocolate | Shehakol | Borei Nefashot |
| Cookies | Mezonot | Al Hamichya |
| Cutlets (chicken or fish) | Shehakol | Borei Nefashot |
| Doughnut | Mezonot | Al Hamichya |
| Egg | Shehakol | Borei Nefashot |
| Fish | Shehakol | Borei Nefashot |
| French fries | Ha’adamah | Borei Nefashot |
| Honey | Shehakol | Borei Nefashot |
| Hot dog (without bun) | Shehakol | Borei Nefashot |
| Ice cream (alone) | Shehakol | Borei Nefashot |
| Ice cream cone | Mezonot on the cone, followed by shehakol on the ice cream | Al Hamichya and Borei Nefashot |
| Knish | Mezonot | Al Hamichya |
| Liver | Shehakol | Borei Nefashot |
| Macaroni | Mezonot | Al Hamichya |
| Meat | Shehakol | Borei Nefashot |
| Peanut Butter | Shehakol | Borei Nefashot |
| Pita bread | Hamotzi | Grace After Meals |
| Pizza (when the dough is made with fruit juice) | Mezonot | Al Hamichya |
| Popcorn | Ha’adamah | Borei Nefashot |
| Popsicles | Shehakol | Borei Nefashot |
| Porridge | Mezonot | Al Hamichya |
| Pretzels | Mezonot | Al Hamichya |
| Rice | Shehakol | Borei Nefashot |
| Salad (fruit) | Ha’etz | Borei Nefashot |
| Salad (vegetable) | Ha’adamah | Borei Nefashot |
| Soup (clear) | Shehakol | Borei Nefashot |
| Soup (noodle) | Mezonot | Al Hamichya |
| Soup (vegetable) | Ha’adamah | Borei Nefashot |
| Soup nuts (when eaten alone) | Mezonot | Al Hamichya |
| Spaghetti | Mezonot | Al Hamichya |
| Toast (made of bread) | Hamotzi | Grace After Meals |
| Tuna | Shehakol | Borei Nefashot |
| Turkey | Shehakol | Borei Nefashot |
| Wafers | Mezonot | Al Hamichya |
Fruits and Vegetables
| Food | Blessing Before Eating | After-Blessing |
|---|---|---|
| Almond | Ha’etz | Borei Nefashot |
| Apple | Ha’etz | Borei Nefashot |
| Apricot | Ha’etz | Borei Nefashot |
| Avocado | Ha’etz | Borei Nefashot |
| Banana | Ha’adamah | Borei Nefashot |
| Broccoli | Ha’adamah | Borei Nefashot |
| Cabbage | Ha’adamah | Borei Nefashot |
| Cantaloupe | Ha’adamah | Borei Nefashot |
| Carrot | Ha’adamah | Borei Nefashot |
| Celery | Ha’adamah | Borei Nefashot |
| Cherry | Ha’etz | Borei Nefashot |
| Chickpeas (cooked) | Ha’adamah | Borei Nefashot |
| Clementine | Ha’etz | Borei Nefashot |
| Cucumber | Ha’adamah | Borei Nefashot |
| Date | Ha’etz | Al Ha’etz |
| Eggplant | Ha’adamah | Borei Nefashot |
| Fig | Ha’etz | Al Ha’etz |
| Grapefruit | Ha’etz | Borei Nefashot |
| Grapes | Ha’etz | Al Ha’etz |
| Guava | Ha’etz | Borei Nefashot |
| Honeydew | Ha’adamah | Borei Nefashot |
| Lettuce | Ha’adamah | Borei Nefashot |
| Mango | Ha’etz | Borei Nefashot |
| Mushrooms | Shehakol | Borei Nefashot |
| Olive | Ha’etz | Al Ha’etz |
| Onion | Ha’adamah | Borei Nefashot |
| Orange | Ha’etz | Borei Nefashot |
| Peach | Ha’etz | Borei Nefashot |
| Peanuts | Ha’adamah | Borei Nefashot |
| Pear | Ha’etz | Borei Nefashot |
| Peas | Ha’adamah | Borei Nefashot |
| Persimmon | Ha’etz | Borei Nefashot |
| Pineapple | Ha’adamah | Borei Nefashot |
| Plum | Ha’etz | Borei Nefashot |
| Potato | Ha’adamah | Borei Nefashot |
| Pumpkin | Ha’adamah | Borei Nefashot |
| Radish | Ha’adamah | Borei Nefashot |
| Strawberry | Ha’adamah | Borei Nefashot |
| Sweet potato | Ha’adamah | Borei Nefashot |
| Tomato | Ha’adamah | Borei Nefashot |
| Turnip | Ha’adamah | Borei Nefashot |
| Walnut | Ha’etz | Borei Nefashot |
| Watermelon | Ha’adamah | Borei Nefashot |
| Zucchini | Ha’adamah | Borei Nefashot |
Beverages
| Food | Blessing Before Eating | After-Blessing |
|---|---|---|
| Alcoholic beverages (whiskey, vodka, etc.) | Shehakol | Borei Nefashot |
| Beer | Shehakol | Borei Nefashot |
| Chocolate milk | Shehakol | Borei Nefashot |
| Coffee | Shehakol | Borei Nefashot |
| Grape juice | Hagefen | Al Hagefen |
| Iced coffee | Shehakol | Borei Nefashot |
| Iced tea | Shehakol | Borei Nefashot |
| Juice squeezed from a fruit or vegetable | Shehakol | Borei Nefashot |
| Liquor | Shehakol | Borei Nefashot |
| Milk | Shehakol | Borei Nefashot |
| Seltzer | Shehakol | Borei Nefashot |
| Soda | Shehakol | Borei Nefashot |
| Tea | Shehakol | Borei Nefashot |
| Water | Shehakol | Borei Nefashot |
| Wine | Hagefen | Al Hagefen |
Medications
No blessing is recited on a medicine, regardless of whether it is in pill or syrup form.
Some utter a prayer before taking medicine:
“May it be Your Will that this should be healing for me.”
