Definition

Noun: A commercial preparation containing most of the ingredients for a dish, requiring only minimal additional steps (such as adding water, eggs, or milk) before cooking or baking. It is a pre-mixed, dry product designed for convenience.

Usage

"Ready-mix" is used as a noun to refer to a specific type of convenience food product. It is typically hyphenated. It describes a product that simplifies cooking by providing pre-measured dry ingredients.

Examples

• For a quick dessert, she used a ready-mix for the cake batter.
• The pantry is stocked with several ready-mixes for pancakes, muffins, and brownies.
• This ready-mix only requires you to add an egg and a cup of milk.

Advanced Usage

• The term can function attributively as a noun modifier (e.g., ready-mix product, ready-mix aisle).
• It is often used in the context of baking (cake mix, bread mix) but can apply to other dishes like soups, sauces, or coatings.

Variants and Related Words

• Ready-made (adj.): Something that is already prepared for immediate use. (e.g., ). This is a broader term.
• Mix (n.): A shorter, more general term for a combination of ingredients, which may or may not be a complete "ready-mix." (e.g., ).
• Convenience food (n.): The general category to which ready-mixes belong.

Synonyms

• Pre-mix
• Prepared mix
• Convenience mix

Antonyms

• Scratch ingredients
• From-scratch (e.g., )

Notes

"Ready-mix" is distinct from the construction industry term "ready-mix concrete," which is a different specialized compound word. In the culinary context discussed here, it refers exclusively to food preparations.

Noun

1. a commercial preparation containing most of the ingredients for a dish