A patty is a flat, round piece of food, usually made by shaping ground meat, vegetables, or other ingredients into a disk and then cooking it. The most familiar example is a hamburger patty: ground beef formed into a circle and grilled or fried. But patties can be made from many things. A veggie patty might contain beans, grains, and vegetables pressed together. A salmon patty combines fish with breadcrumbs and seasonings. Even potatoes can be formed into patties and fried until crispy.

The shape matters: patties are flattened rather than ball-shaped. This lets them cook evenly and fit perfectly on a bun or plate. When you form ground beef into a ball for spaghetti, that's a meatball. Form that same beef into a flat disk for a burger, and it becomes a patty.

The word can describe the raw, uncooked disk you shape in the kitchen or the finished product after cooking. At a backyard barbecue, someone might ask, “How many patties should I put on the grill?” They're counting those round disks of food waiting to become burgers.