A recept szerint kevés sót és borsot teszek a levesbe.

In Hungarian, szerint is a postposition, not a preposition. That means it comes after the noun phrase it belongs to.

• a recept szerint = according to the recipe
• literally: the recipe according to

English uses prepositions before the noun, but Hungarian often uses postpositions after it.

So:

• a recept szerint = according to the recipe
• János szerint = according to János / in János’s opinion

Kevés means little / not much / few, depending on context.

In this sentence, kevés sót és borsot means a small amount of salt and pepper.

A useful thing to notice is that Hungarian often uses kevés with a singular noun, even when English might use a plural idea.

• kevés só = little salt
• kevés ember = few people
• kevés pénz = little money

So kevés sót és borsot is completely normal.

They are in the accusative case, because they are the direct objects of the verb teszek.

The verb tenni means to put, and the things being put are:

• sót = salt
• borsot = pepper

Hungarian usually marks direct objects with -t, although the exact form can vary a little depending on the word.

• só → sót
• bors → borsot

So:

• sót és borsot teszek = I put salt and pepper

This is because Hungarian has two verb conjugations:

• indefinite conjugation
• definite conjugation

Here, the verb is teszek, the indefinite form of tenni in I put.

That is used because the objects are not specific, fully definite things like the salt or that pepper. Instead, we have an indefinite quantity:

• kevés sót és borsot = a little salt and pepper

Compare:

• Sót teszek bele. = I put salt into it. → indefinite
• A sót teszem bele. = I put the salt into it. → definite, so teszem

So teszek is the correct choice here.

Because -be means into, while -ben means in.

• levesbe = into the soup
• levesben = in the soup

Since the action is putting something into the soup, Hungarian uses the illative ending -ba/-be.

Compare:

• Teszek sót a levesbe. = I put salt into the soup.
• Sok só van a levesben. = There is a lot of salt in the soup.

So the sentence needs levesbe, not levesben.

Hungarian uses a / az as the definite article, like English the.

Here both nouns are specific:

• a recept = the recipe
• a levesbe = into the soup

So:

• A recept szerint = according to the recipe
• a levesbe = into the soup

The article stays separate from the noun, even when the noun has a case ending:

• a leves = the soup
• a levesbe = into the soup
• a levesben = in the soup

Yes. Hungarian word order is more flexible than English word order, and it often reflects focus, emphasis, or topic-comment structure rather than a fixed subject-verb-object pattern.

The sentence

• A recept szerint kevés sót és borsot teszek a levesbe.

is natural and means something like:

• According to the recipe, I put a little salt and pepper into the soup.

But other word orders are also possible, with different emphasis. For example:

• Kevés sót és borsot teszek a levesbe a recept szerint.
• A levesbe kevés sót és borsot teszek a recept szerint.

These all express roughly the same basic idea, but the emphasis shifts.

In the given sentence, A recept szerint works well as the starting point, setting the context: according to the recipe...

Normally it is understood as a small amount of both salt and pepper.

So:

• kevés sót és borsot = a little salt and pepper

Hungarian often lets one quantity word apply to both nouns in a coordination like this.

If someone wanted to be extra explicit, they could say something longer, but the original sentence is completely natural and normally understood as referring to both ingredients.

The base form is tenni, meaning to put / to place / to do depending on context.

Yes, it is a very common and somewhat irregular verb. Its forms are not built in a completely predictable way from the infinitive.

For example:

• tenni = to put
• teszek = I put
• teszel = you put
• tesz = he/she/it puts

Because it is so common, it is worth learning as a full verb rather than trying to derive every form mechanically.

In this sentence:

• teszek = I put

Yes, very often.

Although tenni basically means to put, in cooking contexts English will often use add more naturally.

So this sentence could be understood as:

• According to the recipe, I add a little salt and pepper to the soup.

That is a normal, natural translation, even though the Hungarian verb itself is more literally put.

Because Hungarian usually expresses that meaning with a case ending attached to the noun.

So instead of a separate word like English into, Hungarian adds -ba / -be to the noun:

• leves = soup
• levesbe = into soup
• a levesbe = into the soup

This is one of the most important differences between English and Hungarian: English often uses separate prepositions, while Hungarian often uses case endings or postpositions.