Quem quer cozinhar rápido pode fazer arroz com espinafre e abobrinha.

In this sentence, quem means something like whoever or anyone who.

So:

Quem quer cozinhar rápido...
= Whoever wants to cook quickly...
= Anyone who wants to cook quickly...

This is a very common use of quem in Portuguese. It does not have to refer to a specific person. It can be general.

Examples:

• Quem estuda aprende. = Whoever studies learns.
• Quem chega cedo consegue lugar. = Whoever arrives early gets a seat.

Because after quer (wants), Portuguese normally uses an infinitive verb.

• quer cozinhar = wants to cook
• quer comer = wants to eat
• quer dormir = wants to sleep

So the pattern is:

quer + infinitive

Here:

• quer = wants
• cozinhar = to cook

Cozinha is not the right form here. Cozinha can mean:

• kitchen (noun)
• he/she cooks (verb form)

So quer cozinha would not mean wants to cook.

Because the subject is quem, and in standard Portuguese, quem usually takes a verb in the third person singular.

So:

• Quem quer... = Whoever wants... not usually
• Quem querem...

This is the normal grammar pattern:

• Quem sabe, sabe.
• Quem pode, ajuda.
• Quem quiser, pode entrar.

Even though quem can refer to many possible people, the verb is generally singular.

Here rápido functions like an adverb, meaning quickly.

So:

• cozinhar rápido = to cook quickly

In English, we clearly distinguish quick and quickly, but Portuguese often uses the adjective form in an adverbial way, especially in everyday language.

You may also see:

• cozinhar rapidamente

That is more explicitly adverbial and often feels a bit more formal or careful.

So these are both possible:

• cozinhar rápido
• cozinhar rapidamente

In everyday Brazilian Portuguese, rápido is very natural.

Pode means can or may here.

So:

• pode fazer arroz com espinafre e abobrinha = can make rice with spinach and zucchini

The structure is:

pode + infinitive

• pode fazer = can make
• pode comer = can eat
• pode usar = can use

In this sentence, pode suggests a possible or practical option:

• If someone wants to cook quickly, they can make rice with spinach and zucchini.

It is not about physical ability only; it often means this is a good option or this is something one could do.

Because Portuguese infinitives do not need a separate word like English to.

English:

• wants to cook
• can make

Portuguese:

• quer cozinhar
• pode fazer

The infinitive itself already carries that basic to + verb idea:

• cozinhar = to cook
• fazer = to make/do

So Portuguese does not add another word before the infinitive in this kind of structure.

Portuguese often omits articles when talking about food in a general, recipe-like, or indefinite way.

So:

• fazer arroz com espinafre e abobrinha feels like
• make rice with spinach and zucchini

This is very natural when naming a dish or ingredients.

If you added articles, it could still be possible in some contexts, but it might sound more specific:

• fazer o arroz com o espinafre e a abobrinha could suggest particular rice, spinach, and zucchini already known in the situation.

Without articles, the sentence sounds more general and recipe-like.

Yes, fazer arroz literally means make rice, and it is very natural in Portuguese.

Brazilian Portuguese often uses fazer for preparing food:

• fazer arroz = make rice
• fazer almoço = make lunch
• fazer um bolo = make a cake

You can also say cozinhar arroz, but that focuses more directly on the act of cooking.
Fazer arroz is often the more everyday way to talk about preparing rice as a dish.

So both can work, but fazer arroz is extremely common and natural.

Yes:

• espinafre is masculine: o espinafre
• abobrinha is feminine: a abobrinha

Why?

• Words ending in -a are often feminine, so abobrinha follows a very common pattern.
• Espinafre ends in -e, which does not clearly tell you gender by itself, so this one simply has to be learned as masculine.

Even though the articles are omitted in the sentence, learners still often want to know the gender of nouns, because it affects adjectives, articles, and pronouns elsewhere.

Yes, word order can vary somewhat, but the given sentence is very natural.

The basic structure is:

Quem quer cozinhar rápido
(subject idea + verb + infinitive + adverb)

Then:

pode fazer arroz com espinafre e abobrinha
(modal verb + infinitive + object)

Rápido most naturally modifies cozinhar here:

• quer cozinhar rápido = wants to cook quickly

If you moved it, the sentence might still be understandable, but it could sound less natural or slightly change emphasis.

For example:

• Quem quer cozinhar pode fazer arroz com espinafre e abobrinha rápido.

This may sound like make the rice quickly, with rápido attaching more to fazer than to cozinhar.

So the original placement is good because it clearly connects rápido to the cooking idea.

Not literally, but in natural English translation, something like that can happen depending on context.

Literal structure:

• Quem quer cozinhar rápido... = Whoever wants to cook quickly...

But in practical English, if the sentence is giving advice to the reader, a translator might say:

• If you want to cook quickly, you can make rice with spinach and zucchini.

That is not a word-for-word translation, but it communicates the same idea more naturally in some contexts.

So grammatically, quem does not mean if you, but in real translation the sentence may be adapted that way.

Because com already connects arroz to the ingredients, and then e joins the last two ingredients together.

So:

• arroz com espinafre e abobrinha = rice with spinach and zucchini

The structure is:

• rice
• with spinach
• and zucchini

You do not need to repeat com before every item, though you could in some contexts:

• arroz com espinafre e com abobrinha

That is grammatical, but less compact. The original version is more natural.

The sentence works in both Brazilian and European Portuguese. It is grammatically standard and easy to understand in either variety.

That said, learners should know:

• vocabulary choices can differ between Brazil and Portugal
• pronunciation definitely differs
• food wording can sometimes vary by region

But this exact sentence is perfectly normal and understandable in Brazilian Portuguese, and it would also be understood in Portugal.

A rough English-friendly approximation would be:

• espinafre ≈ es-pee-NAH-free
• abobrinha ≈ ah-boh-BREEN-yah

A few notes:

• The nh in abobrinha sounds like the ny in canyon.
• The stressed syllable in abobrinha is bri.
• In espinafre, the stress is on naf.

These are only approximations, but they can help you recognize the words when listening.