No pruebes la sopa hasta que mi abuela quite el laurel.

Because no pruebes is the negative tú command of probar.

In Spanish, negative commands for tú use the present subjunctive form:

• pruebas = you try / you taste
• no pruebes = don’t try / don’t taste

So the sentence is giving an instruction to one person informally:

• No pruebes la sopa = Don’t taste the soup

Because probar is a stem-changing verb. In the present tense and present subjunctive, its o often changes to ue.

So:

• probar
• yo pruebo
• tú pruebes in the subjunctive

That is why the command is no pruebes, not no probes.

Because hasta que often triggers the subjunctive when the action after it is still in the future or has not happened yet.

Here, the speaker is saying:

• Don’t taste the soup until my grandmother removes the bay leaf

That removal has not happened yet, so Spanish uses the subjunctive:

• hasta que mi abuela quite el laurel

This is very common:

• Espera hasta que llegue = Wait until he/she arrives
• No salgas hasta que termine = Don’t go out until it finishes / until he/she finishes

No. It depends on whether the action is seen as pending/future or as a real, completed, habitual fact.

Use subjunctive when the action has not happened yet:

• No comas hasta que vuelva = Don’t eat until I come back

Use indicative when talking about something habitual or already completed:

• Siempre esperaba hasta que su abuela quitaba el laurel = He always waited until his grandmother removed the bay leaf
• Esperó hasta que su abuela quitó el laurel = He waited until his grandmother removed the bay leaf

So in your sentence, quite is used because the action is still pending.

Because Spanish usually includes the subject when it is helpful to show who is doing the action, especially when the subject changes.

In this sentence:

• you are the person being told not to taste the soup
• my grandmother is the person who will remove the bay leaf

If you only said hasta que quite el laurel, it would be less clear who is supposed to remove it. Adding mi abuela makes the sentence completely clear.

Here probar means to taste or to try food.

With food, probar is very often used for taking a small amount to check the flavor:

• Prueba la sopa = Taste the soup

So in this context, it is not about trying to do something. It specifically means tasting the soup.

Laurel is a masculine noun, so it takes el:

• el laurel

In cooking, laurel often refers to bay leaf or bay leaves as an ingredient, even though literally it can also refer to the laurel tree.

So:

• quitar el laurel = remove the bay leaf

This can feel a little odd to English speakers because English often says the bay leaf, while Spanish commonly uses laurel for the ingredient.

Spanish uses definite articles more often than English.

Here, both nouns refer to specific, known things in the situation:

• la sopa = the soup we are talking about
• el laurel = the bay leaf in that soup

English might sometimes omit an article in similar situations, but Spanish normally keeps it.

Yes. No pruebes is the informal singular command, used with tú.

Other possible versions are:

• usted: No pruebe la sopa hasta que mi abuela quite el laurel.
• vosotros (common in Spain): No probéis la sopa hasta que mi abuela quite el laurel.
• ustedes: No prueben la sopa hasta que mi abuela quite el laurel.

So the original sentence is speaking to one person informally.

Yes, depending on the exact nuance.

Quitar means to remove / take out. It works very naturally here:

• quitar el laurel = remove the bay leaf

You might also hear:

• sacar el laurel = take out the bay leaf

Both are possible, but quitar is a very natural everyday choice in this sentence.

Because the clause after hasta que has its own subject: mi abuela.

Spanish uses a conjugated verb when there is a new subject:

• hasta que mi abuela quite el laurel

An infinitive would be used more naturally when there is no new subject and the subject is understood to be the same:

• Sin probar la sopa... would mean without tasting the soup
• Antes de probar la sopa... = before tasting the soup

But after hasta que, if you say who does the action, you need a conjugated verb.