Abstract: The invention relates to a process for preparing triethyl phosphate by reacting phosphorus oxychloride with a greater than stoichiometric quantity of ethanol under reduced pressure at temperatures of from 0 to 50° C. in a reaction vessel, wherein a) the volatile components resulting from the reaction are predominantly condensed by means of a reflux condenser and the remaining volatile components are passed into a scrubber filled with water, b) after the end of the reaction, the reaction mixture is separated distillatively in an outgassing column into a top product and a bottom product which predominantly comprises triethyl phosphate, c) the top product of the outgassing column is combined with the contents of the scrubber and d) the contents of the scrubber are separated distillatively in an azeotropic distillation to obtain water and ethanol as top product and the ethanol, preferably after dewatering, is preferably returned to the reaction.