WE TRIED EVERY ONLINE COOKING LESSON WE COULD FIND
At Experience Days, we've participated in every online cooking lesson we could find, covering everything from decadent macarons to spicy Mexican tacos and more.
Below, you'll find our comprehensive guide to at-home virtual cooking lessons, featuring all our reviews in one convenient place.
What are you waiting for? Read on to discover the ultimate virtual culinary gift!
1. Flow Cooking
Flow Cooking offers a top-tier cooking lesson experience from start to finish. Chef Hayley Pople's meticulous attention to detail is evident in every aspect, from the welcome pack and recipes to the ingredient lists and comprehensive support before and after the class. The recipes are exceptional. The punchy sea bream ceviche, vibrant pickled beetroot, and zesty buttermilk dressing topped with crispy fish skin, served alongside freshly baked focaccia, are restaurant-quality dishes that will leave you raving.
While this lesson is the most expensive we've tried—£30 for a single session or £99 for a four-week package—it's worth every penny for food enthusiasts looking to acquire lasting skills and impressive recipes. Despite the high price point, I highly recommend it.
2. Ann Smart School of Cookery
Making macarons can be challenging, but this virtual cooking lesson from Ann’s Smart School of Cookery was incredibly straightforward and lots of fun! Ann provided numerous helpful tips for creating the perfect macarons, making it accessible even for beginners.
The class itself costs just £9, offering excellent value for money. A few days before the lesson, I received an email with the shopping list and recipe, with ingredients totaling just under £15. This makes the experience very affordable!
I thoroughly enjoyed the macaron-making class; it was a delightful way to spend my morning and learn a rewarding new skill. Thanks to Ann’s expert guidance, my macarons turned out wonderfully!
3. Colombian Cookery Class
Missed out on your holiday but still craving that vacation vibe? Book a cooking class with a chef from the other side of the world and learn to make traditional cultural dishes! Hosted by Daniela via Airbnb Experiences, this Colombian Cookery Class had us whipping up plantain patacones, beef empanadas, fried arepas, and two classic sauces: hogao and suero.
The ingredients were simple and easy to find, and Daniela guided us through every step, offering tips, guidance, and fascinating backstories about the dishes and cooking techniques. An interactive cooking class provides much more than a recorded video, with plenty of opportunities to ask questions and get real-time feedback.
The end result was a delicious spread of flavorful food made entirely from scratch – quite impressive in just an hour and a half! While the empanadas didn't turn out perfectly because we used the wrong flour, everything else was fantastic. Just be sure to know the differences in ingredient names across countries. The patacones were a highlight and paired perfectly with the hogao.
The Colombian Cookery Class was a fun and enjoyable way to spend an evening during lockdown, meeting new people and learning global culinary skills. I can't wait to explore more classes like this!
4. Make Mexican Street Tacos with a Pro Chef
5. Jamie Oliver Cookery School
This Jamie Oliver Cookery School class, hosted by chefs Coral and Francesco via Zoom, was a fantastic experience. The class opened 30 minutes early, allowing us to watch the hosts set up their kitchen while playing some lively music. It was fun to see other participants dancing in their kitchens and enjoying a glass of wine, bringing a sense of community during lockdown.
Priced at £24, this class offered great value for money. I learned new cooking skills and have already remade the delicious dish twice since the class. A week before the session, I received an email with the ingredients list, cooking equipment list, and a step-by-step guide. The ingredients cost me £12, and many of them can be reused, making future cooking even more affordable.
This experience is definitely one I would recommend if you want to try cooking a new dish. It was a wonderful way to meet new people and learn new skills, making it a highlight of my lockdown experience.
6. Chocolate Truffle Making Workshop
The second-best thing about this chocolate truffle-making workshop is the convenience of having all the ingredients delivered right to your door! The well-presented box includes two types of chocolate, decorations, and toppings such as honeycomb, coconut, white chocolate flakes, and berry dust. The best part, of course, is indulging in the delicious chocolates afterward. The white chocolate and honeycomb were my favorites, but all the truffles were super tasty!
The hour-long lesson, led by our friendly and enthusiastic chocolatier John, was engaging and fun. While everyone in the call is on mute, making it less interactive, you can still write messages and ask questions in the chat box. The kit produced a total of 28 delicious truffles. Not only was the chocolate scrumptious, but the experience was enjoyable and convenient, offering a delightful activity without leaving the house.
We highly recommend this workshop to any chocolate lover!
7. Bake Club Baking Kit
If you're looking for a delicious and stress-free baking experience, the Bake Club's bake box is perfect for you! With a range of bakes to choose from, catering to different skill levels, there's something for everyone—whether you're a beginner or more advanced.
Each box costs £24, offering great value since everything you need is delivered right to your door. My Bake Club box arrived promptly, containing all the pre-measured fresh and dry ingredients needed for the bake. The fresh ingredients were kept in a mini cooler box to ensure they stayed fresh during transit. Everything was clearly labeled with Kit 1, Kit 2, or Kit 3, making it easy to use the correct ingredients for each step.
Regardless of your baking skill level, there are plenty of fun bakes to choose from to suit everyone. I thoroughly enjoyed my experience with the Bake Club box and learned many new skills that will be valuable on my baking journey. I definitely plan to try more of their recipes in the future!
8. Kari Club Recipe Box
If you're missing the hustle and bustle of your favorite local Indian restaurant, the Kari Club recipe box from Brighton-based restaurateur Minesh Agnihotri brings that experience right to your kitchen.
I selected the plant-based box: butternut kofta in a roasted garlic sauce, accompanied by a cabbage and cashew thoran (dry salad) and methi roti bread.
With an easy-to-follow recipe video and pre-portioned ingredients in recyclable packaging, this recipe box made cooking a breeze, allowing me to dive right in without any guesswork.
This meal had so many delightful components: crispy koftas, silky sauces, fresh veggies, chewy chapatis, and even a delicious chutney for dipping poppadoms. Every dish was mouthwatering, but the unexpected highlight was the cabbage and cashew thoran. Fortunately, there were leftovers, which tasted even better the next day!
Overall, this recipe box provided a fantastic at-home culinary experience that I highly recommend.
9. Pasta Making with Sicilian Farmers
Embarking on an online cooking lesson with two Sicilian farmers was a truly unique experience. Together, we crafted fresh pasta in a delectable cheesy sauce with the zing of fresh lemon zest. Despite its gourmet taste, the dish was surprisingly simple to make.
Fabio and Annarella welcomed me warmly, guiding me through their farm while sharing its rich history. The vibrant lemon and orange trees added to the charm, infusing the entire experience with Sicilian brightness.
Lasting nearly 2 hours, the lesson provided ample time to master the dish. Yet, once familiar, it could easily become a go-to 20-minute dinner option. Priced at £19.30, the class was reasonable, offering an authentic encounter with friendly farmers from Sicily. Their invitation to visit their farm in Italy added an extra touch of warmth.
While I had to purchase my own ingredients for £10, the leftovers ensured I could recreate the dish. For pasta enthusiasts eager to learn the art of crafting fresh pasta, this online cooking class is an absolute must. I can't recommend it enough!
10. Jamaican Chocolate: Origins & Making
Joining Nick's online chocolate-making class via Zoom felt like a journey to Jamaica right from my kitchen. Nick's interactive and entertaining session involved creating our own delicious custom-made inclusion chocolate. Although I wasn't sure what to expect, Nick provided a real insight into tempering chocolate while sharing captivating stories.
Priced at £10, this experience was an absolute steal. I highly encourage anyone to join a session, as it offers an authentic and fascinating glimpse into the world of chocolate making. Adding chopped nuts and fruit to my chocolate, inspired by my favorite Cadbury's fruit and nut, was a delightful touch. Using ice trays and egg poaching plastic holders as molds, my chocolates looked and tasted incredible!
While the class was scheduled for 1 hour, Nick generously extended it by 20 minutes to show us around the cacao estate, adding an extra layer of immersion to the experience. Overall, this class was a delightful blend of learning, creativity, and indulgence—a true treat for chocolate lovers!
11. Polish Pierogi Making Class
Stepping out of my comfort zone, I decided to try something entirely new: pierogi making. With Tomasz as my guide during the Zoom call, having the session tailored to my pace made the experience far less daunting.
This pierogi making class, priced at just £12, offers exceptional value for money. Not only did I learn the intricacies of pierogi preparation and gain insight into Polish culture, but Tomasz also shared amusing anecdotes throughout the session. Upon purchasing the class, I received a list of ingredients totaling £9, most of which were already in my kitchen cupboards.
During the class, Tomasz recounted how his 13-year-old son devoured an impressive 44 pierogis in a single day—a testament to their irresistible taste! While I could only manage 5, each bite was incredibly delicious, leaving me eager to explore the countless filling possibilities Tomasz inspired me with.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the pierogi making experience and am excited to continue experimenting with different fillings in the future.
12. Scott's Pizza Dough Masterclass
13. Chinese Soup Dumplings Class
Few things rival the satisfaction of savoring a perfectly crafted Asian dumpling—soft and pillowy on the outside, bursting with rich and spicy flavors within. While mastering Asian cooking may not be second nature for everyone, Cici's Chinese Soup Dumplings Class offers a solution.
Booked via Airbnb, this online cooking class requires a bit of preparation. The day before the class, I diligently prepared my vegan mushroom jelly—a magical element that transforms into soup within the dumplings—as well as crafting a flavorful three-mushroom filling.
On the day of the class, I joined Cici and fellow participants via a live Zoom call. With Cici's expert guidance, I embarked on creating my own vegan Chinese soup dumplings. From seasoning the mushroom filling to meticulously folding the dough, every step was a hands-on learning experience.
Though the dough-folding proved fiddly and required close oversight from Cici, I managed to produce a few passable dumplings. Steaming them in my bamboo steamer, I eagerly indulged in the finished product, pairing them with the recommended sauce of rice vinegar and julienned ginger.
While my dumplings may not have matched Cici's expert precision, her guidance and expertise made the process both educational and enjoyable.
Thanks for reading!
Thanks for reading our reviews of every online cooking lesson we could find. We hope we inspired you to learn some new culinary skills from the comfort of your own kitchen!
We'll be continuously trying new virtual classes and adding our reviews to this blog, and if you're still looking for a fun at-home experience you can browse our full range.
Got a question, or an at-home experience you want us to try? Please feel free to leave a comment; we'd love to hear from you!
