The 26 best cooking classes in NYC

Located in SoHo, Home Cooking New York is a culinary training center that has been serving New Yorkers for over twenty years. They are a full test kitchen with courses covering basic cooking techniques and specific regional cuisines. If you are new to home cooking, consider a course like their Knife Skills class, which will teach you how to be comfortable chopping, dicing and slicing vegetables and meats, or their how to cook series, which teaches students practical and easy recipes for working with fish, vegetables or pork. If you are feeling more adventurous, they offer a wide variety of different regional cooking courses that will see students preparing their own full French, Thai, Vietnamese or Korean meals (among a lot of other options).

Atelier Sucré, located in East Harlem, is one of the premiere French cooking schools in NYC. With the help of professional instructors and access to a fully stocked test kitchen, you’ll be able to get guided, hands-on training in making a range of delicious treats (baking is something of a speciality at Atelier Sucré). If you are feeling adventurous, enroll in their flagship French Croissant course and learn how to make these flaky pastries that are a delicious complement to any meal. If you want a bit of hometown flavor, consider enrolling in their NYC bagel making course and learn the art of making the finest artisanal bagels in the world. They even offer courses like pizza and pasta workshops for students looking to learn how to make a complete meal.

Can you ever have too much cake? The answer is heck no. Even bad cake is good cake, so if you happen to flunk a bake, it's probably still edible, even if it looks like a crumbling pile of sponge, frosting, and choc. The NY Cake Academy has several courses available, from Valentine's cookie decorating to macaron baking, you'll be shown the proper skills and techniques to become a baking whizz. 

Each year, Americans spent over 40 billion dollars on pizza, making it one of the most consumed foods in the country. The average American will eat about 46 slices of pizza a year (about 23 pounds of pizza), which is honestly kind of staggering. If you want to help contribute to this without having to order upwards of 60 pizzas a year, consider enrolling in a pizza making class. In these classes, you’ll learn just how versatile pizza actually is as a dish (upgrade from sausage and cheese to a Margarita or Chicken Alfredo pizza) and you’ll learn tips and tricks for ensuring that you can make restaurant-quality pizza in your home kitchen.

Sushi can be rather intimidating to make on your own. Not only has it acquired an air of class and refinement in the states, it also tends to involve working with raw fish, something first time chefs might not be comfortable with. However, sushi is an easy to prepare, versatile dish once you get used to making it and one of the best ways to do so is to enroll in a sushi making class. These courses provide students with hands-on training in the art of preparing sushi rice, rolling and cutting everything from simple salmon or tuna rolls to more complex multi-ingredient rolls and how to best source sushi-grade fish. There are also a lot of options for vegetarian or cooked fish preparation if that is more up your alley.

If you are not an experienced chef, learning to cook can be intimidating, especially if you don’t know where to begin. This introductory cooking course aims to help by covering a wide range of essential culinary skills that you can put to use in your home kitchen. You’ll learn to cut vegetables, prepare and debone poultry, make pan sauces to add tons of flavor to your meals and how to work with fish, shellfish, beef, eggs and pasta. Once you complete this six-week course, you’ll be ready to make meals that are bound to impress.

Want to bring a fresh twist to some old classics? Consider enrolling in a handmade pasta class so you can ditch the hard boxed noodles for handmade ingredients the next time you want to prepare spaghetti, lasagna or even stuffed pastas like ravioli. Watch attentively as the instructor demonstrates the proper technique for making fresh pasta, then replicate the steps at your personal cooking station. You’ll learn how to prepare dough, hand shape noodles (or use a pasta cutter) and how to ensure that your noodles are perfectly cooked.

One of the first things you need to master when learning to cook is how to use your tools. Learning to use a knife can seem intimidating at first both because it has an aura of danger and because it is one of the least exciting parts of learning to cook. In classes like these, you’ll get hands-on experience working with an array of kitchen knives as you learn the basics of cutting, slicing, dicing, julienning and chopping vegetables, as well as deboning and fileting meat. By the end of the course, you’ll be a master of working with everything from large chefs’ knives to tiny paring knives.

CocuSocial aims to make learning to cook a social experience, and they offer a wide range of classes that aim to make cooking an enjoyable activity. These classes are all BYOB/BYOW, and they are a perfect group activity for corporate team-building, birthdays, bridal showers or just a fun night out that is capped off with a hand-cooked meal. Course offerings range from practical knife skills courses and foundational cooking courses (where you’ll learn essential skills for cooking veggies and proteins) to courses focusing on specific dishes and regional cuisines, such as their sushi-making or hand-made pasta workshops.

Believe it or not, making your own sushi actually isn’t that difficult. Procuring sushi-grade fish is probably the hardest part—and luckily, the instructors at Taste Buds Kitchen will take care of that for you. All that you have to do is layer the ingredients, roll ‘em up into tasty rolls and eat them, of course. You'll also be taught how to make your own dumplings. Mmmm.

Roni-Sue’s Chocolates offers a Make and Take Truffle workshop for anyone looking to make a batch of these bite-sized dessert treats. This course, taught by a master chocolatier, will see students moving step-by-step through the cooking process as they create a dozen truffles and a fine ganache. This course provides students with everything they need to start making truffles and teaches skills that are easy to replicate at home in a reasonable amount of time. Enroll in this course and you’ll become known for the delicious truffles that you can bring to any social gathering.

There is something really special about a well-made, perfectly balanced cocktail. Something less special about it is the price, which can often get pretty high in a place like NYC. You can skip the hassle of going to a bar and paying 20$ for an Espresso Martini by learning to mix your own drinks in this fun and accessible mixology course. You can impress your friend or mix yourself up a nightcap in style with the skill you’ll learn for an expert mixologist. You’ll learn to make three classic cocktails, each with a modern twist (a martini, a margarita and an Old Fashioned) and you’ll learn the science behind cocktail making, so you’ll leave prepared to start crafting your own artisan cocktails at home.

The croissant is one of the most delectable pastries you can make, but it is also one of the most challenging to make properly. It requires multiple rounds of cooling and proofing, and you must fold a lot of butter into these flaky, layered pastries. In this course, you’ll learn to make three different croissants: traditional croissants, pains au chocolat, and savory ham & cheese croissants. By the end of the course, you’ll be a more confident baker, have a new recipe you can prepare at home and leave with a handful of your own finely crafted flaky pastries.

Located in Greenwich Village, Abigail’s Kitchen is a full restaurant test kitchen where students can come to learn everything from the basics of handling a knife to the art of cooking authentic Chinese dumplings. These classes are hands-on experiences that will give students the confidence that they need to replicate these recipes in their home kitchen. Abigail’s also tries to help students become more confident in sourcing and securing the right ingredients and spices for their dishes. They offer courses that focus on properly shopping for fish, spices and other ingredients in New York’s Chinatown or one of its many Indian markets. This training will help novice chefs find the highest quality ingredients and ensure they aren’t making cooking mistakes before they even enter the kitchen.

Karen Lee Cooking offers a Basic Cooking class perfect for anyone looking to learn essential cooking skills while still preparing a delicious meal to enjoy at the end of the class. In this course, students will learn practical skills for navigating their home kitchens, including how to work with various cutting knives, how to clean and prepare fish and poultry and proper techniques for sauteing and roasting meat and vegetables. Two menu options are available: a sauteed red snapper (or sea bass) and chicken thighs and a whole roasted organic chicken.

The French Macaron is widely considered to be among the more difficult desserts to get right, especially for novice bakers. Atelier Sucré understands this and offers a hands-on, step-by-step course for students looking to master the fine art of baking this delicate and delicious cookie. In this course, students will learn how to bake these cookies from scratch, including the filling, and they will be able to bake them under the supervision of a skilled instructor who can help make things a breeze for students. Plus, once the session ends, everyone will have their own plate of delicious gluten-free Macarons to celebrate a successful bake.

Is there any food that is as universally loved or as versatile as pizza? No matter what the occasion, pizza is a great option that everyone can agree upon. However, ordering pizza can also be expensive (and you can’t always be sure of the quality). Take some of the time, money and guesswork out of the process by learning to prepare pizza at home in this hands-on technique workshop. You’ll learn how to prepare the dough, make your own tomato sauce and how to ensure that the pizza is neither doughy nor overcooked regardless of the oven used to make it. You’ll also learn how to make various pizza toppings to ensure that you don’t have to keep making the same pizza over and over again (unless you really want to).

Murray’s Cheese is the premiere artisan cheesemonger in New York City, and they have been supplying locals with fine and rare cheese for over eight decades. In addition to selling cheeses from all over the world, they also have their own cheese-making facilities, and they offer a range of classes teaching students how to make their own cheeses at home. In their Mozzarella Making class, students will learn to stretch different kinds of mild mozzarella, all while sampling other pulled cheese curds. Students will also enjoy a pair of wines selected by Murray’s own sommelier to pair with the cheese curds and leave the event with their own stretchy mozzarella balls and the knowledge they need to start making fresh mozzarella at home.

The Brooklyn Kitchen aims to make home cooking accessible and easy by offering live, hands-on cooking training classes to provide a realistic cooking education. They understand that most people don’t cook because they are busy after a long day of work, so their lessons aim to give students practical skills to make cooking less of a hassle (and not take three hours of your time). Courses include classes designed to help around the kitchen, such as their knife skills course, single recipe courses, like their popular Vegan Pizza workshop, and courses focusing on themed cuisines, like Mediterranean, Date Night or Bao. They also host singles cooking workshops for locals to mix and mingle while cooking a delicious home-cooked meal.

One of the most difficult parts of any group meal is deciding what food will please anyone. Luckily, you can always fall back on pizza. In this virtual pizza-making event, available in-person or online, students will learn how to make their own Neapolitan-style pizza at home, including freshly made pizza dough and the perfect sauce and toppings. The course is taught by a professional chef who will guide everyone through making and baking a pizza, and participants will have all of the necessary ingredients supplied, making this an ideal course for online group events.

Revered chef Lidia Bastianich curated the classes here herself, which means that both the content and the food is top-notch. Hands-on classes include making fresh gnocchi or Italian cheeses, while observation classes encompass topics like the history and techniques of savory baked pasta. Afterwards, shop the store for all the amazing ingredients to cook at home.

As sushi has become more popular stateside, there is a pervasive belief that sushi is basically impossible to make and that only a Jiro-level master can make an adequate California roll. This couldn’t be further from the truth, and in this virtual sushi workshop, participants will learn how easy it is to make sushi at home. An expert sushi chef will guide participants through properly making and seasoning their rice, layering ingredients in either a roll or a piece of nigiri and cutting the sushi in preparation for serving. Participants will be sent all of the ingredients they need to make the sushi base (including wine, rice, vinegar, seaweed and rolling tools) and an allotment for the fish and vegetables of their choosing (don’t worry if you aren’t interested in handling raw tuna).

Chocoholics can take their addictions to the next level with classes held at Valrhona’s Dumbo kitchen. Aside from learning how to actually make chocolate, students can also take courses in sweet studies like Seasonal Desserts and Bon Bons. And since each course is taught by a working pastry chef, you know you're getting top-notch instruction. 

Milk Bar cakes and cookies may be everywhere now, but they're still just as delicious. Milk Bar offers Build-A-Cookie and Build-A-Cake experiences so you can make the coveted treats yourself. 

When the expert butchers at this Chelsea Market shop aren’t busy breaking down a whole hog or slicing beautiful filets, they’re spreading the gospel of humanely raised meats in their classes and demos. Carnivores should sign up for the sausage-making intensive, where students learn to mix, season and fill their own links. Not only will you get to make the freshest wurst you've ever tasted, but you'll get to sip complimentary wine and beer all the while.

Learn the basics of cake decorating in this introductory course that will have you creating stunning works of edible art using buttercream and tools like piping bags, spatulas and turntable. In this class, You’ll learn important techniques and design principles (including how to make shells, stars, zig-zag and rosettes), then you’ll put your new skills into action in a live cake decorating exercise, in which you will have the chance to design your own impressive cake. By the end of the course, you’ll have decorated your first cake (hopefully, first of many) and you’ll be ready to try your hand at more elaborate piping and design classes.